Although cheap fares, whether cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms, or cheap vacation packages often provide the means for families to travel, long trips can all too easily result in toddler tantrums, squabbles among siblings, and tweens complaining about being bored.
The following are apps recommended by Practical Traveler that can help stave off meltdowns and keep children entertained:
Elmo Loves ABCs, for iPad, $4.99, comes with plenty of songs, over 80 video clips, 75 coloring pages, and interactive letter games. Give you child headphones so Elmos shrill voice does not drive you crazy.
Memory Train, for iPad and iPhone, $1.99, is an engaging and fun memory game. Badges and peanuts are awarded to children who help Spacey the Elephant remember colors, shapes, numbers, and other objects spotted from the train. Given that this is a visually based app, it can be played with the sound turned off for children without headphones on extended flights.
My Playhome, for iPad and iPhone, $2.99, is a virtual dollhouse where characters fry eggs, brush their teeth and change stereo CDs, among many other activities. It provides open ended play with no scores kept or stress created.
Highlights Hidden Pictures, for iPad and iPhone, $1.99, hides hundreds of objects in illustrations that turn from black and white to color when found. Parents love this app on long trips because hunting for hidden pictures requires focus which results in peace and quiet for extended periods of time.
Stack the States, for iPad and iPhone, 99 cents, makes geography fun. Correct answers results in rewards from cute cartoon characters.
Tales2Go, for iPad and iPhone, free for 30 days, then $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year, comes with over 1,600 audio books. Good storytelling encourages listening skills and imagination as well as providing adults with a little break.
Weird but True, for iPad and iPhone, $1.99, provides the right amount of quirky and gross. It shares over 300 wacky factoids from the National Geographic Kids.
Caseys Contraptions HD, for iPad, $2.99, is a physics based app that encourages kids to think outside of the box. Players create Rube Goldberg-like machines with a wide range of objects, from slingshots to balloons, to solve puzzles and recover Caseys toys.
Scribblenauts Remix, for iPad and IPhone, $2.99, is an app where players spell words in order to bring objects to life. This is a new version of the Warner Brothers cartoon game that became popular on Nintendo DS. www.cheapfares.com