Keeping the kids happy on the plane and what to do in Edmonton

[leonsfangirl]

Right

Got a 9 hour flight to keep 2 children entertained on and i'm looking for tips from my fellow parents. Anything to help them (and me) stay sane.

And, if anyone has any ideas on where we can go while we are in the beautiful Edmonton that would be appreciated too!

[snow_girl]

Do they read? Colouring books? There should be inflight movies they can watch, there is always a kids section full of movies. Also looking out the window can be pretty cool.

Fort Edmonton Park is pretty neat, its the old settlements where they built a fort and traded. Also West Ed mall, there is the theme park and water slides there. Ummmmmm......the zoo is shit, I wouldn't bother with that one but Calgary zoo is amazing and can be easily done in a day trip. You could take a short trip to the mountains? I will have a think and see what else I can come up with.

[Jazi]

My step grandma is English and would fly back to the UK with my aunt and uncle a lot when they were kids. The in-flight entertainment back then was just ONE TV for each section, with only one movie playing.. Nightmare for child entertainment...

anyway, The kids would usually take their own favourite things for entertaining (books, games, etc..) BUT she would also always pre-pack little things to entertain the kids in her own carry-on and not tell them what she had. During the flight when they were acting up and needed some extra entertaining she would pull out her little treats; a bag of lollies, crisps, any kind of fun food that kids love (and pass security), colouring books, a new toy, a puzzle.. etc. I'm sure you could find a lot of good ideas at dollar store, or hit up targets kids section.

My Aunt still occasionally mentions how fun it was to fly long distance with all the little things her mum would pull out for entertainment. Of course it would be A TON easier with the individual entertainment screens now.. But I still think the idea would apply and be very successful

Edit - I know I'm not a parent, I hope my advice still applies

[MadMolly]

Go to Elk Island! It's awesome! I don't know how the weather is but camping could be an option. And yeah the zoo is really bad hahaha, I went there and was like... wow this sucks. Though they did have some NZ birds which I wasn't expecting to see so I got to chat with the cute zookeeper about them

Kids LOVE the theme park/water park in West Ed mall of course. I wish I had a kid with me when I went so I had an excuse to go on all the rides :P

[blankita719]

Books can be good. Handheld games, but they have to be conservative with them since the charges won't last probably that long. Do either of them like legos? Maybe a small lego kit that they can bring on the plane and put together to play with. Or some sort of other simple, non-glue or glitter involved craft idea? A deck of cards can go a long way too. A visual scavenger hunt - like, if they see a passenger wearing a red hat, or a passenger with a baby...you could create any sort of list.

[leonsfangirl]

Thank you!

We have books (both reading and colouring) and DS consoles ready to go. The scavanger hunt idea is brilliant, will make lists for them. Lego we have too, and that should help keep my eldest settled (calms his "Apergerisims" his name for it not mine)

Thanks for the warnings about the zoo, i did want to go but no i think i'll give it a miss!