Being able To Travel with your little kids is a fantastic opportunity To create some amazing family memories, but THE question is: how do you keep Them busy during The more boring moments of The Trip? Waiting in The airport, long haul flights, boring buss rides, waiting in The hotel room until mom and dad are ready, you can’t name all The occasions you are potentially in need of something To keep your kids busy. For baby’s, Their favourite stuffed animal can already be sufficient but as soon as you end up in The Toddler phase, you will need more Than just his or her sweet buddy. An iPad stocked with The latest movies and games will do The Trick, but after reading This article you will realise This is not a mandatory item and There are a lot of good alternatives.

This being said I want To add That although I want To Take sufficient entertainment along for Little T, I am not a big fan of oversized luggage while Travelling. For This reason I only bring small, multifunctional toys along. Even if you Take along all The Toys we mention in This article, They will still fit Together into a small backpack.

So about which amazing Travel Toys are we Talking?

1. Mini Puzzles (double sided)

For kids who like To puzzle, mini puzzles are a great invention. They are small, There is lots of variation and They will keep your Todds busy for quite some Time. Little T loves The mini puzzles of Crocodile Creek, which are double sided, come in a little matchbox storage container and are available from 24 pieces till 100. The Themes are great, There are robot puzzles, dinosaur puzzles, Solar System puzzles, basically There is a lot To choose from. The boxes are only 12,7×8,9X3,8! His second favourite puzzles are The little puzzle cubes of Petit Collage. The boxes are a little bit bigger but The puzzles are beautifully illustrated. These puzzles are made with recycled paper and only vegetable inks are used. Our conclusion, great pickup Travel item for on The plane.

Most of The Time we Take Two, Two sided puzzles along and one Petit Collage box, which makes 5 puzzles in Total.

2. Mini games (Haba)

In our family we all love To play boardgames. Unfortunately Those boardgames come in big cardboard boxes, which are not ideal To Take along when Travelling. The brand Haba has a great solution for That, some of Their well known games are also available in a Travel edition. As a result we can take Little T’s favourite game along, The Orchard. Haba also has great Travel memory games and games To learn how To count. All very educational and above all small.

in general your little one will be satisfied with one or two haba mini games, depending on The length of The Trip.

3.  Small set of Macformers

Ever heard of Macformers? Well we love These colourful, magnetic shapes which you can use To build all sorts of constructions. Best part is That it is magnetic, so ideal To use on a plane or even in The car. Macformers are not in particular small, but very compact To store, which is a great benefit. They are durable, so no issues if they’ll are get into contact with water, The quality is really Top notch. They have different sets, but our little one especially loves his space wow construction set, which has 22 pieces. Even with This small set, The building possibilities are endless.

4. Sticker books which can also be used for storytelling

Maybe This one is a cliché even so it is still one of The best Travel items To Take along. We always Try To find sticker books That are Travel related, but whatever Theme your little one likes will work. There are not only great To use on planes, in restaurants, cars, and at airports, but also on any occasion when your little one needs distraction. When The sticker book or a part of it is finished you can use The book for storytelling. So no need To Travel with a pile of bed time reading books for your kid. For older Todds There are some fantastic activity books, which also include sticker activities.

Little T loves The sticker books from Usborne, but also other brands are worth looking at.  For The Peppa Pig lovers, well There is a entire collection issued by Ladybird.

5. Magnet books or puzzles

My magic word is magnet it it comes To Travel Toys. Magnet books come in all sorts, sizes and shapes and are a great item To keep your Todds busy for hours.

Also in magnetic puzzles There is a lot of variation. Little T’s favourite ones are The Robot puzzle of Peiit Colllage and The Grimms cars, boat and sun puzzle.

6. Colouring placemat and or water coloring book

Colouring is a great activity for kids To do when They are on holiday. The only Thing you need is a colour book, some pencils and Thats it. Of course if your are Travelling every centimetre of free space you can gain is an asset. This is The reason why we are such a big fan of The colouring silicone placemats from Super Petit. Colour, show off, wipe away and start all over. The silicone placemat comes with markers, however I had Them replaced very quickly by ultra washable alternatives as The original ones left nasty stains on clothing.

In case you want no mess at all, go for the water colouring books. Just put some water in a marker and start colouring. These are especially nice for The younger Toddlers around The age of 2.

7. Easy To build lego

Easy To build Lego is something we often buy on location. Every big city has nowadays at least a lego sales point if not an entire flagship store. We always buy a small box of approximately Ten euro’s so Little T has a nice present To bring home from his Travel and he has something extra To play with during The holiday. The major advantage is, as he already received a present during The Trip There is no need for asking a more expensive Toy at one of The souvenir shops, which are not always very child safe. In case we know up front There will be no Lego To buy at location, we buy a small box at home and Take it along.  I have To admit Ten euros is a small amount To pay if you get hours of complete silence in return.

8. Lace Toys

To exercise fine motor skills, lace toys are an excellent item To add To your Travel Toys collection. They come in different levels of challenge and from The age of 2 you can start with The most easy ones. Little T Loves The collection of wild animals for which he needs To attach The head and The feet To The right animal. Sounds easy, well maybe, but it keeps Them busy for a very long Time.

For older Toddlers I would recommend The lace Toys of Plan Toys, as The assignments The kids need To complete are more difficult and its stimulates Their imagination. We already have our collection in stock for The nearby future.

9. Inflatable ball and or gummy ball

There is nothing more fun in life as To play with a ball. Even if The space in your luggage is limited, There is always a small hole in which you can squeeze and inflatable ball and/ or a gummy ball. If you have The chance, don’t just buy a ball, but buy a small inflatable globe. You can show your kids where you are and Tell interesting stories about The places you crossed To get There.

When I was a kid a gummy ball was a gummy ball. Well Thats not True any more, They come with all sorts of effects and many of Them will have glitter or a light inside, so your gummy ball will change into a disco ball  from The moment you start playing with it.

At The beach, at The pool, while hiking, Take The ball along and enjoy The smile on your kids faces.

10. Smart games – travel edition

New hype but as a parent I am definitely happy with it. The famous smart games have issues some interesting Travel editions. Officially They start as of The age of 5, but There is no reason why a 3 year old would not be able To play. The games combines puzzling with creating mind patterns. There are various challenging levels (starter, junior, Expert, ect.)in each pack, so Todds will not get frustrated if They do not make The click immediately and Todds which are expert in This will also not get easily bored. It’s a great invention To keep The mind active, also The ones of The parents.

This being said I have To admit That on Top of our collection of Travel Toys, we always Take our iPad along, just in case. However we Try To limit or avoid The use of it as much as possible. First reason, because hours of screen Time is not appropriate for The eyes of young children and They will not easily fall into sleep after watching and playing for hours. So in The end The iPad could have an opposite effect of what you are Trying To accomplish. Second reason is That we use it as an ultimate escape item when Things go drastically wrong. In case your are stuck for 10 hours in an airport you will not be able To rescue your sanity with an iPad when your kids already played for hours earlier That day. As a result we have a nice collection of movies and games on our iPad. If you want To know Little Ts favourite apps, just click on The link below. Maybe some of Them will be a good match for your Toddler as well.

Best Travel apps for Kids, Tips from The parents

So pack your bags and don’t worry about entertaining your Toddler on your upcoming Trip. With a good set of Travel Toys, your little ones will stay engaged and occupied The entire vacation.

Cheers,

The parents