British Airways Holiday recently conducted a survey of traveling parents that yielded some shocking results. The survey found that 86 percent of parents struggle to keep their kids occupied on plane flights. YOU DON'T SAY.
All sarcasm aside, British Airways' experiment actually went further than poll-taking. The airline also conducted a social experiment, led by Professor Robert Winston, to find out which toys are actually best to bring on the plane. And these results are really rather surprising.
It turns out tablets and other expensive gadgets did not manage to hold kids' attention as long as more simpler and less expensive toys like Play-Doh and Legos. In fact, Play-Doh and the Loom Bands kept half of the kids occupied for longer than 40 minutes. #hellsyes. Winston and his team also recommend bringing out a different toy at regular intervals to help keep them occupied for at least 90 minutes. Watch for yourself below.
Unfortunately, there's no good toy to occupy an 18-month-old, which we've found to be the hardest age to travel with. So our suggestions are to pick a flight during naptime or bedtime, and be prepared to walk up and down the aisles. A lot.
Here's a full list of the toys that British Airways recommends to bring on a plane:
1) Loom Bands
2) Playdoh
3) Lego
4) Top Trumps
5) Uno
6) Usborne Activity Cards
7) Magnetic travel game
8) Aquadoodle!
9) Finger puppets
10) Sticker book
British Airways does its part to help ease the stress of flying for families by offering a “Feed Kids First” policy and the ability to pre-order healthy meals. The airline also offers Skyflyers Activity Packs which contain crayons, coloring books, puzzles, a pen, and cool facts about flying. For more on taking a family vacation with British Airways, go here.
Now, if you excuse us, we're off to buy some Play-doh and Loom Bands.
What are your go-to toys or gadgets for surviving plane flights? Sound off in comments below or share them on our Facebook page!
