Best Apps for Children While Traveling

If you’ve ever been on a long flight with a toddler, you know that anything from the pressure hurting their little ears, to cramped conditions, to being tired can result in a very upset child. While we shouldn’t just toss electronics at our children, there are some fun, educational, and entertaining apps that can help little kids survive those long hours on a flight. Here are some good ones to consider:

PBS Kids Video

If your kids enjoy Daniel the Tiger, Arthur, or any of the other fantastic shows on PBS, why not take them with you? Download the PBS Kids app on your phone for free and get access to all of these shows. Unfortunately, this app requires a WiFi connection to work. If you are on a plane and don’t feel like springing for the WiFi, this won’t help much. But if you have a long layover in an airport, this might just save your sanity.

YouTube Kids

Just like traditional YouTube, this app lets you--or your kids--choose short videos to stream. The benefit of this app is that the content and the advertisements are child appropriate. You don’t have to worry about your kids getting into things that they shouldn’t. So, if your child likes a certain song (as most children do) they can enjoy it as many times as they like. You might want to bring headphones along too. Again, this option might only be feasible during layovers because of the WiFi issue.

Feed The Animals

People say that video games are rotting our kids’ brains, and while that may be true there are also loads of great educational options out there. Many of these are for free! If you want your children to brush up on their ABC’s, numbers, and animal names while on the go, check out Feed The Animals with Alphabet. This app not only helps your kids learn letters, it also teaches how to trace them and how to spell animal names. Plus, it’s fun.

Kids Doodle

Is your child a burgeoning artist? The Etch A Sketch is a classic, but this old-school toy can take up quite a bit of luggage space and the pictures aren’t very colorful. Fortunately there are dozens of free apps that will let your kids tap into their creative potential while you catch a little shuteye on the flight. Kid Doodle, is an awesome, highly rated, example to take a look at. The colors are a fun neon against a black background that should catch your kids’ attention and let them create something cool.