Do you remember your first trip on an airplane? I didn’t board my first flight until I was seven years old. That was more than 25 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Look around airports these days and you see hundreds of young children taking to the skies with their families. My daughter, Taylor, was 6-months-old when she took her first flight from Wisconsin to Hawaii. She was too young to remember it, so when it came time to take our next flight (a year later) my mom thought it would be a good idea to prepare Taylor for her “big trip on the big airplane” with some aviation-themed toys and books. Here are two of our favorites.
Little People Lil’ Movers Airplane
This is a Fisher Price product recommended for kids 3 years and up. However, my two-year-old loves it. The white plastic airplane with palm trees painted on each wing is about 13 inches long and stout, perfect for chubby fingers to grasp. In fact, it has a red easy-carry handle that helps young pilots guide their plane through the air. The set includes a female pilot figure and two passengers. One dressed in Hawaiian print clothing and non-detachable sunglasses the other wearing a dress and flower lei (perfect for the child preparing for a Hawaiian holiday). Both carry non-detachable cell phones. They fit in one of three passenger seats, which are easily accessible by small hands since the plane does not have a roof. The pilot sits in her own seat in the cockpit. Which brings us to the plane’s best feature. When you press down on the pilot’s seat, the airplane’s red lights start to flash and one of five sound effects are activated, including: “Ready for take off. Here we go.” “Welcome aboard. Enjoy your flight.” And a cute and catchy sing-along song: “High and low. High and low. Up in the sky and away we go.” It soon became my daughter’s favorite toy and we used it to discuss what we would be doing on the flight and what fun we would have going “up, up, up in the air to visit grandma and grandpa just like the little people in her toy airplane.” Soon she was bringing me the toy figures and saying, “Mommy, Taylor, big airplane.” In the end, she did great on the flight and still loves to play with her airplane.
“Take-Off”
This is a great book by Nicola Baxter. It is recommended for children ages 3-10, but again, Taylor is two and she loves it. It has bright colorful pictures, lift-the-flap features and 3-D pop-ups. The story follows a family of four (mom, dad, sister, brother) from the moment they arrive at the airport and unload their bags from their car (your young reader can lift the car door flaps to reveal the kids and the trunk to reveal the luggage) to the time they take off (the last page reveals a very large 3-D pop-up airliner that rises about 6 inches off the page). I used the book to show Taylor all the steps involved in getting to grandma and grandpa’s house. The book highlights what happens when you check-in, go through security and it even has a pop-up page of a moving sidewalk, featured at many airports. My daughter’s favorite page is the one that shows the family finally getting into their seats on the airplane. The page is filled with a row of flaps (the overhead bins) and each time she opens one it reveals the passengers bags. I told her that’s where we would be putting our bags and she loved the idea that she would be getting to sit right where the little girl and her teddy bear were sitting. It is a cute book loaded with great detailed illustrations. You can even bring it with you on the day you are “taking-off.”
While there are many aviation-themed products available for kids of all ages, these were the ones that my daughter loved the most. I hope they can help you get your little one prepared for their “big flight,” the way they helped Taylor. Happy Flying.