15 Best Travel Toys for Kids (Grade School to Tweens)
The best travel toys for kids make the difference between a cherished family vacation and a long journey you’d rather forget. Avoid hearing “Are we there yet?” with these engaging playthings for big kids, from grade‑schoolers to tweens. This curated list of activities, games, and crafts will keep the whole family entertained during road trips and long-haul flights, as well as back in the hotel room. Below are some fabulous travel toys to buy before your next trip!
Looking for great travel toys for babies and young children? Check out my guide to the best travel toys for toddlers.
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Travel Board Games
Many board games come in travel versions. These are not only fun for the journey, but also for playing in your hotel room or vacation rental home. Challenge kids to a classic game of backgammon, chess, or checkers with 3 in 1 Magnetic Chess Checkers Backgammon Board Game Set. For even more game play on the go, take a look at my family’s favorite travel games for kids.
Playing Cards
Easy to pack and versatile, card games are entertaining for kids of all ages. A wide variety of games can be played with a regular ol’ deck of cards. Up the fun factor with a LotFancy Card Games for Kids, which includes special decks for playing Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Memory Match, Animal Playing Cards, and Slap Jack. (But please save Slap Jack for play in the hotel room and not on the airplane tray table!)
Rubik’s Cube
Scramble up the colors of a classic Rubik’s Cube and challenge your grade‑schooler or tween to solve it on the go. My son loved showing off his cube‑solving skills, and it’s amazing how quickly it helped him make friends during our family travels. This brain teaser is not only entertaining but also a great icebreaker in theme park lines, airports, or anywhere kids gather.
A timed round can turn travel downtime into a fun competition, and speed cubes make it easier for kids who want a bigger challenge. Get a Speed Cube Set for a variety of challenges and maximum fun.
Mad Libs
Go old school with Mad Libs, a great way to play together as a family while traveling. Parents can participate from the front seat on a long car ride as the whole family takes turns naming nouns, adjectives, verbs, and more to create laugh-out-loud stories. There are themed options to match your vacation style, like United States of Mad Libs, Vacation Fun Mad Libs, Travel Far and Mad Libs, and Mad Libs on the Road.
Wikki Stix
Colorful Wikki Stix are bendy craft items sure to spark your child’s imagination. Kids can bend and shape them into all sorts of 3‑D creations, and they double as handy fidget toys on long car trips or flights. Best of all, they’re mess‑free and reusable, making them perfect for travel. Grab the Wikki Stix Bilingual Traveler (French and English), a compact case loaded with twisty activities for kids.
Bead Kits
Girls and boys alike enjoy stringing beads to make jewelry for themselves or for mama. A Melissa and Doug Wooden Bead Kit is a classic that travels well thanks to its sturdy pieces and tidy tray.
For families who want something even more portable and lightweight, choose Just My Style Make & Believe Unicorn Pop Beads. This travel set comes with its own carrying case and lets kids snap together necklaces and bracelets. No strings or scissors are required, making them perfect for airplane travel or a car trip.
LEGO Sets
All of the kids in my life, from nieces and nephews to my daughter and son and their young friends, could spend hours happily building with LEGO’s colorful toy bricks. What I’m saying is, buying LEGO sets will buy you lots of whine-free time on your next flight!
I especially like the 3-in-1 LEGO Sets because kids can build multiple creations from one small kit instead of buying multiple sets. You could also go with a vacation theme, like this LEGO Friends Beach Glamping Building Kit.
For easy building on a flat surface, be sure to get a LEGO Baseplate. And, with so many small parts that are easily lost, you’ll want to keep LEGO bricks safe and sound with a handy LEGO Classic Creative Suitcase.
Fashion Kits
Creative kids will love fashioning their own imaginary clothing lines with a kit. This Fashion Plates Travel Kit is sized for creative play on the go. Kids use a rubbing tool to design fashions easily. It comes with eight fashion Plates, 10 sheets of paper, four coloring crayons, two rubbing crayons, one crayon holder, one drawing tablet with a storage tray, and one idea guide.
You can’t go wrong with Melissa & Doug. Their Fashion Design Art Activity Kit includes nine double-sided, textured fashion plates, four pencils, one crayon, a crayon holder, and a storage case.
Quality Marker Set
Think coloring is just for young kids? Think again! Many big kids (and adults!) are happy to pass the time in an airplane, train, or car while coloring. My artistic daughter recommends her Ohuhu Markers for creative travelers. They even come with a travel-friendly carrying case.
Colored Pencils for Travel
If colored pencils are more your child’s style, then you can’t go wrong with this highly rated Castle Art Supplies Colored Pencils Set. The tin box keeps 72 rainbow-colored pencils secure during travels.
Coloring Books
Coloring books are a calming way to keep kids entertained while traveling. They help all ages relax and pass the time with something simple and engaging.
The Big Book of Colouring: Animals is a popular choice for grade school kids, with its fun facts about species and interesting designs. For a more mature version, middle schoolers and teens will appreciate FUN LAVIE Adult Coloring Book Mandala Animal Designs for its quality paper and intricate patterns.
Children’s Books About Travel
Of course, you’ll want to bring along books for travelers of any age. Get kids excited about your family vacation by purchasing a travel-themed book or two. The classic This Is series by Miroslav Sasek highlights such destinations as Paris, New York, Texas, and beyond. This Is the World includes abridged versions of the most popular books in the travel series. For more ideas, look at the best travel books for kids recommended by family travel experts.
Flying Disc
A flying disc, or Frisbee, packs so much fun without taking up much space. Toss one in the backseat for pit stops on a long trip, or slip it into your suitcase for beach days and family camping trips.
A light‑up disc is extra cool, especially for big kids who love staying up late at your vacation rental or campground. Families love the Tosy Flying Disc for its bright, adjustable LED lights, 16 million RGB color options, and hours of fun outdoors. Plus, it’s rechargeable and waterproof.
Sand Toys for Travel
If you’re planning a beach vacation with kids, sand toys are a must. These Collapsible Beach Sand Toys for Kids double as vacation bath toys, too! The collapsible buckets save space in your suitcase while still being perfect for sandcastle building. The mesh bag makes it easy to shake out sand and stay organized, too.
Amazon Fire Kids Tablet
Watching movies on the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet will make the miles zoom by, no matter the mode of transportation. It comes with a kid‑proof case and a two‑year, worry‑free guarantee. (Yep, if they break it, Amazon replaces it!)
With six months of Amazon Kids+ included, your kids can dive into books, games, and shows from Disney, PBS Kids, and more while you drive or fly in peace. Easy parental controls keep you in control, and the long battery life ensures your little travelers stay entertained even on long journeys. It comes in four different designs: Grape, Blue, Disney Pixar Cars, or Disney Princess.
When traveling with children, most parents (me included!) give in to the lure of tech‑induced peace. Even if you skip screen time at home, bending the rules on trips can save your sanity. Just be sure to reset house rules once you’re back. And if you’d rather go unplugged, check out my tips for a tech‑free road trip with kids.
Buy the Best Travel Toys Now
Click the links above to purchase these children’s travel toys, or explore them all in one place in my Travel Toys for Big Kids Amazon List. You can also find additional recommended purchases for travelers in My Amazon Store. When you shop through my links, you help keep this website running at no cost to readers like you. Thank you!
More Tips for Traveling with Children
Save money on accommodations, meals, souvenirs, and more with my top traveling with kids budget tips.
Want to reconnect with relatives near and far? Learn how to plan a family reunion vacation!
Avoid getting sick on the go with these healthy travel tips for families.
Yes, you CAN find romance while on a family holiday! Here are tips for a romantic vacation with kids.
Traveling with little kids? From sensory toys and finger puppets to sticker books, discover toddler travel toys for babies to preschoolers.
Save These Travel Toys for Kids
For future reference, keep this list of the best toys for travel with kids. Simply pin the image above to Pinterest for safekeeping. I hope you’ll follow Colleen Travels Between on Pinterest while you’re at it!
What are your family’s favorite travel toys? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
The Kindle Fire has been our godsend for YEARS! We definitely mix it up with toys, paper and crayons though. Too much screen time makes my youngest a bit nutty.
I can TOTALLY relate! My son gets cuckoo when he’s had too much screen time too. His normally sweet disposition turns so sour!
I like the article. That said, if you have the capability, don’t let kids under two years have a phone/tablet/etc. It can cause brain damage
Good to know! Best to stick with the pretend versions for little ones!
These are all great ideas and I’m sure enough to keep them entertained and engaged. i thought of buying Sophie La Giraffe kind of puzzle toys for my kid but i think i need to change my mind after reading your post., Thanks for sharing such an wonderful post.
Those are very cute toys! They might be a bit heavy for air travel, though. Happy travels with your kids!
We are not use something special for my baby in travelling time. But after read this article i realized we can keep some toys for them. I will must buy some of these for my kids that are you recommended here. Hope so they will enjoy their time with lots of fun. Thanks for the sharing such a informative article.
I love how to have categorized the toys and games according to age.I think this is a smart move because it means that parents can find a toy or game for their kids irrespective of their age. I like this post! Great job!!!
Thanks so much, Japheth! 🙂
Great list! Thank you!
Glad you like our travel toy recommendations. Enjoy your travels!
These suggestions are really nice. These toys keep kids engaging.
I love keeping my kids minds active while traveling!
I have a one year old boy and I am sort of dismayed by the extent to which the cars and trucks thing is immediately impressed upon them. But not so for girls whatsoever. It’s like they are being groomed to enter the transportation industry from birth. It’s no wonder we have such big gender disparities in these fields.
Interesting take, Callum! My kids had access to toys typically geared toward both genders and they both loved playing with the kitchen, the stuffed animals, the toy trains, etc. I did find, though, that my son was much more drawn to cars and trucks than my daughter.
Couldn’t agree more. You however can do something about that. Let your child play with whatever he wants as he grows. I raised 3 daughters and a son. They are perfectly adjusted adults and they played with cars, trucks, dolls, climbed trees, rode skate boards, splashed in mud, played basketball, rode motorbikes and drove cars on our farm, dressed up however they liked and generally explored who they were. I am now raising my 6 nieces and a nephew the same. They play with toys they are interested in and enjoy and hopefully as they get older they can follow their dreams. So ridiculous to be defined and limited by gender.
So great to give kids all sorts of toy options without limiting them to gender norms!
Large magnet toys and a travel size Simon game. Also a ziploc bag of snack for each child w their name on it. Twizzlers are the perfect traveling junk food. We have 6 school-aged kids. No way to beads or legos or anything else with tiny pieces. Kanoodle is good and intellectual but they might lose the pieces. Take things that they don’t get to do. I save the big magnet toys for trips only. We also have dvd in van. They like Yogi Bear, etc.
Kristal – thank you for the travel toy tips!
Great List! Some of those really classic toys will never go out of style.
Thank you, Troy! So true. I try to keep updating this list to keep the toys relevant and current but some of these will never go out of style!
This past spring we went on a road trip from NY-VA-NC-GA.. My best gadget was my tablet with frozen & Rio downloaded. We left late so the 1 year old & 4 year old would sleep through most of the trip! I’d love for you to check our my HANGit on etsy for your next road trip!
I think this is a great article. I now have a two year old granddaughter. I am going to have to get some of these for her.
Lynn – Your granddaughter is lucky to have such a thoughtful grandma. Hope she enjoys the toys!
Because Lego won’t make a mess on a flight. -_- beads, really? Like it couldn’t make more mess. -_- common sence please
Hi Human – Your parents gave you a weird name. I wonder if you act like a jerk in real life too or if it’s only when you’re hiding behind a computer. Next time leave your real name.
Lovely article on toys from kids to teens.
These are all great ideas. I wish we were traveling more this holiday, but I think your suggestions also apply to non-travelers too. My son would love that little laptop. He’s always trying to get to mine.
Angela – So true! These toys are great for travel AND and at home! Thanks for your comment!
I added a couple of ideas to my list from this! Thanks!
Jessica – Yay! Hope your kids love these toys!