The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Surviving airports with kids – no gin required
As half term begins, don’t hit the departure lounge with little ones in tow without Hattie Garlick’s guide to coping with travel delays
It is a truth universally acknowledged that airport delays with kids in tow are a unique form of torture. It is bad enough during car journeys. But when you are stuck in an airport, your flight delayed – when you expected to be on a sun lounger by now, and instead you are on a hard floor playing “I spy” for the thousandth time – well, it is then that the true horror of your children’s favourite phrase really strikes home: “Are we nearly there yet?”
When Mumsnet asked its members how to entertain children in the event of this catastrophe, the collective feeling was succinctly summarised by the mother who answered: “‘iPad. Gin.” Another, in slightly more verbose mood, suggested: “valium (for yourself, of course). Praying sometimes helps. So does cursing to yourself.”
But in the (likely) absence of gin, or valium, what should you do when the dreaded delays occur? Never fear – just follow our handy guide, and interminable hours spent air-side can be, if not quite a breeze, at least bearable.
FOOD
DO NOT EAT THE TOBLERONE I know it is tempting. After all, it is supposed to take hours, even weeks, to conquer a mountain. Your kids, however, will demolish it in seconds. The resulting devastation – as sugar erupts in their little bodies – will leave Vesuvius’ impact on Pompeii in the shade.
FIDDLY IS YOUR FRIEND
Look for food that takes a very long time to eat. Especially if you’ve somehow secured a table in one of the terminal’s restaurants. You may be in Leon, where things are supposed to stay civilised, but during delays, it is dog eat dog. Do nothing that might allow others to seize your territory. Raisins are excellent in this situation. Make the children eat them with chopsticks if in any way possible.
FACILITIES
SOFT-PLAY SURVIVAL
Pray that you are delayed at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has not one, not two, but seven playgrounds, plus a butterfly garden housing 1,000 tropical butterflies and a waterfall. Amsterdam’s Schiphol has the world’s first airport library and a playground (Lounge 2, first floor) in which kids can clamber on to and inside a real plane. Dubai Airport boasts an actual trampoline park. South Korea’s Incheon Airport has a family centre, including a maze with Baby Shark in the middle.
Beggars, however, cannot be choosers. Corner a member of staff and get directions to whatever play facilities are available. Each of Heathrow’s terminals has a “stay and play” area (Terminal 3 is home to a family lounge with play areas, nursing facilities, a game zone for tweens and – crucially – coffee for carers). Both Gatwick terminals have kids’ areas. Birmingham’s Sky Zone (by Gate 55) is designed for kids aged up to 13, and Manchester has soft play in Terminal 2. Stansted has none, head straight for its mini Hamleys store instead.
VIEWING GALLERIES
All played out? Proceed to plane-spotting. Heathrow’s observation deck (by Gate 15, Terminal 4) has 270-degree views of the southern runway, plus binoculars and flight-tracking touchscreens. At Stansted, plane spotters rate the windows between Gates 40-59 for take-off and touch-down views. Wherever you are, find a window looking out over a runway, and you can kill time with a game of plane spotting – who can find a red one first? A blue one? Yellow? (You see where this is going...)
DEPARTURE BOARD DREAMING Is your iPad out of juice? Use the oldschool airport version of screen time and decamp to the departure board. You know the game: from the flights scheduled to leave, which would you pick to visit this very moment, and why? Otherwise known as: “if you could be anywhere else right now, where would it be?” (Spoiler: the answer may be in the question – “anywhere else”.)
LOVE THE LOUNGE
Most large airports have family-friendly lounges. They can be expensive, but then, “all you can eat snacks” and comfortable seats during endless delays can be worth their weight in gold. With luck, you can get into one without having pre-booked. Heathrow’s No 1 Lounge at Terminal 3 has its own children’s area, complete with beanbags and mini cinema, plus a family games room with board games and a pool table. Priceless (well, not actually – prices start from £36 per adult and £18 per child).
BAG A BUGGY
Some airports (Lyon and Dubai, for example) offer a buggy-borrowing service inside the terminal (Lyon’s is by the Aelia store). During delays – and in the company of overtired babies and toddlers who need a nap – these are more desirable than a Daimler, so do not fail to ask a staff member if the service is available wherever you get marooned.
GAMES
AIRPORT BINGO
You can actually download and print myriad versions of this game for free (just Google “airport bingo”). If you have failed to think ahead, however, make your own bingo cards. You just need a grid, showing 25 different things you might spot in an airport – a flight attendant, napping child, security guard. First person to tick off five in a row wins.
No paper and pen? No problem. Adapt a classic drinking game. Instead of vodka shots, everyone gets to eat a Smartie/raisin/small snack every time you hear a fellow stranded passenger utter the words “I’m never flying [insert budget airline] ever again.”
SCAVENGER HUNT
If you have the energy to accompany your children around departures, devise a scavenger hunt. In a UK airport, for example, you might ask them to find: a shmaltzy poster of Big Ben and/or William and Kate; a miniature/toy black cab; a magazine in which a “celebrity opens up” about their “nightmare”.
APPY EVER AFTER
Some airports now have their own apps and online games for kids. This summer, for example, Heathrow, launched “Summer Fun with Mr Adventure & Little Miss Explorer”. QR codes around the airport lead to the site, which contains online games and activities to keep kids entertained during their wait. Birmingham’s Sky Zone, meanwhile, features cartoons and audio stories about the airport’s inner workings. Or, more accurately during delays, not-workings.