Heyo!
We are planning for a long-awaited trip and it dawned on me that this will be the first time we have traveled in over 2 years.
If you follow our journey with B, you may realize that we have been on our journey with B for roughly two and a half years at this point. Meaning, we haven’t traveled (a) since an official diagnosis and (b) since his behavior has ben as bad as it has been.
That means I am in full preparation mode of ‘flying with special needs’.
While we may not be leaving for a while, I have been wracking my brain with things to bring with on a plane that won’t disturb those around us and will keep B occupied for a period of time.
1. Bring snacks.
Especially snacks your kids like and I highly recommend not bringing something full of sugar. We don’t need kids bouncing around airplanes!
My kids LOVE
which, I don’t know about you, but they are ME approved! They are baked with real cheese, no artifical flavors,
and
the colors are sourced from plants! BAM! Win to me!
Plus, they will double as game pieces (see #2).
2. Bring games.
Print out this fun tic-tac-toe game and use your
as your X and O (just be sure to use two different colors so you know who is who!)
Click on the picture to access the printable.
Print out this fun BINGO game and play BINGO! I made four different BINGO card sheets so they are all different plus one BINGO card sheet for you to cut out the pieces to “call”.
If you have a home laminator, you can laminate the boards and pieces to re-use or just print them out and use them as is.
I kept it easy for younger kids too, using colors and shapes.
Click on the picture to access the printable.
Bring a deck of cards for a single game of solitaire or you can play Crazy 8, Kings Corner, Slap Jack, Go Fish, or any other card game your kids know how to play.
3. Music.
A CD player, an iPod, a MP3 player – whatever it takes so they have something to listen to. And for the love of all things, make sure it is loaded with songs that they like!
4. Movies.
Load up the Kindle, iPad, phone, tablet, whatever with movies or bring a portable DVD player so they can watch movies or shows to keep them occupied.
5. Tablet, Kindle, iPad.
In addition to movies and music; tablets can hold games and books. All things that I know will keep B occupied.
6. Headphones.
Save yourself some money and bring your own headphones. If the plane has screens, shows a movie, or has music; headphones will be a saving grace.
Having a music player, movie player, and or games; headphones will be great to have on hand.
7. Books.
No matter how many ebooks a person has; there is just something magic about an actual, physical book.
8. Coloring books and coloring utensils.
You could add stickers to that as well if your child is into that. For B, sticker coloring books can keep him occupied for hours!
9. Fidget cube or other fidget tools.
B has a tendency to bit his nails so having something to keep his fingers busy is a big one for him. Especially if his body has to sit still for long period of times.
10. Body brush.
Or another textured item that calms your child. Before we had a body brush, we had a shower tool that had spikes on it that B would roll over his skin. Now, we have body brushes and they. are. magic.
11.
(in a bag!)
A word search, slime, and blank paper with a pen are all items that we put in a calm down box that I haven’t listed above.
The paper and the pen would be great for playing Hangman, writing, or whatever else they want to do with it.
12. Gum.
One, it will help with ear popping during take off and landing, but it also gives him something to bite and chew on (and aren’t his finger or toe nails!)
13. A comfort item.
B goes in spurts with this one regarding a comfort stuffed animal or a specific blanket. If your child has that comfort item, I would definitely recommend bringing it with (but also recommend labeling it with name and at least phone number so you can find it if lost!)
What do you think? Did I miss anything that would be pertinent to flying with B?
This list would also do great for car trips, long appointments or any other outings that require him to wait long periods of time. Having this prepped in a back pack at all times even as a “just in case” bag for when going out shopping or out to eat would be handy too!
Oh! And don’t forget to make a stop motion video with your kids and
so you can enter to win $5,000!
Good luck! (And don’t forget to leave me any items I forgot to mention!)
Ciao!
