Having lived away from family in different countries, with kids to take home to grandparents for regular visits, airport travel is a must and we have got used to passing time in airports as we wait for departures. Based on my experience, here are some Tips for Passing Time in Airports with Kids:

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Planning a bit in advance for your trip helps so check out the airport’s website before you go to see what they have available for families.

Tips for Passing Time in Airports With Kids

#1. Go To The Observation Area

Most airports have some kind of observation area (leftover from bygone eras when people just came to the airport to watch!) where you can take the kids to watch planes taking off or landing.

#2. Play the Airline Spotting Game

See how many different airlines you can spot flying in and out and guess what country they are from too.

#3. Pass a Bit of Time in the Shops

Most airports nowadays have a full scale retail experience and it can be fun to do a little last minute browsing. We like to visit Boots at Dublin Airport to mooch about the travel goodies section, they often have 3 for 2 offers on mini toothpastes and the likes too.

(You can always pretend you have run out of cash if you are on the way home and you don’t want to do any actual spending.)

#4. Guess The Travelers

You have to guess the travelers names and where they are flying to for each person that passes you by.

For a variation you can match the initials of the first name with the destination so e.g. Annabel is flying to America.

#5. Bring Notepad And Pencil

You can play all sorts of fun games if you have a pad and pencil. E.g. Hangman, Dots, Stop the Bus and more. Or tuck a pack of cards or Rorys Story Cubes into your travel bag.

#6. See If There’s A Kids Play Area

More and more airports are adding kiddie play areas in sections of the airport so check the map when you first get out of security to see if there’s one you can visit. In Dublin Airport we like the section near Starbucks that has circles cut into the wall where the kids like to climb up and sit.

#7. Have Something To Eat

It’s always good to plan to have something to eat at the airport after all it’s tricky feeding kids from the confines of an airplane seat. So plan in some feeding time.

Also make sure to pick up any last minute snacks to tuck into your carry on, there’s nothing worse than getting delayed on the plane and not having anything to eat or drink with you.

PS the first time you travel sans enfants, you’ll constantly be looking around thinking you’ve forgotten someone!

Over to you now. Do you have any tips for passing time in airports with kids? Share them with us in the comments below.