15 hour plane ride with kids - ideas?

[2China2009]

Do a test run with the Benadryl before you leave. I have brought 2 babies home from China. Liquid Benadryl was the best thing I brought. Slept for 12 hrs straight.

 

[tcufrog]

Before we went to Scotland, I bought each of the kids an old school Kindle on sale and filled them up with books. We also downloaded a lot of audiobooks onto our phones. We wanted to keep them occupied but we didn't want them to spend 9 hours straight glued to videos or videogames. They enjoyed the kindles so much they used them during our month-long UK road trip and still use them.

 

[low-key]

adoption

 

[PollyannaMom]

My son was much younger on his first flight and I wanted to keep him busy so I wrapped a bunch of new toys/games like little presents and each hour he got to open one. It broke up the time a little, built up some anticipation, and made it so he didn't play with everything in the first hour and then end up bored the rest of the flight.

This is what we used to do for long car rides when DS was young, and he actually just mentioned it last week, so I guess it really was a hit!

I'm not sure if current security regulations mean you can't wrap things, but you can definitely dole things out at certain times.

I've lost track of what's already been mentioned, so I suggest or "second":
books
cards
Wikki Stix
special snacks
little figurines - I think I used to get them in tubes at the craft store.
coloring - Print pages of their favorite things, a map of where you're going, etc.
maybe something old school like an Etch-A-Sketch or a Rubik's cube?

 

[Mage of Disney]

I don't support doping your kids up on sleeping meds, but you may want to take your own like candy.

 

[DopeyDame]

adoption

LOL!
If it weren't for their adoption several years ago, I wouldn't be doing this now ;-)

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't support doping your kids up on sleeping meds, but you may want to take your own like candy.

OK, now I will get judgy, LOL. I know the above post was tongue-in-cheek, but "sedated" parents on long air trips are one of my major hot buttons. It happens much more often than you would think, that parents will sit down and pop an Ambien, leaving the kids to their own devices. It causes all sorts of annoyances for the FA's, especially. Nothing like an airsick kid whose parent is out cold.

OP, you've gotten some good advice on activities. Be sure that the headphones they have are the sort that are either noise-canceling, or buds that fit tight in the ear canal. The sort of earbuds that are smooth and rest largely in the outer ear tend to let in too much engine noise, leading to the kids cranking the decibel level way too high in order to hear. Audiobooks are very good, and often lull people to sleep.

Also, find out if your airline allows use of a texting app in-flight; if so, for the older one at least, being able to chat with friends will help to keep boredom at bay.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

OK, now I will get judgy, LOL. I know the above post was tongue-in-cheek, but "sedated" parents on long air trips are one of my major hot buttons. It happens much more often than you would think, that parents will sit down and pop an Ambien, leaving the kids to their own devices. It causes all sorts of annoyances for the FA's, especially. Nothing like an airsick kid whose parent is out cold.

OP, you've gotten some good advice on activities. Be sure that the headphones they have are the sort that are either noise-canceling, or buds that fit tight in the ear canal. The sort of earbuds that are smooth and rest largely in the outer ear tend to let in too much engine noise, leading to the kids cranking the decibel level way too high in order to hear. Audiobooks are very good, and often lull people to sleep.

Also, find out if your airline allows use of a texting app in-flight; if so, for the older one at least, being able to chat with friends will help to keep boredom at bay.

100% agree with you however we have to remember parents are human too and no I dont agree with them drugging themselves or kids however my mom and I went to visit family and I feel asleep just by watching a favorite TV show