Top tips for Kids

They often don’t need too much, as long as you have their favourite teddy and blanket to hand so try these in your hand luggage:

• Pack your child’s favourite fruit, snacks and sandwiches cut into fun shapes
• Pack a few favourite toys and comforters
• Pack child neck supports, a blanket and pyjamas
• Babies are often happy to play with the simplest things such as cups and laminated safety cards on aeroplanes, so there is no need to lug a huge bag of toys on holiday
• Play peek-a-boo with small children
• Play classical music or nursery rhymes in the car
• Read a good book with bright colours and pictures to keep their attention
• Keep them entertained with a story played out through finger puppets.
• Invest in a hanging mobile or interesting baby mat to attach to their car seat to keep them occupied.
• Take car shades to keep the sun out so your baby will find it easier to snooze

They need things to stimulate their inquisitive minds as they bore easily, so a good selection of activities should include:

• Provide each child with a bag of their own toys and a few new ones for a surprise treat
• Compile a ‘fun book’ with word searches, dot-to-dot games, noughts and crosses tables, colouring pages, holiday trivia and a fun map of the holiday destination
• Make sure you know how to play guessing games – I-Spy, Who am I?, Car Bingo, 20 Questions, and guess the colour of Mr Men
• Audio Story Books - download stories onto an iPod or buy some audio story books to play in the car
• Bring along a variety of music so you and your children can sing along to their favourite songs.
• Prepare a scavenger hunt – give them a list of things they need to spot along the journey: a yellow car, an aeroplane. As they spot them they can mark them off the list.
• Take a break every couple of hours to boost energy and for a change of scenery
• Make sure you’ve packed their favourite food and drink (but you’ll need to replenish the latter after Airport Security)
• Try and book seats near the window – just being able to see what’s going on is often enough to keep them occupied for a while
• If you can bring a portable DVD player, bringing along their favourite cartoons can provide hours of entertainment

They are less dependent on adult supervision and can largely amuse themselves, with a few well placed props:

• Pack magnetic board games such as GoSpy, Scrabble, Monopoly and Cluedo
• Make sure you’ve packed their favourite food and drink (but you’ll need to replenish the latter after Airport Security) so there’s no excuse for those teenage tantrums
• Make sure they take a good selection of reading material and encourage them to use waiting or journey time to go over revision notes if they are approaching exam season
• Don’t forget the Nintendo- DS, PSP, i-Pods and hand-held DVDs – make sure they are fully charged for the journey before you set off and don’t forget headphones
• Include your teen with the planning process – ask them to make a list of all the things they think you should see and do when you reach your destination
• Encourage them to keep a journal of their travels which they can update during the journey time
• Involve your teen with the navigation – give them a map and let them plan out routes and stops
• Use this opportunity to teach them some useful phrases, in the local language of your destination, such as ordering food or asking for directions
• It may be a good idea to give teenagers the opportunity to swap seats during the journey
• If you can endure it, let your teen take control over the music choice for an hour