Flying With Kids

We've all watched those sitcoms where an actor sees a child walking toward his seat and a voiceover screams, "Please don't let that kid sit next to me!" I know I've been on flights and wondered if I was going to make it from one coast to the other because the children seated next to me were upset about flying, super-loud or downright out of control on the plane.

Now that I'm a mom, I'm the one boarding a plane with children and knowing every person on the flight hopes I'm not seated next to them. You can practically hear the passengers exhaling in relief as we move past their row.

What they don't know is that my boys are great travelers. My older son boarded his first plane when he was 1, walked through security by himself at the young age of 3 1/2 and at 4 1/2 years old he "read" the in-flight magazine as we flew from one coast to the other over the summer. My younger boy took his first plane ride at the age of 7 months just a few months ago and has now logged close to 5,000 miles in the sky.

We've spent a lot of time on the ground preparing for our plane trips in advance of the big day. And it's been a lot of fun.

Turn your kids into master air travelers before the airplane taxis down the runway. From going through security to simulating a flight, try 10 fun activities to prepare your kids for flying on an airplane. You'll have a great time together, and they'll be ready to hit the skies without fearing the unknown. These are the same activities we've done at our house, and they're fun even if you don't plan on traveling!

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