Spend an Afternoon at the Airport with Your Children

This is not an article about flying anywhere. Rather, this is about spending time at the local airport for an educational and fun visit to watch what happens at the airport. Possibly this will work better where airports are not extremely busy, although that depends on the age and temperament of your children - and you! It is not recommended for children under the age of 7, as they will be less interested in learning and will possibly cause you to tear your hair out looking for them when they run off somewhere. You'll be the best judge of your child's ability to cope with this sort of outing; generally it will work for the age range 7 - 12, when children are fascinated by how things work and what people do.

Steps

 * 1)  Choose a suitable time to go to the airport. A weekend can be a great time to visit. Go at a time that you can get a good place to park. This might mean a morning rather than an afternoon, but that's fine too. Or take the airport shuttle, train, or other public transport and save yourself the hassle of driving and parking. This is as much a part of the learning experience as the visit itself.
 * 2)  Be prepared to pay more for food for the day. This is balanced out by the fact that you don't have to pay any entrance fees or ride fees, so it all evens out. You could take your own food but that would spoil the fun of trying what there is on offer at the airport.
 * 3) Plan for different observational activities. Depending on your children's interests, there are a variety of possible things to do:
 * 4) *Watch the planes taking off and landing. Find a good window that provides ample view of this activity. A good half hour or more can be spent watching this happen, especially in busier airports.
 * 5) *Watch the passengers boarding. If it is possible to see the passengers go on at the airport you are visiting, it can be fun for kids to watch them. They can even wave if they want to. If they can see the plane that the passengers are boarding, they can watch for passengers sitting at their seats.
 * 6) *Watch the aircraft maintenance. This part can fascinate mechanically-minded children for ages, even hours. There are so many things that can be done to a plane when it is undergoing its checks that children can spend a lot of time guessing what is happening and seeing the activity from start to finish.
 * 7) *Watch the bags go across the tarmac and onto a plane; or watch bags being unloaded. This fascinates children, especially to see the conveyors taking luggage up and the strong baggage handlers throwing luggage in and moving it about.
 * 8) *Watch the plane food being loaded. This will happen from a catering truck and can be a fun thing to see.
 * 9) *Watch the aviation security people driving and walking around the plane areas.
 * 10) *Watch the planes being towed backwards to take them to the runways or hangars. This often involves people walking with the plane as well and is an endless source of fascination for children.
 * 11) Check off interesting planes. Look for the most interesting, colourful and unusual plane designs. Look for planes from different airlines and check them off on a list for the children to compare later.
 * 12) People watch. Sit down and see what people are doing. Things to look for include: ble place to sit. Don't feel guilty spending more on the drinks and food than usual; this is normal for airports and as already said, you should have factored this into your trip as the "expense"orts of things to ask include - did he see a plane being refuelled, did she see the baggage being onloaded, did he see a pilot in his cockpit, did she see a flight attendant putting people's passes through the electronic machines, did he see something take their shoes off at security, etc.
 * Make sure that your children understand the importance of security signs and requirements. Security issues are taken very seriously at all airports.
 * This article can also be suitable in parts for long stays between flights in airports if you need to entertain bored children.
 * Look around outside the airport too if it is a nicely presented airport. Some airports have old aircraft on display, sculptures, statues of aviators etc. that are worth showing the children.

Things You'll Need

 * Good walking shoes
 * Camera for any photos (obey any restrictions on taking photos)
 * Snack allowance