Although traveling with young babies is usually the ideal stage to travel with kids, (they are so portable and stay in one place), little ones can still get bored and need a few bits to keep them occupied, especially if you have a long flight or a delay. We always make sure we have a few baby travel toys to distract. Often, everyday objects make the best baby travel toys – which make them easy and cheap to source. Some easy to make and lightweight travel toys are included in this guide, as well as some great tried and tested travel toys for babies which can be easily purchased and used at home too. For older toddler travel toys see here.
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These brilliant baby travel toys are lightweight, don’t take up much space and are ideal for trains, planes or as a boredom buster at a restaurant.
The Best Travel Toys for Babies
Once the in flight entertainment buttons, the seat belt and safety card novelty factors have worn off, these best baby toys for the airplane will help keep boredom at bay.
Best Travel Toys For Babies
These are so portable to take with you and stick on a plane window, train window, a hotel fridge and a variety of places. Recommended for 18 months and up.
The dimpl toy features 5 vibrant silicone bubbles built into a plastic frame. Simple yet brilliant; push and pop them, Poke and grab them; a perfect, portable sensory delight. `Suitable for 10 months +
Little ones love putting things in them and taking them out again. I particularly liked this bath set from Munchkin. which is neatly stacked for hand luggage and ideal for in and out of water. We found these cups were great to play with in a bath or a pool at the destination too.
The cups are in bright colours so the have an educational element to them too as little one can learn the colours and develop their fine motor skills when stacking them. They also have the option of being stuck together to form a caterpillar and for pouring water with different perforations. These were definitely one of our go to’s for travelling.
- Cups nest for compact storage
- Helps build hand-eye coordination
- Made for kids 9 months and up
The Zippee is a fairly quiet multi-sensory silicone activity toy for babies 18 months plus. Pull the cords from side to side to hear and feel the various sounds and vibrations the cords make. With the sound of an aircraft white noise this wont disturb other passengers. it’s BPA free, Phthalate Free, Food Grade Silicone. Easy to clean (warm water or top rack of dishwasher). Bonus is it makes a great fidget toy for older siblings too!
A popular game for little hands and one that is easy to transport whilst traveling. It does have pieces which could drop, but this is useful for little ones to play with in the more secure airplane bassinet or at your destination.
- Perfect take-along toy
- Includes a padded case with 2 activity sides and a take-along handle
- Includes 9 shaped, textured blocks in in various colours
A firm favourite since she was a tiny baby and she still loved them as a small toddler. The bright colours engage and provide visual stimulation, whereas the links have different textures on which appeals to babies sense of touch.
All linked together they can be used as a rattle, or separately as a teether. Another very versatile toy. They work brilliantly on airline bassinets and are ideal for travel car seats too.
- Multiple colors stimulate baby's sense of vision
- Multiple textures provide touch stimulation
- Top-rack dishwasher safe
My 1 year old LOVED this buckle toy whale and it kept her so busy. So many people have sung its praises to me after purchasing it. I firmly believe it’s one of the best travel toys for 1 year olds and often buy it as a travel gift for friends with little ones.
The Buckle Toy Whale has several buckles to do up and a zip mouth. The only issue is once they master the buckle, you may get asked a few times to unbuckle it, until they discover that skill.
Nonetheless, it has easily occupied her for over 30 minutes – a minor miracle! Now it’s a firm favourite on all our journeys, car included. It’s one of the best toddler toys for airplane use, because it is so quiet.
- Easy-glide zipper pocket
- Vibrant colored straps and buckles
- Perfect for small hands and to clip on a stroller
This Melissa and Doug wiggling worm grasping toy is suitable for babies aged 6 months+. The wooden worm is painted with non toxic paint and can bend and twist in variations ways and has easy to grasp sections for little fingers. Best of all it’s a quiet toy for airplane use and all in one piece, so no lost parts.
Some favourite books include the ‘Find The .. series Lots of things to spot on each page and a complete classic. Both have loved this book so much that I had to buy two copies due to over use!
The pictures are by Axl Schelffler and are so engaging. It’s easy to see why these books are so popular with young children. Both of mine loved them from an early age and now the older one reads it to my youngest. Win win!
Soft cloth books have pages with quiet, sensory types of activities kids can do which often teach them practical skills (think: zips, buttons, laces and buckles etc.)
CHEAP TRAVEL TOYS IDEAS
- Cheap travel activities with bits from home make good toys for a plane trip.
- Post it notes – kids love peeling them off and sticking them. Same for band aids/plasters.
- You can also make puppets out of the on-board sick bags or paper cups if you are feeling creative! It’s amazing what you will do on a 15 hour flight!
- The humble balloon! We always put a few in our luggage to inflate in the hotel room for a game of catch.
- Coloured rice in a tic-tac or similar plastic container for a small rattle
- An old spice jar and pipe cleaners can make a great fine motor skill activity, which is quiet too! Home made games make good toys for plane rides!
- Small pom poms and a plastic tub with a lid with holes in – babies and toddler love ‘posting’ things so posting the pom poms can while away some time. This takes seconds to make and easily fits in a small Ziploc bag, with the activity above.
- Use some old baby wipes lids to make a sensory toy or lift the flap toy like above – a really simple baby toy for airplane travel.
TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH BABIES
Some airlines do provide a soft toy for younger babies and other in flight entertainment, but it’s best not to expect it as it is never guaranteed.
I do go into a lot of practical and detailed information and provide flying with a baby tips which cover everything you need to know from booking to arrival; including sleeping on a plane tips, requesting baby meals, breast feeding, baby bassinets, the best seats, complimentary airport strollers and so much more. I would definitely recommend a read after you have looked through this post.
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Jenjo Games
Wednesday 26th of May 2021
This is such an interesting list of toys for kids that can keep them occupied for hours. Thanks for sharing the list, I am sure it would help many!