We’re flying cross-country next month with our 5-year-old, and I’m terrified of the in-flight boredom. Snacks and movies only go so far. I’ve heard of people packing ‘activity kits’ but I don’t even know where to start. What’s something creative and screen-free you’d pack to keep a child occupied on a plane? Needs to be lightweight and mess-free.

I totally get the flight anxiety with kids, we did something similar last year. One thing that helped so much was packing a little travel pouch with small printouts (from coloring2kids), a compact set of crayons, a few sticker sheets, and a foldable felt board with interchangeable shapes. The coloring2kids pages are especially great because they’re light, quiet, and keep him busy without creating chaos.