Do you have any recommendations for a grandma (me) that will be flying to Dubai with a 6 year old girl?
Great question! I can definitely give you some recommendations for your flight with your granddaughter!
Assuming your flight will be a pretty long one, there’s a lot of free time for young ones to get restless, cranky, etc. The first step to keep them entertained is to be prepared.
I highly recommend some of their favorite toys – like a Barbie! However I’d recommend keeping her accessories at home, since those little Barbie shoes tend to get lost easily. I also recommend a coloring book with crayons or colored pencils. You and your granddaughter can color together – and you may be wondering why not markers – if your flight happens to hit turbulence, those markers can go flying and you’ll end up with a lovely blue line across your t-shirt. It doesn’t hurt to bring spare sheets of blank paper either. You can draw pictures of the scenery you see outside of the window or of people around you! You can also bring a game the two of you can play. Stay away from games with lots of pieces, as those can get lost along with Barbie’s shoes. A deck of cards has an unlimited amount of games you can play (and if you want, pick up a cheap card game book for ideas!). Some stores also offer magnetic board games (such as Checkers, Chess, Monopoly, etc.) that have magnetic pieces so they don’t get lost when it starts to get bumpy. The key here is finding activities that will pass the time and both you and her will enjoy.
Next is a trick most travelers’ use when it comes to long flights – sleep as little as possible the night before. This goes for the both of you. The lack of sleep will make it easy for you and her to fall asleep on the flight (and will make a couple hours of the flight disappear!). If you’re going to be flying during the day, pick up a pair of those sleep masks – that way the light won’t interfere with your sleep. A neck pillow wouldn’t hurt either – although to spare spending the extra money, you can loosely roll up a t-shirt that will have the same result.
Chances are your little one will get hungry on the flight – and if your granddaughter is like most young ones I know, they’re picky eaters. Toss a couple baggies of snacks they enjoy (crackers, chips, etc.) and if they’re into fruit, an apple or two wouldn’t hurt either. You can cut up the apple ahead of time to make it easier to eat too. A PB&J sandwich will work wonders when snacks aren’t cutting it - and because none of the ingredients need to be chilled, you don’t have to worry about keeping them cold. Just keep in mind that you want to make your snacks easily portable and not so messy. Don’t forget to bring these in your carry-on… snacks in your checked baggage below the plane won’t do you any good.
If your granddaughter is afraid of turbulence, here’s a learning opportunity! Do some research online about how turbulence works, why it occurs and why you shouldn’t be afraid of it. You can teach her the information you learn! One of my favorite quotes is from the book “Ask the Pilot” by Patrick Smith – “A pilot worries about turbulence the way a sailor might worry about the waves.” They occur naturally and generally aren’t a threat to your flight. Now if she enjoys the turbulence (like my younger sister), let her enjoy the ride!
Last but not least, you can always ask the flight attendants if they have anything to keep youngsters entertained on a flight. Some airlines have things geared to help keep kids busy on their flights.
I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me!
