our favorite travel toys

Ok, so we travel a lot with our kids... to far flung places with long flights and various modes of transportation. And also, our kids love toys (and I love toys). So I'm tempted to say that we have tried almost all the 'travel toys' out there, and this is the BEST list! Our kids are all 8 and under right now - so this covers that full age range (and all different personalities too). We use these toys for the car and the plane (and boat, train, etc.), and we didn't include anything on here that's a waste of space or has just been mediocre (as you don't have time or room for that!)... these toys have worked over and over again for us. Oh and it's the right time of year to say that they make great gifts too!

And now... the details!

• 

• 

Magnetic stuff:

• (1) Smartmax toys (ages 0-3): These are for the younger crowd, and I absolutely love them as toys and especially as travel toys. They most often come in sets of four (vehicles, animals, etc.), and they include 12 pieces in total - 3 for each item. You can either build the sets as they are 'supposed to be' (example above) or you can mix and match. They have super strong magnets, so even the littlest babies can make them work. Oh and they're easy to clean!

• (2) Clixo (ages 1-8): I can't even remember how I found out about these magical things... but (other than iPads) they are the absolute most loved travel toy by all our kids. Hands down. The kids can play with them for impressively long without getting bored... and it seems strange because they are so simple (magnets and a recycled flexible plastic material), but there are a lot of ways for kids to be creative with them. And I mean it when I say all ages. Every time they come out, all four kids are grabbing at them. From the adult perspective, they're lightweight, stick together so pieces don't get lost, easy to clean, so durable, and choking hazard free. They're not cheap, but honestly so worth it for how many hours they'll be entertained! And I liked the bigger size above, but there is also a smaller set here too.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Sticker books: We have so (!!) many sticker books always waiting in the wings for traveling, and here are the 4 favorites at our house:

• (3) Toddler sticker book (ages 1-3): This set has been a huge hit for our youngest (2). The books are smaller than a normal workbook (which is nice for travel), and the scenes are all ones they'd recognize (e.g. put an ice cream cone sticker in each character's open hand). And note that we bought the the whole set (above), but we only actually brought 1 (for space saving) for our last big trip, and it was just right.

• (4) Usborne Little Sticker books (ages 2.5-6): These sticker books come in a dozen different scenes, and our younger girl (3) has loved them all. Note that they aren't reusable like some sticker sets, but there is enough detail on each one that it takes time to get through them.

• (5) Disney Princess Create-A-Scene Book (ages 2.5-6): This is the one you need for your little princess lovers! For the price, there is an unbelieve number of stickers and scenes in here! Plus there is a set of princess coloring pages in the back.

• (6) Paint by Sticker (ages 5-8): For our oldest, we'll usually tear a few pages out of one of these paint by sticker books (that are a little more challenging) and stick it in the backpack.

(7) Window Clings (ages 1-2): These are definitely for the younger crowd, and we usually just pick up seasonal ones (like these) in the dollar section of Target. Little ones love to use them on plane windows, train windows, and bus windows during long drives. They are very cheap, but a warning that they're also limited use... in some cases you can re-use a couple times... but in other cases, they drop to the ground during the first use and are just too gross to re-use. So bring a ziplock with you in hopes you can use them more than once, but don't be too sad if you don't get a second or third use out of them.

(8) Wiki Sticks (ages 3-8): These are waxy sticks that can shape to make anything (2D letters on the tray table, chains having down from the seat in front of you, standing figures, jewelry for stuffed animals...) and they're also a wide age range! They will NOT last forever (they pick up fuzz and hair from wherever they are dropped, but they don't need to at this price) they'll at least last a few uses. This set has a little carrier, but if you get any other version, remember to bring a little ziplock for storage.

(9) Polly Pocket (ages 3-6): We've had these travel Polly Pockets for a couple years now, and even with only half the pieces remaining, at least one is always in our trip bag. I'd say they're best for 3-6 years old, but our youngest honestly started using it at 2 ( just watched carefully due to small pieces). Our older daughter doesn't like dolls at all, but even she loves these sets. And they make them in a few different styles (aquarium, camping, school), so you can find just the right one to fit the kid.

(10) Pack of cards (ages 3-8): So simple and compact - I keep these in all places now... my work bag, both our cars, and of course - the travel backpacks. We even grab souvenir versions when we can find them. They're mostly used by the older kids (WAR!!), but even our 3 year old can play a few games and also likes to organize them. And note that we do pack these instead of board games... I know there are travel board games out there, and we've tried them. But for kids in our age range, we just haven't a great one (meaning one that doesn't take up too much space to play, one that doesn't have the whole game ruined when 1 piece gets lost - hello magnetic chess, etc..). So we stick with these basic cards since they are super flexible and compact!

Art-ish Stuff:

• 

• 

(11) Drawing tablet (ages 2-8): This looks like a 'tablet' but is actually just a hard surface where you draw with an attached stylus and reveal a metallic color underneath. When you're done, you can clear off your drawing by pressing the button at the bottom and then start again! It sounds (and is) simple, but it's another one that has a wide age range. The older kids play longer on it (like even games with each other like hangman) than the little ones, but even the little ones like it. Again it's SO simple and light and thin and durable.... and inexpensive.

(12) Water Wow (ages 1-4): We've had these forever, and they're best with the younger kids. The water is held inside the brush (and it's empty when you buy it so you can just fill it on the plane), and then the pages are "magic" and colors appear as the they "paint" with water. Once you're done, you let the thing dry (and dump the water from the brush) and then do it all over again the next time. I do honestly have several gripes about these: the brush usually gets all smushed up from toddler force, the kids finish the each page in just a couple minutes, they are annoying to store because of the bump the brush causes... but honestly the kids always want to bring one. And they always play with it. And so, these have joined us on almost every trip and make the list here.

• 

• 

Activity books: We have a lot of these waiting in the wings for plane trips and road trips, and these are our favorites so far. Note that we stuck to workbooks for older kids, as they do make workbooks for toddlers, but you won't see any on our travel list here, as the ones that we really love seem to require other materials (e.g. scissors) to be most fun... so, here are the favs:

• (13) Really Fun Activity Book for 7-9 Year Olds (ages 6-9): I think the title of this one says it all. :)

• (14) On the Plane Activity Book (ages 6-9): This book is slightly heavier (only slightly, but sometimes every ounce counts) due to the thicker pages, but it's also beautiful and serves as somewhat of a travel journal too.

• 

• 

• 

• 

(15) Basic Crayons, Colored Pencils, Pencils, and a Mini Sharpener. We put all these supplies in a bag, and we're ready to go. Note that we try to just bring one of each color (for simplicity). And if we didn't have a 2 and 3 year old, we'd probably completely skip crayons (as those do lose their wrappers, get broken, fall off the tray table...). But for now, this is the set we bring everywhere!

(16) Brain Quest Cards: These sets have been so fun for our two oldest kids! They are little quizzes (complete with pictures), and the first set we got I realized they still had a lot to learn about the world! LOL. So I like that they're learning practical stuff while also having fun. They are pretty compact, and even though there is a limited set of questions, they don't seem to run out quickly. Works for us!

Electronics:

• 

• 

• 

(17) Tablet: And of course... we keep kids busy with all the stuff above, but sometimes they just need... drumroll.... a little screen time too. We have this same tablet for all four kids, and we've downloaded both games (e.g. Minecraft) and movies on each one so they work without wifi. Eventually we'll download books on there... but for now, they are 100% for total play.

(18) Tablet case: And to keep the tablets safe, all of them always have a case. We have a lot of different cases, but this is my favorite. The brand makes it in a few different covers (some of which are definitely cuter than others), and although it's not as minimalist as I like for myself, functionally it's awesome. :) It seems to stand up the best (on wobbly tray tables), and it even has space for secret treasures (like printed out polaroids). It fits the tablet above - the Samsung Galaxy 8.7 inch.

(19) Headphones: On some of the longer international flights they'll pass out kids headphones... but just in case they don't (or we're on shorter connecting flights or domestic flights), we bring our own. These are without a doubt the most durable ones. They're also the most comfortable, and they fold up for storage. We've been through a LOT of headphones over time, and we still have these from 4 years ago for one of the kids... trust me when I say that means a lot!

Alright, that's a wrap for now! Let us know if we missed anything (and we'll add to this list as we find any new gems!).

And as you can see, many of these toys can be used outside of travel. We do call them 'travel toys' though, as we keep them separate from our other toys (in a bin high up on a laundry room shelf) so they are new and exciting for the kids as we pack for trips. Happy (and busy) traveling kids makes travel with them more fun... and we are ALL about that! :)

Lastly, I mostly made up the age ranges based on our experience rather than what's on the box. So of course always watch little kids with small pieces (and watch little ones with headphone cords too). And last last note, these are (maybe obviously) affiliate links - but all through Amazon (where we buy 90% of our life supplies and makes linking easy) so we stand behind 100% of these as we current own them all.

OK now really that is all (until I update the list when I find another awesome toy!). :)