How Do We Keep Our Little One Busy at the Airport?

Navigating the airport is the first big part of the journey - and depending on how early you arrive, how long your layover is or whether your flight gets delayed, you may have quite a bit of time to fill before you ever get on the plane.

There’s no magic solution that will suddenly make your child immune to airport boredom. But we’ve found a few ways to use the airport itself to our advantage - especially when ideas (or patience) start running low.

Save the good stuff for the plane

If you’re flying with a child, chances are you already have a bag filled with snacks, activities and entertainment. Those are absolutely there when you need them - an airport meltdown, a long restaurant wait or any other moment when you just need something that works.

But when we can, I try not to dip into that stash too early.

Once you’re on the plane, you’re pretty limited to whatever you brought with you, plus whatever in-flight entertainment might be available. At the airport, you still have space to move around, things to see and places to explore. I’d rather take advantage of those first and save our packed entertainment for when we’re stuck in our seats.

Sometimes, just walk

It sounds almost too simple to count as entertainment, but walking around the airport can go a surprisingly long way.

If your child is in a stroller, even doing laps through the concourse gives them changing scenery and something new to look at. If they’re walking, it gives them a chance to move before they’re expected to sit on an airplane.

During one of our son’s worst airport meltdowns, we were coming home from a long trip to Belgium. We had access to the Polaris lounge during our layover, which normally would have been a great place to wait. Unfortunately, he was jet lagged, our flight was delayed and sitting quietly in a lounge was absolutely not happening.

So my husband and I took turns leaving the lounge with him and going on long walks through the terminal. There was nothing particularly exciting about what we were doing - but the movement and change of scenery helped calm him down, and sometimes that’s really all you need.

Look for a play area before you travel

One of the first things I look up before a trip is whether the airports we’ll be flying through have a children’s play area, playground or anything else that might be fun to explore - particularly if we know we’ll have a longer layover.

Airport websites can be a great resource, and there are also lists online that can give you a head start. The Parking Spot, for example, has a helpful roundup of kid-friendly airport activities and play areas. It isn’t exhaustive - we’ve definitely encountered play areas in airports that aren’t included - but it can point you in the right direction.

When we find one, we’re usually happy to park ourselves there for a while and let our son play. He gets to run around, we get a break from endlessly wandering the terminal, and hopefully he burns off a little energy before the flight.

And perhaps most importantly: we haven’t touched the airplane entertainment stash yet.

Find the airplanes

If there’s no playground nearby, find a big window.

Watching airplanes take off, land and move around the tarmac is already pretty interesting to a lot of kids, and you can stretch that entertainment surprisingly far. Count the airplanes. Look for different colors or airline logos. Watch the baggage carts and guess what they might be carrying. Find the biggest airplane you can see.

You don’t necessarily need to invent an elaborate activity. Sometimes you just need to take something they’re already interested in and keep the conversation going a little longer.

Let the airport become the activity

Sometimes the thing that entertains your child won’t be something you could have planned ahead of time.

On one trip, we had a somewhat long - and extremely early - layover in Frankfurt. We were all running on fumes and trying to keep our son from crossing into meltdown territory until we could get on the next flight and let him sleep.

Then, walking toward our gate, we found our entertainment: the moving walkways.

He thought they were the coolest thing in the airport. He wanted to ride the entire series, turn around, go back to the beginning and do it all over again.

Was repeatedly riding moving walkways my idea of an exciting morning in Frankfurt? Not exactly. But it kept him happy, we weren't getting in anyone’s way, and he was perfectly content standing to the side and watching the airport move past him.

Good enough for us!

And when all else fails...

Use the stash.

There’s a reason you packed it.

If we still have some time to kill before boarding, I’d personally start with something like coloring or another simple activity before pulling out downloaded shows or movies. Once screen time starts, I find it harder to make it feel new again when we actually need it on the plane.

And if you’re dealing with a long layover, take advantage of the downtime to charge every device you brought and download anything new you might need. Future-you, several hours into the next flight, may be very grateful.

Use the Airport First

The airport has something the airplane doesn’t: space and options. Walk the concourse, find a play area, watch the planes or embrace the random moving walkway your child suddenly thinks is the greatest attraction on earth.

We try to use those options while we have them and save the activities we packed for the plane, when our choices become much more limited.

And if nothing else works? That entertainment bag is there for a reason.

Last updated: September 2026