At the Airport with Children

If you live in Georgia, the major airport of the area is Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

As with any major airport, delays, or just plain long layover connections, are to be expected. If you and your family happen to be part of the passengers stuck at the airport, here are a few suggestions that, hopefully, will help you alleviate the stress of the wait.

Most likely, if you are accustomed to travel with children, your carry-on luggage will already be filled with items to keep them entertained. However, those items were probably destined to keep them occupied during the flight and you would like to still keep it that way. So, what can you do to distract them as you wait for your next flight?

Here are some games my children found interesting and fun over the fourteen years of international travel.

• Count the ... any item you can see - green shirts, black shoes, etc.: have your children count how many people they can find in a certain amount of time with that specific item. If you only have one child, you may want to set a minimum number of the specific item. You can do this from your boarding area or as you walk around the concourse.

• Make up a story: have the children pick a passenger they find interesting. They are to imagine what they do (lawyer, doctor, spy, etc.) and build a story around it. For example, the lawyer is traveling to ... (your destination or the one across from your boarding area) because he will defend a very important person in an upcoming trial about ... (invent something, even if it seems too absurd to be real).

• Draw that person. Do you recall the game where your friend would start writing a story? They would write two lines, then cover the first one and you had to continue the story based on what the last line said? Then you covered all but your last line and passed it on to the next person? This game works the same, except you draw the person. The first one will start with the hat (or hair) and then would cover the drawing. The next person (another child or an adult) will then draw the face and cover it, then pass it on to another family member. You will continue with the steps until the person has been completed. Now... uncover it.... Did you end up with a boy's face in a bathing suit top, pants, high heels, and a pink ribbon in his hair?

• Along the same line, you can have your children draw an imaginary person using one item per passenger they see. For multiple children, you can divide your boarding area into sections and will give each child a different one. If you want to add a twist, after the drawing is done, the children have to guess which passengers they each drew their idea from.

• Need another idea that lets them move around? Try this one. If you are at the international concourse, have your children list the different destinations. If your children are old enough, have them list the country each destination belongs to. For extra points, let them identify the continent in which the country is found. If you are at a national concourse, have them identify the cities and the states they are in.

Hopefully, you will not have to play these games for long, as your flight will be on time or your travel agent found you the right connection. However, in case either situation does not materialize, I hope you will find these ideas helpful in relieving the stress of a long wait.