How To Create a Dramatic Play Airport

Airports are busy, exciting places — and now you can bring that energy right into your classroom or in your playroom! An airport dramatic play area gives kids the chance to role-play travel, explore new jobs, and practice important skills like literacy, math, and fine motor control. Plus, it’s a great way to encourage teamwork and problem-solving.

To make it easy, I’ve created a printable dramatic play airport set packed with everything you need—signs, boarding passes, passports, laptops, checklists, and more—so your classroom is ready for takeoff without the hours of prep. Perfect for a transportation theme or transportation preschool unit, this set turns pretend play into powerful learning.

Choose Areas for Your Pretend Airport

To make your airport dramatic play area come to life, it helps to think of it in smaller “stations” or zones. Each one represents a part of a real airport and gives kids a chance to explore different jobs and experiences.

You don’t have to set up everything—choose the areas that work for your space, your time, and your kids. Even one or two stations can create hours of pretend play, fun, and learning opportunities.

Possible stations include:

• Check-In Counter for issuing tickets and luggage tags
• Security Checkpoint for “scanning” passengers and bags
• Boarding Gates for passenger announcements and ticket scanning
• Airplane Cabin for in-flight service
• Cockpit for your pilots
• Control Tower to direct flights
• Baggage Claim for luggage pickup

Gather Materials and Props

Your printable set will give you all the signs, tickets, role tags, control panels, and props you need. Here are a few extras you can add to make things even more realistic:

• Chairs and small tables
• Clipboards and pens
• Toy phones or walkie-talkies
• Suitcases, lunchboxes, or small coolers for luggage
• Rolling cart for “in-flight” snacks
• Flashlights for a boarding pass scanner
• Headphones for pilots and the control tower
• Old game controllers for flight controls
• Name tag lanyards
• Bathroom scale for a luggage scale
• Wagons, tricycles, or boxes with string handles to serve as luggage trucks.
• Maps, travel brochures, travel books

Mixing real objects with pretend props makes the whole setup feel more authentic for your little travelers.

Dress-Up Clothing IDEAS

While special costumes aren’t required, adding a few dress-up options can make your airport dramatic play center feel even more realistic. Kids love slipping into character, and simple clothing pieces can help them imagine they’re pilots, flight attendants, or security staff.

Look for inexpensive items at thrift stores or garage sales, and keep it simple—no need for full costumes. Blue or white dress shirts work perfectly for pilots, flight attendants, and security roles. Add pilot hats, safety vests, or red/blue vests for variety. Use baseball hats for security guards, luggage handlers, or ground crew.

The set includes printable logos, security badges, and pilot wings for an extra special touch. Attach them to plain clothing to give kids that “official” feel.

For your airport ground crew, cut orange pool noodles into short lengths or cover lint rollers with bright orange paper. Kids will love using these to “guide” planes to the gate.

Inexpensive Luggage Props

There is a lot of luggage at the airport, so you’ll want to include some in your setup. You can turn mailing boxes into instant suitcases by wrapping them in bright paper and adding ribbon handles. Keep an eye out for child-size rolling or carry-on suitcases at garage sales. Even insulated lunchboxes or small soft-sided coolers work perfectly as small pretend luggage.

Managing Role Play in your Pretend Airport

Role cards and name tags help define jobs in the airport dramatic play area, making it clear to both the child wearing the tag and their peers what role they’re playing. This set includes name tags for: Pilot, Co-Pilot, Air Traffic Controller, Flight Attendant, Passenger, Baggage Handler, Aircraft Marshaller, and Ticket Agent.

Keeping the peace in a busy dramatic play area is much easier when everyone knows their job and when it’s their turn. Use the printable role tags on lanyards to clearly assign responsibilities—no more “I was the pilot first!” debates. The reservation and employee schedule sheets double as sign-up forms, giving kids a chance to manage turns and sneak in extra name-writing practice

Kids can flip through the printable role card book to learn what each job does before they get started. It’s like their very own training manual! And with the included pre-flight checklists for pilots, air traffic controllers, and flight attendants, they can make sure every step is complete before takeoff.

How to Set Up Each Area of Your Airport

Now it’s time to bring your dramatic play airport to life! I’ll walk you through ideas for setting up each area, but remember—you know your kids, your classroom, and your space best. Feel free to mix, match, and adapt. Use what you already have on hand, add in the printables, and don’t stress about making it picture-perfect. The most important thing is that your kids have fun and get into the experience.

How to Set Up a Check-In Area

Create a check-in counter for your pretend airport by using a table or desk, and attach the “Check-In” station sign to the front. Hang the airport banner above the desk, and place the arrival and departure boards on the wall behind it so the space feels like a real airport.

Stock the counter with a reservation sheet on a clipboard, a crayon, printable laptop or toy keyboard, and bins for boarding passes and luggage tags.

I love sneaking in some fine motor fun. Don’t forget to add pipe cleaners and a hole punch so kids can complete the luggage tags. Your kids can also use the hole punch on the boarding pass.

If you have a bathroom scale, set it beside the counter so the ticket agent can “weigh” each bag during check-in. Bags can then be placed in a wagon or box for the baggage handler to load onto the plane.

Once IDs are checked, the ticket agent can fill out and hand each passenger their boarding pass and send them on to security and boarding.

How to Set Up a Security Area

Now, I’ll admit, in real life, I dread airport security. But this is one security area that everyone will enjoy going through. You can set this up with two main stations: a body scanner and a baggage scanner.

Body Scanner
Make a simple walk-through arch from a large cardboard box. You can also attach balloon sticks to sturdy cardboard squares, then tape strips of paper to the balloon strips. Tape the printable footprints to the floor so kids know where to stop as they walk through to be scanned. Don’t forget to add some printable control panels so your “security agent” can press buttons and “scan” each passenger.

Baggage Scanner
Grab a medium-sized moving box and fold all the flaps inside to create an opening for bags. If the box feels floppy, tuck a pool noodle or rolled cardboard inside, along the edges for support. To make the scanner curtain, cut duct tape strips twice the height of the opening, fold them sticky-sides together, and attach them side-by-side across the top.

Tape the printable X-ray image to the side and the control panel to the top for a realistic look. Place the box on a table or shelf and supply small bins or trays so kids can load luggage, push it through, and collect it on the other side.

How to Set Up a Boarding Gate

Once passengers have cleared security, it’s time to wait for boarding at the gate. Use the printable Gate 1 and Gate 2 signs to set up one or two gates—whatever works best for you. Set up a few rows of chairs for a realistic waiting area, or group them in small clusters so kids can “chat” before their flight.

Place a small desk or table at the boarding point for the flight attendant to check passes. A flashlight makes a perfect pretend scanner, and a phone or walkie-talkie adds to the fun when making boarding announcements. Don’t forget to attach the printable control panel near the plane’s entrance so the crew can “open the door.” Suddenly, you’ve got a boarding process that feels just like the real thing (minus the delays!).

How to Set Up a Pretend Airplane Cabin

Once passengers “board,” it’s time to get comfy in the cabin! Arrange chairs in rows for your seating area, and add printable seat numbers so kids can find their spots. Tape printable windows to the wall beside your “window seats” so travelers can enjoy the view. They also will enjoy making their own window views.

A small rolling cart works perfectly for in-flight service. Stock it with cups and pretend snacks so flight attendants can serve passengers. Hang the flight attendant checklist nearby—on the wall or a clipboard hook—so it’s easy to follow during play. For an authentic touch, add a phone or radio so attendants can make announcements mid-flight.

How to Set Up a Pretend Cockpit

Every plane needs a cockpit, and this one will make your little pilots feel ready for takeoff. Attach two printable control panels to the wall at seated eye level, and place a table in front to serve as the control desk. Old game controllers make perfect steering controls, and add a pair of well-loved headphones for some official “pilot-to-tower” communication.

Keep things organized with a laminated pre-flight checklist on a small clipboard and a laminated flight plan on a larger one—ready to reuse again and again. Set up two chairs so the pilot and co-pilot can sit side-by-side, checking instruments and discussing their route before they give the all-clear to the cabin crew.

Set Up an Air Traffic Control Center

Turn your young learners into confident air traffic controllers with a simple setup. Use a foam board display board with printable radar screens, and add a desk or table for the controller’s station. A printable keyboard and a pair of old headphones make the setup complete—perfect for communicating with pilots.

Place this station slightly away from the airplane cabin so it feels like its own important space. Keep a control tower checklist nearby so your little controllers can track each flight, give takeoff and landing clearance, and keep the “airspace” running smoothly.

Baggage Claim

Label a small table or box as the baggage claim area. When the plane “lands,” the baggage handler can set out the luggage, and passengers can collect their bags before heading off.

Learning Opportunities in the Airport Dramatic Play Center

While this pretend airport is loads of fun, it is also packed with real learning. Here’s what kids are soaking up while they’re flying off to their next pretend destination:

Early Literacy

Kids can read signs, labels, and forms. They can practice writing their names and fill out passports, journals, and boarding passes. Plus, they will learn new vocabulary through role-play conversations.

Social-Emotional Skills

Taking turns as the pilot, passenger, or security officer helps children practice cooperation, problem-solving, and clear communication. It’s also a great chance to learn empathy—sometimes you’re the one waiting in line, and sometimes you’re the one helping others.

Early Math

From counting passengers and writing seat numbers to matching times on the arrival board, math sneaks naturally into dramatic play. They’re doing math without even realizing it.

Early Science

Kids begin to understand how air transportation works, from the role of the control tower to why baggage gets scanned.

Fine Motor Skills

Completing luggage tags, punching holes in boarding passes, and writing in journals provide opportunities to build strength in little hands.

Set Up a Dramatic Play Airport Today

Are you ready to set up your own airport and pretend airplane? With boarding passes, passports, signs, and everything else ready to print, you can set up your airport without the stress.

Grab your set now and get ready for takeoff!

Additional Dramatic Play Ideas for Your Kids