TAKING THE KIDS : Flight Delayed? Ask About Airport Play Area : San Jose, Denver and other cities have created alternatives to buying children snacks for hours while waiting for a plane.

Eight-year-old Matt stood in the middle of the control tower, studying the electric map of San Jose International Airport, trying to juggle the incoming and outgoing air traffic. That accomplished, he slid down the runway, right between the flashing lights.

Of course he wasn’t sliding down a real runway but a slide at San Jose’s KidPort, a free airport play area designed for children that also allows them to learn something about aviation. It’s a concept that a small but growing number of airports have embraced, although San Jose’s remains the only one in the United States with a strictly aviation theme.

“All airports are trying to be more user-friendly,” said San Jose airport spokeswoman Marily Mora, noting that she is constantly fielding inquiries about KidPort from airport officials around the country. “Traveling with children is very stressful for parents. We’re trying to do what we can to make an airport visit more pleasant.”

Also at the 2-year-old facility: There’s a phone connected to the control tower so that children can listen to the controllers directing airline traffic. Another phone enables kids at the airport to talk to children at the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose.

So far, KidPort is getting high marks from parents, as well as the local community. “People are pleased it’s here. Even people who are dropping off or meeting someone use it. They appreciate that they can get a break.”

There are variations on the theme at a handful of other airports abroad, as well as across the United States, including facilities in Boston; Pittsburgh; Missoula, Mont.; Denver and at New York’s La Guardia Airport.

Abroad, there is a special “Skyfliers” lounge for children at Heathrow Airport outside London. It is open during peak holiday periods such as Easter and during the summer, and offers games, toys, even a refrigerator to store bottles. Supervisors are on hand to act as temporary baby-sitters so that parents can duck out to run quick errands. Japan Airlines just opened a Family Lounge stocked with toys from around the world in its new Terminal II at Narita International Airport near Tokyo. And nearby, in the same terminal, is a children’s play area where kids can run and get a little exercise.

In Denver recently, the kids groaned at the news: Our flight was delayed at least two hours and likely longer. My husband looked exhausted at the mere prospect of spending an afternoon trapped at Stapleton International Airport with two already tired, crabby children. I wondered how much the delay would cost us in overpriced airport snacks and trinkets. Then I remembered Kids Port.

Tucked in an upstairs corner of Stapleton’s main terminal (Concourse C), the 3,500-square-foot Kids Port is an annex to Denver’s Children’s Museum. It provides a variety of interactive exhibits that are fun as well as educational. Whether kids are 2 or 12, it’s an answered prayer for travel-weary parents who have been marooned at the airport with bored, whining children.

“This is so much better than buying them food for hours,” said Janet DeClark of Orange, Calif., who was watching her three young sons rush from one activity to the next at Denver’s Kids Port. “It gives the kids a chance to get their energy out before the flight.”

The children’s center initially cost less than $500,000, an amount that was divided between several corporate sponsors. The airport donated the space. And now, Denver Children’s Museum acting director (the museum runs the airport facility) Loren Behr reports the center is so popular that it supports itself with a $2 child and $1 adult admission.

Miami attorney Jeffrey Swartz was sitting just outside the door working on his laptop while his 10-year-old son played inside with another child. “They’ll be here for more than an hour,” Swartz said with a smile. “It’s great. I wish the Miami airport had one.”

That afternoon, my kids Matt and Reggie whiled away the time jumping in a pit filled with 60,000 balls; imagining they were rock climbing in the Rockies on a special horizontal climbing wall, and checking their heart rates and strength in the “How Am I?” exhibit. There were computer geography games, a magnetic wall to design a wardrobe, even a special area with toys for toddlers.

Clearly, other families have been just as enthusiastic as we were about Kids Port: It’s used by at least 200 people a day during the summer, 100 during the winter. The concept is so successful, reports Behr, that the museum may open two locations in the new Denver airport now under construction. (The old airport will close when the new facility opens.)

In Boston, Logan International Airport’s Kidport has been open for more than five years in Terminal C. It covers 1,000 square feet and includes four play areas filled with kid-size trains, a baggage cart and a fuel truck the children can play on. A message board, programmed by the Boston Children’s Museum, conveys tips for traveling families. Demonstrating the airport’s commitment to families, it has published a free brochure called “When Kids Fly.” (To receive a copy, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Massport Public Affairs, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, Mass. 02116-3971.)

Although the Central Terminal at La Guardia in New York already has a tiny play area equipped with a small jungle gym and view of departing and arriving airplanes, officials are planning a new play area in the airport renovation scheduled for completion next year.

For people heading to the na tional parks, the children’s room at Missoula International Airport in Montana is equipped with a playhouse, rocking horses and slide. “It gets heavily used and kids love it. They get to run all over,” said Don Livasky, assistant director of the airport about the facility that opened in 1988. “More and more families are flying with kids, and if the kids have something to do while they’re waiting for their plane, it helps everybody.” Livasky said he often fields queries from other airport officials interested in the success of the play area.

“I think we’ll see more of these if the level of interest and the numbers of questions we get from other airports is any indication,” Denver’s Behr adds. But not everywhere. A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said because few flights connect in Los Angeles, airport officials see no need for a children’s play area.

Meanwhile, wherever you’re traveling, a positive mind-set--and a little planning--can help make the inevitable airport delays more palatable, even if there is no organized children’s play area available.

“Use the time to engage your kids, to talk to them and explore,” suggested Dr. Lewis Lipsitt, a well-known child psychologist and founding director of Brown University’s Child Study Center. Or stash a few books in your bag, said Los Angeles child psychologist Jill Waterman, who teaches at UCLA. When she travels with her 8-year-old twins, she also makes sure to have new activity books with mazes and word games. Books with chapter-length stories also are good bets. Waterman suggests starting the book the night before to whet the children’s interest, and then pulling it out at the gate.

“You’ve got to be prepared for delays,” Waterman said. “Have a plan and keep moving.”

Taking the Kids invites reader questions and comments about family travel. Address them to: Taking the Kids, 2859 Central St., Box 119, Evanston, Ill. 60201.