Parents we need your help!
Sep 14, 2015, 6:35 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 1
Parents we need your help!
Hi!
We are two tourism students from the Netherlands. For one of our courses we had to come up with an innovative product. Our idea is to design a travel pack for kids. With this we are looking for an alternative from technology.
The thing is that we don’t have a lot of experience with little kids (say age 2 to 5) and travelling with them. We’d appreciate your expertise with advising us on what the children would like when they have to sit and travel in a car or plane for a certain amount of hours.
For the product we were thinking about some small activities (games, colouring etc.,) and some snacks.
Any ideas are welcome!
Anne & Kayleigh
We are two tourism students from the Netherlands. For one of our courses we had to come up with an innovative product. Our idea is to design a travel pack for kids. With this we are looking for an alternative from technology.
The thing is that we don’t have a lot of experience with little kids (say age 2 to 5) and travelling with them. We’d appreciate your expertise with advising us on what the children would like when they have to sit and travel in a car or plane for a certain amount of hours.
For the product we were thinking about some small activities (games, colouring etc.,) and some snacks.
Any ideas are welcome!
Anne & Kayleigh
Sep 14, 2015, 2:18 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: YWG
Programs: Aeroplan, MileagePlus, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 2,159
A noble endeavour! I have experience at the lower end of that age range as the father of a 2 year old. The tricky thing with kids around that age is, to no one's surprise, their attention spans are short. I know everyone hates on electronics and technology, but for better or for worse it's one of the only things that can keep their attention and keep them quiet, which is a godsend on long flights.
Anyway, you are thinking along the right lines. Parents travelling with kids always have to buy some new things to hold their attention, and getting a package of them could be convenient. I'd look for things like:
-a small storybook
-an activity/colouring book
-flash cards
-a simple puzzle
-a few small toys... my son loves toy cars, for instance...
Not sure about snacks as every kid will likely have very particular tastes, and besides, they could go stale while the item sits on a store shelf.
I actually bought a Curious George travel pack recently that incorporates a few of those things. I'll be testing it out on an overseas trip next week
Good luck!
Anyway, you are thinking along the right lines. Parents travelling with kids always have to buy some new things to hold their attention, and getting a package of them could be convenient. I'd look for things like:
-a small storybook
-an activity/colouring book
-flash cards
-a simple puzzle
-a few small toys... my son loves toy cars, for instance...
Not sure about snacks as every kid will likely have very particular tastes, and besides, they could go stale while the item sits on a store shelf.
I actually bought a Curious George travel pack recently that incorporates a few of those things. I'll be testing it out on an overseas trip next week
Good luck!
Sep 14, 2015, 7:41 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: BOS-TLV
Programs: Lots of them, no status
Posts: 1,318
I think some key points for a product such as this are:
1. It has to be easy for the parents to carry when the kid inevitably bags out on wearing/pulling it. So some kind of luggage strap system that would attach to a parent's rolling luggage is a must.
2. Kids love to assemble/disassemble things. So while something like Legos is fun and keeps them quiet and busy, the potential for dropping one of the tiny pieces and causing a big problem is very real. However, something like paper dolls that you can put different clothes on or something like colorforms where they can make different scenes and use and reuse the stickers several times so the product gets a lot of mileage. (Colorforms - I wasn't sure they still made them!: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/toys...-game/19866645)
3. Other ideas include sticker mosaics where there is a book of stickers, and each has to be applied to certain places to complete the picture.
4. Other fidget toys I've used in the past include things like the rubik snake.
5. This is actually an idea out of the Turkish Airlines kids' pack my kids got on a recent trip, but some toy binoculars (that actually worked!) was fun.
6. Then maybe a special mini blanket and small stuffed animal to cuddle with.
1. It has to be easy for the parents to carry when the kid inevitably bags out on wearing/pulling it. So some kind of luggage strap system that would attach to a parent's rolling luggage is a must.
2. Kids love to assemble/disassemble things. So while something like Legos is fun and keeps them quiet and busy, the potential for dropping one of the tiny pieces and causing a big problem is very real. However, something like paper dolls that you can put different clothes on or something like colorforms where they can make different scenes and use and reuse the stickers several times so the product gets a lot of mileage. (Colorforms - I wasn't sure they still made them!: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/toys...-game/19866645)
3. Other ideas include sticker mosaics where there is a book of stickers, and each has to be applied to certain places to complete the picture.
4. Other fidget toys I've used in the past include things like the rubik snake.
5. This is actually an idea out of the Turkish Airlines kids' pack my kids got on a recent trip, but some toy binoculars (that actually worked!) was fun.
6. Then maybe a special mini blanket and small stuffed animal to cuddle with.
Sep 29, 2015, 2:18 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond, UA Silver
Posts: 1,366
The coloring supplies (paper, crayons/markers/pencils) are a must. My kids always enjoy it when they get an activity book on the plane (basically a coloring book with some little puzzles and games); even if the book quality isn't great, it is new and different so it keeps them for a while. Between the ages of 2 and 5 my son did very well with little action figures and little plastic animals. I also agree with the previous poster regarding building toys- we had a set of foam pieces and plastic pegs that could be assembled into little structures; it kept the kids entertained for hours; the set was large enough that it wasn't a problem if we lost a piece here or there. Silly putty also worked quite well at that age.
Dec 6, 2015, 12:17 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,404
Not sure what they are called, but one of those large grid surfaces that respond to a magnetised 'pen' so that they can be drawn and written on and then swiped clean would be welcome in a pack - generally the 'pen' is attached by a chord. Allows for lots of creativity without any bulk or requiring accessories that can be dropped.
There is another kind not made of hard plastic that requires a pen filled with fresh water, it's a flexible fabric which stains when wet and dries out quickly - which makes the marks disappear. Recommend that the pen comes with a cord attached to the writing mat. Agreed that it's a little bit of a faff for the parents to fill up the pen with water, but it's doable on a plane and I think it's worth the hassle. No chance of staining a fellow passenger's clothes with ink.
I hate jigsaws and flash cards in activity packs, impossible to keep track of the pieces.
Books that allow kids to create different people or animals (each page is divided into three, one can turn over the head, body or legs to make endless combinations) can keep a young child's interest for some time. Although I have seen them for different occupations, have never seen one allowing mixing and matching of traditional clothing and costumes.
Despite my not liking too many bits, a flat "kitchen" where the equipment and food can be attached by Velcro could be fun. On a similar theme, kids might be allowed to design their own aircraft meals. Or felt shapes onto a Velcro type background of any theme would work (I'd recommend that they are stored on another Velcro surface and so transferred from one to be arranged on another to help prevent them from sprawling everywhere)
A small kaleidoscope to look through would be another toy that many kids would enjoy (perhaps made to look like binoculars). A few airline related shapes could make their way into the mix.
All of these suggestions should be able to be branded easily.
There is another kind not made of hard plastic that requires a pen filled with fresh water, it's a flexible fabric which stains when wet and dries out quickly - which makes the marks disappear. Recommend that the pen comes with a cord attached to the writing mat. Agreed that it's a little bit of a faff for the parents to fill up the pen with water, but it's doable on a plane and I think it's worth the hassle. No chance of staining a fellow passenger's clothes with ink.
I hate jigsaws and flash cards in activity packs, impossible to keep track of the pieces.
Books that allow kids to create different people or animals (each page is divided into three, one can turn over the head, body or legs to make endless combinations) can keep a young child's interest for some time. Although I have seen them for different occupations, have never seen one allowing mixing and matching of traditional clothing and costumes.
Despite my not liking too many bits, a flat "kitchen" where the equipment and food can be attached by Velcro could be fun. On a similar theme, kids might be allowed to design their own aircraft meals. Or felt shapes onto a Velcro type background of any theme would work (I'd recommend that they are stored on another Velcro surface and so transferred from one to be arranged on another to help prevent them from sprawling everywhere)
A small kaleidoscope to look through would be another toy that many kids would enjoy (perhaps made to look like binoculars). A few airline related shapes could make their way into the mix.
All of these suggestions should be able to be branded easily.
Last edited by LapLap; Dec 6, 2015 at 12:25 pm