How to keep older kids entertained

[Disney Wishes]

We will be going on a very long plane ride for us next year. I believe it is between 6-8 hours. We will have 5 kids total. Once the PSP's, and DVD player run out of batteries, and the "old fashion" books have been read how do you entertain them? The kids will be ages 7-13. Even I get board looking out of the window after awhile.

TIA

Tami

 

[Sunobo]

We tend to play games with each other. Some of our favorites are Tic Tac Toe, the card game War and Dots (take turns connecting the dots and try to form more squares than the person you're playing against).

 

[21yankees]

Sudoku books are great for kids of all ages. They have some w/ stickers for young kids. Definitely a book for each of them. Coloring books w/ crayons for your younger kids. Word search books (my oldest daughter just discovered these, she's 6).

steph

 

[mariezp]

My DD will be 8 this year. I always pack a bag full of Disney stuff she has never seen that I have stashed all year long. Usually the assortment includes small stuffed animals, small action figures, books, handheld games, travel games, activity books, crayons, coloring books, drawing pads, silly putty, etc. If you look on ebay they have all kinds of Disney goodies you can stock up on.

 

[Wendi2000]

Try to get a magazine for each child that suits their interests. Little things like pens and paper or pipe cleaners are good for getting creative. We watch movies on my laptop to and from California and Florida and haven't run out of battery power yet, so you'll probably be ok. I bought one of those little magnetic play sets for my son when he was younger and it didn't hold his attention as well as I thought it would, but they are still great to play with for most kids (I actually played with it longer than he did on that trip!!! hehehe)

I never get bored looking out the window... unless we're in the clouds.

 

[Zoemakes5]

My kids really enjoy the electronic game 20 Questions (it's also nice to have at DLR for longer lines or waiting for parades.)
We have also gotten a few travel games (actually was a santa present before our last big trip) like scrabble, yahtzee, chess, sorry, and battleship.
Ditto the cards and sudoku.
For the older kids, Mad Libs can be pretty fun, too.
One of the ways we have increased the dvd time is that we purchased an inexpensive splitter for the earphones, and then they've had the ability to all watch one dvd player together and then they can watch another movie on the other dvd player (my kids all have their own...another christmas present from the grandparents.) The only trick is getting them all to agree upon the movie!

 

[goofy's friends]

Mine love the American Girl Quiz books. They will do the whole book on one trip. There are other activity American Girl books that they love too. They also do Suduku and Mad Libs and Hangman. For my son (6), I bring sticker books and snacks (if he's eating, he's happy!)and transformers and he's happy.

 

[bumbershoot]

Are there still movies on longer flights? If so, you'll have that.

Hubby's parents bought them little magnetic games, like scrabble, connect 4, etc, when they were on flights from Seattle to various Asian countries when they were kids.

You could look into extra batteries for the PSP and DVD players. Hubby says (though hubby's info might be outdated) longer flight planes might even have charger areas. (I personally raised my eyebrow at that)

Hubby's parents also had them bring books. If there is the "next Harry Potter" series out while flying, some copies of those books could take a whole flight.

Hubby also says to make sure the kids get up and walk around the cabin every so often, b/c that long sitting on your behind is difficult.

Lastly, hubby's mom, he says, didn't care how late they stayed up the night before the flight, so that they would be tired (I will mention that being crabby in their family was absolutely NOT allowed, with painful punishments for crabbiness enforced, so in a non-painful-punishment household, I'm not sure how this sort of thing could be enforced, so lots of talking might have to be done to let them know they might be tired and crabby but can sleep on the plane), and then she made them as comfy as possible on the plane so they could fall asleep.

Hubby is the middle of 3, with about 10 years from oldest to youngest.

 

[zukeeper]

We watch movies on a mp3 player and I was able to buy a plane charger, so you could look into that. My kids LOVE comic books. The older ones get Simpsons and my younger ones get Calvin and Hobbes. There is a Disney Princess magazine that you could stock up on (just google it). I bought the magic Color Wonder by Crayola with the black pages for my 5yo, but all the kids love drawing with it, even the teenage boy. I would get 1 set for each child.

 

[kylieh]

Some random thoughts.

• IPODS?
• Will there be any opportunity for resting, for example, a red-eye or late night flight?
• Are they missing school time? Homework or practice activities?
• Will food service, landing and take off will take up a proportion of the flight?
• How about some games of Uno or similar?
• Is it an airline that has personal TVs in the seat backs?

 

[gramto2boys]

how about the scenery? taking a nap, reading another book. when we go on long car rides my kids will do the gameboy thing, music and such, but when its all said and done they close there eyes and rest. watch the scenery out the window, and we talk. my kids do not need to be contantly entertained. I am glad for that.

 

[pixiewings71]

We always drive, it's 6 hours for us. We have a really comfy minivan that has a DVD player built in. We usually drive at night but this is what we do to stay entertained. Watch 1 sometimes 2 movies, usually Disney movies like Mary Poppins or Pete's Dragon. We play War, we actually play War with up to 4 people as a family game, each person gets one suit and we play until we get a winner. We play Whoo-Nu from Cranium, we just switch the rules a little so we can all play, yes even the driver can play this one. We do it in rounds and instead of using the point chips the front seat passenger (usually me) just writes our scores down. The kids have their Gameboys, MP3 players, books and art stuff. That's what works for us.

As for WHY we need to keep our kids entertained......it's for our own sanity and to be courteous to others. When driving it's not as important but IMO when you're flying and on a plane with others you should try to keep your kids entertained so they do not disturb other travelers.

 

[Disney Wishes]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I have copied them all down. And yes by me making sure they are entertained it is mostly for the other passengers. We are going with another family and both of our kids like to be outdoors.

Tami