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Travel Gifts For Kids 2023

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Brilliant Travel Gifts For Kids (that will get used!)

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As an avid lover of travel I adore travel related gifts and travel gear (hint hint Mr FWAB) and I always try to buy something travel related for my girls – which are practical and will actually get used!

If you are continually off globetrotting with your kids or know a family who are always jet setting to satisfy their wanderlust, or are just wondering what makes a good travel gift – then you’ll love our travel gift ideas.

These presents are ideal for Christmas travel gifts for kids and families as well as birthdays or special occasions.

This article includes lots of family travel gifts for kids, often educational, as well as some fun and practical travel gift ideas for parents. 

Included are lots of ideas for baby travel gifts, toddler travel gifts, travel gifts for kids, travel gifts for teens and travel gift ideas for Mum & Dad.

A pinterest pin stating Travel gifts for kids - travel gift ideas for kids of all ages! #travelgifts #kids #familytravel #christmasgiftsforkids

Passport Cover

How about a passport cover for their first adventure, and their very first kids travel gift?  There are plenty of fabulous designs, some are suitable for vegans and can be personalised too.

Airplane Cutlery and Plates

A friend had these for her toddler, and as a bit of an Av Geek, I adored them!  This Fork and Spoon set fits the bill for any budding young traveller. For latest prices see here. For some alternative travel gifts for toddlers, see below.

Travel Neck Pillow

Travel neck pillows are useful for those long haul flights with kids. This Trunki travel neck pillow supports little heads for those over two. There are hidden magnets so the travel pillow connects under the chin to form a soft and supportive cushion – which stops your child’s head from rolling forward. For more information and latest prices see here.

For some alternative kids travel pillow suggestions, take a look below.

Earphones or Headphones

When you are looking for gifts for kids who travel, then you can’t go far wrong with some earphones or headphones, as only some airlines provide child sized headsets. The headband type are more useful for smaller kids as they don’t fall off. These CozyPhones Ear Phones for kids are volume limited and comfortable for smaller ears. They come in a variety of styles and different animals. Below are some more ideas.

Bedbox
Bedbox Ride on Luggage that coverts to a bed for kids on the plane.

Ride on Luggage

There are several options available these days and pro and cons of taking them. For us, we found a Trunki had it’s uses for a short time when travelling: when they were aged two it came in very handy with long waits at the airport and in queues.

flyte scooters at the airport are  good travel gifts for kids

Friends, highly recommend the Zinc Flyte scooter and luggage, pictured above. They flew from the UK to Australia with 3 kids aged 9 months, 5 years and 6 years old and found them really useful for the airport transfers when the kids were a bit weary. These make excellent practical travel gift for kids.

For sleeping, the BedBox looks a great dual use option too as a ride on and an inflight bed for kids. I’ve not tried it personally but it’s suitable for a child up to 7 years old. (For more sleeping on plane trips, see here)

Here are some others similar items you may be interested in.

Atlas

My girls have loved pouring over maps (or naps as my youngest calls them!) and looking at all the different countries. An atlas is a great practical and educational travel gift idea for kids, and one they will dip into for a long time. 

There are various options depending on your child’s age. School aged kids will love this National Geographic Kids’ Atlas or this Kids’ World Atlas by Lonely Planet, whereas younger kids may enjoy the sticker atlas from Usbourne.

Camera

We got our seven year old a camera as she wanted to start documenting her days out and trips away. There are some good quality and robust camera around especially for kids. We opted for a more adult one for our eldest (this Nikon Cool Pix) as it was very reasonably priced, but for younger kids there are some sturdier ones like below.

Teenagers will be happy with an action camera and you don’t necessarily need to splurge on a GoPro. There are some really nice cheaper alternatives as well.

Travel Games

Travel games are a must for long trips. They are not only useful but also fun gifts for kids when there are any delays or even waiting around at a restaurant.

Popular favourites are Bananagrams, Uno, Dobble, (there is even a Harry Potter version) and a magnetic board game set. Some beautifully crafted magnetic games which are perfect for kids and a keepsake gift are by Janod. We got bought the battleships and love it! Most come with travel cases too. 

My eldest has a creative and imaginative side which is brought out with story cubes too. Don’t forget other travel card games like Top Trumps too. You can even get themed ones like Harry Potter, Avengers, My Little Pony, Star Wars etc.

Another idea for younger children, is a travel busy board – where everything is in one place but there are plenty of activities for little hands plus it’s a bag as well! This Montessori Busy Board is a great sensory toy with lots of zips, buttons and games to play which are all part of a bag. The bag had enough spaces for favorite books, coloring crayons, paper, snacks and even a water bottle too!

Stationery 

Kids will always love stationery. New pencils, crayons, washable pens etc are all useful to whip out whilst on the go and have as a staple in your bag. Toddler may find triangular crayons particularly useful on flights as they are less likely to roll off the table, whilst older kids will like twisty versions they don’t have to sharpen. Or how about a kids travel journal?

 

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt

This is such a good and practical addition if you are looking for kids travel gifts. My eldest got bought this as a present and we have used it so many times. Whether in the garden, camping, out for a walk it entertains. You can make this popular travel game fill in a few minutes, or make it last most of the day – best of all it’s small and pocket-sized. Find out more and latest prices here.

Travel Books

I adored factual books as a kid and my eldest devours information on a country she is visiting, like National Geographic Kids. We also found this book by Lonely Planet Kids useful for a school project too! Look out for activity books too!

Reusable Stickers

Reusable stickers are a firm favorite for travelling with. They can be used time and time again to make different scenes, are light to carry, and perfect to put in a bag when on the go.

Scratch Travel Map

I’ve had my eye on these for a while and bought this one for my eldest for Christmas. She loves talking about the places she has visited, so hopefully this well enhance her understanding of where places are. This particular one features countries, cities, state outlines on both scratch coating and mapping underneath. For latest prices and more information on scratch travel maps see here.

Luggage ID Tags

There are so many choices out there including hobby related, personalised, leather, silicone and more! For a good choice in one place, Amazon is a good place to browse.

Reusable Water Bottle

We don’t travel anywhere without our kids’ water bottles whether we are staying local or flying somewhere exotic. They use them at night too, so this bit of travel gear would get used every day!

Look for one that has parts which are easy to clean like the CamelBak. (The video and pictures of all the gunk inside some is pretty gross!) Double insulated stainless steel ones are ideal for traveling to hot places and we found even had ice still in after six hours at Disney World!

Instant Photo Printer

An instant photo printer like this Kodak PRINTOMATIC Digital Instant Print Camera which prints 2×3″ is perfect for the social media loving teen.

Bluetooth Shower Speaker

Teens may also like a shower speaker. There are a variety of portable bluetooth shower speakers available these days, with many brands having a wide choice of colours available. They connect to laptops, phones and other devices so teens never need to be away from their favourite tunes! For more information on the different types and brands available, see here.

Compact Power Bank Makeup Mirror with Lights and Portable Charger

Kill two birds with one stone: A stylish makeup mirror with the all important portable charger. To charge it, you just plug-in to the mains. A perfect idea for a travel gift stocking filler. For more information, see here.

Travel Gifts For Moms/Mums/Dads

Travel Wallet

This is a pretty, stylish and a great practical travel gift – RFID blocking travel wallet and passport holder. This RFID (radio frequency identification) blocking travel documents wallet is stylish and practical at the same time – preventing card detail theft. This style comes in over 30 different colours too! For more information and to see the other fab colours see here.

Hello Jolie packing cubes
Hello Jolie packing cubes

Packing Cubes

Seriously, where have these been all my life? I had heard about them and then my husband bought some for himself. Needless to say, we have since bought more. It makes organising suitcase so much easier. We always split our clothes between 2 or 3 cases, in case one goes missing, so this helps keep us all organised. You can check and compare latest prices here. I really like these ones from Hello Jolie as they have labels which makes sorting SO much easier!

travel gift idea packing cubes

Kindle

My husband has the Kindle Paperwhite. He loves his gadgets but likes different ones for different purposes, rather than one product fits all. He likes how reading is much easier in the sunlight, it’s light and waterproof. His thoughts are, “it’s lightweight and convenient – it can literally carry 1000’s in a small device. It has a discreet light, so I don’t need to use the one in my plane seat. The ability to look up words or phrases, quotes etc (when connected to the internet) is useful too.”

Personalised Luggage Tag

For a Father’s Day gift, we bought a leather luggage tag – personalised with his initials. The one we bought was from Not On The HighStreet by Vida Vida

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Anita Larson

Wednesday 21st of August 2019

Hi from the Isle of Skye UK,

I wondered if you'd like to take a look at washog, travel laundry bag character, and toy tidy, that also turns into a big yellow hog friend when stuffed? Kids seem to love it, and it puts an end to floordrobe and plastic bags forever. It folds into it's own snout, and can easily be popped into a travel bag for some holiday adventures.

Many thanks

Anita

Plutonium Sox

Friday 30th of November 2018

Some great ideas for Christmas gifts. The cardboard box really made me laugh! I think I'm going to get some of those earphones, they're great. Nat.x

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