This past year my daughter has become quite the active child. She loves to running around on her feet and exploring the world. Unfortunately this is not always possible, especially when we’re traveling or when we’re eating out at a restaurant.
I’ve tried many many toys while we’re out and about but finding toys that actually keep her distracted for more than 1 minute has been challenging. I’m sure I’m not the only mom that struggles with this so if you’re looking for toys to keep your toddler busy, try out my travel & portable toddler toys. These are the only toys that my daughter has been engaged with for longer periods of time and that she hasn’t gotten bored with.
We don’t use these toys to play at home so she doesn’t get bored of them. This keeps it more exciting and fun when we’re out since she gets to play with her “special” toys.
Here are my top travel & portable toddler toys:
Tegu Pocket Pouch Magnetic Wooden Block Set
This is the #1 toy on my list and a must! It’s a very versatile toy because your child can let their imagination run wild. My daughter will play with this for 20-30mins each time we take it out. This is our go-to toy when we’re at a restaurant.
It is a very portable toy – fits in my hand – and I love that it comes in it’s own pouch so it’s easy to carry everywhere without losing pieces. I love that it’s magnetic because it makes the pieces stay together (no more lost pieces!) and it’s fascinating for toddlers. A huge plus for me is that this toy is non-toxic: “Naturally safe: no lead, no plastic, non-toxic, water-based lacquer finish.”
As you can see, we’re really into magnetic things right now. It’s just easy to handle when you’re out and about since all pieces stick together.
This toy is also high on our list and we usually take it along with the Tegu blocks everywhere we go. We also love this toy for longer trips since you can play with it for a long time. It comes with a lot of magnetic animal pieces and 2 different backgrounds. We use this to play make believe games, we make up stories with it and practice all of our animal sounds.
It comes with its own carrying case which makes it easy to take everywhere. The case is about the size of a book and thin.
You can find these magnetic tins with many different themes, check them out here.
What toddler doesn’t love a little version of their favorite animals? We absolutely love this toy because it comes with 12 animals that are very portable. We usually don’t carry the entire case but pick a few animals to bring with us. My daughter plays with them everywhere. We let her walk around holding these in her hand because she loves them so much.
If you’re kiddo is into other things, you can find a big variety of mini figurines here.
Fisher-Price Travel Doodler Pro
If your kid likes to draw this is a great toy. They can draw anywhere without making a mess or drawing on walls and tables.
You can easily erase the imagine and create a new one for hours of fun. I know I just sounded like an add but this toy is a life saver and will keep our daughter entertained for a long time. We also draw with her and make up stories to make it more fun.
This is a similar toy to the one mentioned above but you use a water pen to draw.
We have both and use them at different times. We also have the regular version of this at home since she can draw without getting it all over our walls.
Peaceable Kingdom / Sticker Fun! At the Airport Reusable Sticker Tote
My daughter is very much into stickers and since we’ve been traveling a lot this year this come has come in handy to get her excited about flying. Plus the stickers are reusable so it’s beats those one time use stickers.
Crayola Color Wonder Travel Tote
This is one of the best inventions ever made. My daughter loves to draw with markers but the problem is that she draws on everything that’s around her: walls, tables, couch, you name it. She was using markers only under close supervision and never when we were out until I found this awesome pad.
Color wonder markers don’t draw on anything but the special color wonder paper, which makes it an amazing toy to use around the house or for traveling. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been out and my daughter has “colored” a wall with this.
We have this traveling kit for when I’m taking a smaller bag but we also bought the bigger drawing paper, a set of 10 Mini Markers and some coloring theme books. We never leave the house without these!
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Click ‘n Learn Remote
I have to admit I’m not a big fan of Fisher-Price toys and we have very few of them but this is one toy that we love. You might not want to use it in a quiet setting since it makes noise but it’s a great toy for loud places or car rides. My daughter spends quite some time pressing all the buttons and “singing” along.
This is a really cool toy! It resembles legos in the sense that you put the pieces together and create shapes, except these have like little suction cups on each end that hold the pieces together with each other and on surfaces.
This case isn’t as small as the other so I only carry a few pieces at a time but it is a great toy to take to grandma’s house or on a trip.
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Take-Along Shape Sorter
If you’re kid is into the shape sorter toys this is a great travel option. This toy is not as small as other toys so I wouldn’t take it everywhere but it is a great toy to take to grandma’s house or if you’re going on a long trip.
Melissa & Doug Habitats Reusable Sticker Pad
My daughter is very much into stickers and this is a great sticker pad. It comes with tons of different stickers and different scenes. The problem is that the pad is little big so it’s another one of those toys to take to grandma, use in the car or bring with you if you’re taking a big diaper bag.
I love that the stickers are reusable since my daughter loves to put them on and off the different scenes.
They have many different themes so if you can find whatever your kid is into here.
Well that was my list of our top travel & portable toddler toys. I hope you find it useful and that your toddler falls in love with some of these toys.
Would you add another toy to the list?
Disclaimer: I was NOT given these products for review nor do I work for the companies mentioned in this post. They were purchased by me and I just wanted to share my findings with you. What’s written here is 100% my personal opinion.
By buying from the links in this post I will get a very small commission (without this affecting the price you pay for the item) – you can see it as a contribution to help keep my blog running. Thanks!
Andrea Smyth says
Great list! My friend is considering taking a road trip across states this spring with 2 toddlers, I will definitely be sharing these ideas with her!
Carolina says
I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing. 🙂 these toys were definitively a life saver in our long flight so I think it’ll be great for a road trip!
Farrah says
Pinning! This is a great list, especially leading up to the holidays. Thank you!
Carolina says
You’re welcome! Hope your little ones likes the toys!
Charlee says
Those all look like really fun toys! When we go out, I usually forget toys, so I should get a few to keep in the car for the times when I leave them at home.
Carolina says
Oh I have a stash in the car and always carry a few in my purse. Your kids must be less crazy than mine. Lol!
Amber says
We recently used the magnetic tin (spider man for our son and dress up kitty for our daughter) and the crayola travel wonder on our trip to the US. We also really like the coloring books that come with their own pen. I love the block set. I think we might try that next time because my son is two and nothing really holds his attention for long (not even magenetic spider man!). For our kids, the thing that helped us get through restaurant meals was making sure we didn’t eat too late and then engaging them in some way, either playing with the toy with them or playing hand games.
Thanks for the tips!
Amber from OurCharmedLife.net
Carolina says
Great tip! Definitively engaging with them helps a lot. We have a rule that we don’t put our daughter in a high chair/booster until we get out meal or else she gets bored of it. Most of the time we play with her too.
Thanks for stopping by!
Amber says
That’s a great idea! We’ll try having our son sit on our lap until the food comes next time and see if that helps him sit a bit longer in the high chair once he’s in it. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Carolina says
You’re welcome. 🙂 We learned the hard way! Haha!
Jessica says
Good suggestions!! I love the magnet toys, my boys would probably really love those! And Isaac is totally into carrying things around right now. Usually it’s two superheroes but some days it’s a superhero and little plastic lion lol. This age is so cute!
Carolina says
So adorable! Cookie also likes to carry things. I love this age!
I hope Isaac likes some of these toys.
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
Such GREAT choices Carolina! Those Tegu blocks look awesome! I’ve never seen them before but now I want a set!
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop!
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Carolina says
Thanks Jennifer! The Tegu blocks are a life saver. They are so small I can take them everywhere we go and she’s always so excited when she sees them. Best toy ever.:)