My own kiddos love playing while we travel. If we’re in an airport, chances are we’re playing I Spy or even Hide and Seek, if the terminal isn’t too full. But when I break out the physical games and printables, that’s when Max and Edie get truly excited.

I have a feeling your kids might be the same. So simply download and print out these Holiday Travel Bingo games before your next trip. If you’re sitting, you can use anything to mark the squares—coins work well. Or if you’re en route, kids can X the squares off with a crayon or pencil. Either way, this free holiday Bingo game will help pass the time for the whole family!

I’m crossing my fingers for you and smooth travels, zero delays and friendly seat mates. But don’t leave your kids’ travel entertainment to chance. Use these Holiday Travel Bingo games to keep your whole family feeling merry and bright this holiday season.

It’s not just you—holiday travel IS busy

On average, travel is about a quarter busier than average around Christmas. And last year, an estimated third of Americans traveled during the holidays. That’s 112.5 million people on the roads, rails, runways—maybe even sleigh trails—according to AAA.

I’m not sharing those stats to scare you into staying home! I’m just validating your sneaking suspicion that holiday travel really is busier than normal.

The potential of winter weather delays also makes holiday travel feel busier than normal. (After all, when people aren’t moving when expected, that means roads and airports are more congested.)

One study researched a year’s worth of data on weather delays and found these to be the most delayed airports in the US:

Worst U.S. Airports for Weather Delays

1. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
2. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
3. Chicago O’Hare international Airport (ORD)

Now you can’t always choose which airport to fly out of, and you can’t miraculously change the weather in your region. But if you are flying out of one of these hubs, keep in mind winter weather delays are more likely than not. Then make sure you’re prepared—including having things on hand to keep kids entertained, like this Holiday Travel Bingo game!

Holiday Travel Bingo game to keep kids entertained

So much of parenthood is recognizing the difference between what you can control and what you can’t, then moving on from there.

Family travel is the same. You can’t control snow and ice, nor can you control how many other people hit the road when you do. But you can control what you plan to keep your kids entertained during holiday travel.

So why wouldn’t you want these free Holiday Travel Bingo cards? They’re easily portable, so you can bring them along wherever you go. They have a good mix of festive and regular travel squares. They’re usable for air travel as well as road trips. (If you’re driving, make sure to be on the lookout during rest stops and potty breaks!)

How to use this holiday Bingo printable

Travel can be complicated. You have to book your trip, get to the airport on time or pack up the minivan for a road trip, deal with traffic and other delays, and keep track of everything from boarding passes to your actual children.

Luckily, using my holiday Bingo printable is easy peasy lemon squeezy (or “easy peasy yemon deezy,” as Maxine says, with her adorable pronunciation).

Here’s how to make the most of this free travel Bingo printable:

1. Sign up to get the free holiday Bingo printable delivered to your email inbox—right away!
2. Print the holiday Bingo cards. I think color is more fun and festive, but black and white is fine, too. Print the right number of cards for the people in your family. The PDF you’ll get includes 4 different cards!
3. [optional step] Laminate the Bingo cards. This is a great option if your trip is long, or if you want to play holiday travel Bingo on the way to and from your destination. Bonus tip: If you laminate, bring along dry erase markers, which you can erase from laminated pages and then reuse!
4. Hand out the holiday Bingo cards to everyone in your family who wants to play. They can mark off squares with crayons or use coins or pompoms as markers.
5. Decide if there will be a prize. You might want to stash some Hershey’s Kisses for winners, or dole out little toys. Or you can just play for funsies!

Make holiday travel easier with fun and games

No matter if you’re visiting loved ones this holiday or going on a getaway that doesn’t involve family and friends, I know you’ll agree you could use all the help you can get making holiday travel a tad bit easier.

I’ve definitely been there, after all. I know firsthand that smoother winter travel makes for a better family trip overall. So I am sure you’ll have as much fun playing this free holiday Bingo game as I did creating it!

Let me know when you use it and tag me on Instagram. I can’t wait to hear all about your holiday travels!

In the meantime, tell me: Are you heading out of town this holiday or staying put at home??

The post Holiday Travel Bingo: Free printables for family travel this holiday appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

I feel for kids on the plane—after all, their super-active bodies are forced to sit for hours, and they’re not allowed to do anything. But you can keep kids happy on a plane. And while I’m a big fan of tablets and movies while traveling, these are no screentime suggestions!

So whether this is your child’s first flight or her hundredth, I’m confident my ideas below have something new for her to do on the plane. Flying with kids doesn’t have to be stressful for you or your child; make it fun with these boredom busters!

So next time your kids say “I’m bored” on the plane, use one of these responses. I guarantee your family trip will go more smoothly!

This post contains affiliate links. By clicking and buying, I earn a small income at no extra cost to you, which allows me to continue offering free family travel advice!

Keep your children entertained while flying with kids

So you’re 30,000 feet in the air and your child says “I’m bored.” Here are TK ways to respond that inspire creativity, curiosity and of course fun!

If your child says “I’m bored,” say…

1. “Let’s problem solve together.”

When your kids are bored on the plane, I bet you $100 they are waiting for you to figure out how to entertain them. By offering this response instead, you’re disrupting their expectations, which science says actually wakes up the brain and makes it pay more attention.

Childhood education experts call this approach collaborative problem-solving approach. My husband teaches special education, and we’ve been using this technique. We’ve found it empowers our kids to help themselves—and you can use it when you’re trying to entertain kids on a plane, too! When you respond to “I’m bored” like this, their ideas might surprise you! They might come up with a wacky idea you’d never think of.

2. “What haven’t we played with yet?”

Chances are, you packed a ton of toys, activities and games for the kids to play with on the plane. (Because when you’re flying with kids, better to be uber prepared, right?) I noticed that my kids hardly played with all these goodies when we fly, and I bet your kids are the same.

By drawing their attention to the great plane activities they already have, they’ll see there’s still plenty to play with.

(I wrote about what to pack in a plane activity kit over on my other blog, Ten Thousand Hour Mama. Check it out if you want ideas!)

3. “Do you want to close your eyes?”

Boredom might be crankiness. Family travel often disrupts kids’ sleep schedules, so they might simply be tired. My older daughter, who is 5 1/2, will almost never nap—unless I point out that it’s totally ok if she closes her eyes.

4. “Let’s take a walk to the bathroom.”

Taking a walk to the bathroom isn’t really about peeing; it’s about moving. Your kids aren’t used to sitting for such long stretches, and it’ll do them (and you) good to walk to the lavatory. If they use it, bonus!

5. “Let’s ask the flight attendant a question.”

We adults are jaded, but kids see the world in a fresh light: We’re flying! In the air! Even though we’re not birds!!! The technology that powers this feat is incredible. So why not take advantage of this amazing opportunity to indulge kids’ curiosity?

When flying with kids, have them come up with a question to ask a flight attendant. You might learn something too!

6. “Is there something we can do to fill up another passenger’s bucket?”

Research consistently shows that the best way to boost your own happiness is by doing something kind for someone else. Help your kids shift their focus from their own boredom to generosity.

If your kids can’t think of a way to make someone else smile, here are some ideas:

• Draw a picture
• Tell a joke
• Give a compliment
• Ask if someone wants a beverage, then bring it to them
• Start a conversation (ask about their life)

(By the way, the phrase “fill up someone’s bucket” comes from a children’s book we absolutely love called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? This book was a total game-changer in my house, teaching my young kids about empathy in a way that totally made sense to them. I absolutely recommend it!)

7. “What could we make out of this magazine?”

In-flight magazines are in just about every airline’s seat pockets. Why not make use of them?

When your kids are bored on a plane, see all the things you can do with a magazine together. Can you rip out a page and make a fan? Turn it into a tent for your child’s toy to go “camping” in? Stretch your imagination!

8. “Let’s get something to drink.”

This response is a two-fer: It gives you and your kids an excuse to get up and stretch your legs. It also encourages your kids to drink fluids. After all, kids get just as dehydrated while flying as adults do, but they sometimes don’t recognize thirst (or act on it by drinking up).

9. “Can we tell a make-believe story—together?”

Flying with kids gives you an excellent opportunity to engage with your kids without distractions. After all, there are no emails to answer or dishes to wash, so your kids have your undivided attention.

Why not make up a story together? Take turns telling parts of a story, building on each other’s additions until you come up with the silliest story you’ve ever told! My kids are still giggling about the story we made up together about the princess pony who got a toothache and met a shark that sprayed glitter out of its mouth.

10. “What would Batman do if he were bored?”

This response is so unexpected that I guarantee it’ll jolt your kids out of their boredom. Use their favorite character, from Pinkie Pie to Moana to Thomas the Engine, to spark their imagination. This boredom buster for the plane will lead to some hilarious conversations!

11. “What do you think is happening on the ground beneath us right now?”

The world looks so different from up in the air. Why not take a new perspective in another way by imagining what’s happening below you?

Encourage your kids to peek out the window, if you can see the ground (or water!). Look for clues. Is it farmland? City? Mountains?

Even if it’s dark or cloudy, you can play this imagination game.

Your kids might not have a lot of ideas at first, but that’s ok. Come up with your own ideas—the wackier, the better! Maybe narwhals are having a birthday party, or someone is digging a tunnel to search for his lost pet earthworm. Your goofy responses will show your kids there isn’t a right answer and that they can let their imaginations run wild.

12. “Let’s make a puppet show!”

I hope you never have to make use of plane barf bags for their actual purpose. Instead, use them to make puppets!

That’s right: Barf bags are the perfect size and shape to make hand puppets. Decorate the barf bags to make faces or creatures, then put on a show. You might even turn around in your seats and put on a show for the folks behind you!

Plane barf bags puppet show from Catherine Ryan Gregory on Vimeo.

13. Pass a note

Use a scrap of paper (or even the back of your boarding pass) to write a note to another passenger. It could just say “hi” or ask them a question. Going old-school, like you did when you passed notes when you were a kid in school, will surprise and delight other folks on the plane.

Plus, everyone will be so impressed by how well behaved your kids are on a plane. That doesn’t hurt!

I know these tips will help you entertain your kids on a plane. Best of all, these boredom busters can be used anytime—an require no screen time!

Do you have any suggestions? How do you keep children entertained on a plane?

PS – If you’re flying solo with kids, don’t miss my post on solo travel with kids. The post is full of tips to make one-parent travel approximately a million times easier.

The post 13 genius boredom busters when flying with kids (no screentime!) appeared first on To & Fro Fam.