Living on Jersey means that anytime we want to go on holiday or visit family we have to fly. As a result of this we have become quite good at keeping our young children entertained on flights and in airports. Here are our top tips;

1. At the airport take them to the shop and let them choose a magazine to read on the plane. They will be amazed that 1) you are actually buying them a magazine when you normally shout no citing it as a waste of money as they won’t actually read it and will end up breaking the free plastic tat on the front cover within ten minutes of getting home. 2) They will be astounded by the choice, don’t do as your normally would and steer them to the cheapest one, stand back. This will kill time at the airport and will also fill time on the plane.
2. Take your trunki. Pulling them around on the trunki makes it a lot easier than having to carry them and their luggage. Just try not take out other passengers as you dash to the plane, dragging your children behind you at speed.
3. Take a tablet or laptop and download games and programmes. The iPad is hypnotic, I swear.
4. Plan your time on the plane. Divide your flight into 15-20 minute slots and have different activites lined up for each slot. For example first 20 minutes magazine, second 20 minutes game on iPad etc. This is crucial, you need to move from one activity to the next as children have an attention span that’s not much better than a goldfishes.
5. Take sweets and snacks to distribute throughout the journey as a reward for good behaviour. We are all about the bribery.
6. Sticker books. This will keep them entertained but be prepared to find yourself covered in stickers.
7. Take their favourite comforter (and cross your fingers) so that they can get to sleep.
8. Sweets for the other passengers. Some people recommend sharing sweets with other nearby passengers as a form of bribery should your child start misbehaving. I’m not sure what I think about this one, surely shouting “drinks are on me” would be a much more effective form of bribery.
9. Let your child loose on the inflight trolley, let them choose drink or snack from the trolley.
10. Play scavenger hunt with the inflight magazine. Find something that begins with A etc.

These are our top tips. If all fails then knock yourself out with several minatures and the plane journey will just seem like one jolly jaunt. Do you have anything that works well for you, apart from booze?