10 Baby and Toddler Toys for Travel Under $10

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With the holidays coming up, I wanted to share 10 of our favorite baby and toddler toys for travel. All of them are under $10 and make great stocking stuffers for your littlest travelers.  They’re all lightweight, mess free and (mostly) noise free. That makes them perfect toys for entertaining babies or toddlers on long road trips or plane rides. (They’re great for home to!)

Any time we have a long drive or flight with a toddler or baby, we typically have an arsenal of small toys. Getting a new and exciting toy out every hour helps to keep them distracted and content. And it doesn’t have to be a new toy. You can always bring out an old favorite!  

Below is our list of the best travel toys for babies or toddlers, based on our first hand experiences.

Disclaimer: Toddling Traveler participates in the Amazon Affiliate Program, which means we may earn a small commission for items purchased through our links, at no charge to you. 

The Best Travel Toys for Babies

Looking for ways to survive a long drive with a baby or make it through flying with a baby? These are great baby toys for the plane or car ride. And they can all be used with little to no assistance from Mom or Dad!

1. Indestructible Baby Books

These indestructible baby books are great toys for travel with a baby. They’re lightweight so you can take them anywhere. Babies love holding onto them and the pages can’t be torn. (And the fact they double as “toys” and bedtime stories makes them great space savers.) Plus, they easily wipe clean or you can even throw them in the wash! They also come in a pack of 6 if you want to stock up.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 0+months.  

2. Multi-Sensory Activity Toy

These multi-sensory baby toys aren’t completely noise free but they’re still pretty quiet. They typically have a rattle, teether and other features with different sounds and textures. Plus hooks onto a stroller, carseat, really anywhere to take on-the-go.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 0 to 12 months.

3. Small Bath Toys

Even without the bath, these little bath toys make great travel toys for baby. They’re small and easy for baby to hold or chew on.  Plus they’re easy to clean and come in a large pack so you don’t need to worry about losing a few on your travels. 

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 6+ months. (They can still be entertaining for older babies and toddlers who start to engage in pretend play.)

4. Pacifier with Stuffed Animal

These stuffed animal pacifiers are great toys for soothing babies in the car or plane. My son rarely took a pacifier as a baby, but he still loved holding onto them. They also came in handy on our long drive from Omaha, Nebraska with a baby.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 0+ years of age

5. Stack Up Cups

These stack up cups are compact and come with a link to hold them together when you’re on-the-go.  We love them for every day play. Plus they can also double as toys for the beach with a baby or bath toys.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 6+ months. Once kids get older, they can count them and identify the shapes and numbers on each cup. My son is currently 2.5 and we just brought them on a family trip to Cancun.

Best Travel Toys for Toddlers

These small toys for toddler travel are great for toddlers of all ages. If you have a younger toddler, they may require some adult assistance. As they get older and grow, toddlers can typically use these travel toys independently.

6. Melissa & Doug On-The-Go Reusable Activity Pad

These reusable activity pads are perfect for mess free coloring. They use a water filled pen, and they can be reused over and over again. We started using these at 12 months old with assistance. As your toddlers get older, there are activities within the books to name and count different objects.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 3+ years

7. Travel Flash Cards

We love flash cards as a way to learn numbers, colors and ABCs. These travel flash cards are perfect since they’re hooked together. Even younger toddlers can use them to start recognizing various animals and shapes eventually name them out as they get older. 

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 3+ years (We think age is appropriate to start naming the images, however!)

8. Wikki Stix

These wax sticks are a favorite of ours for arts and crafts on-the-go. We recently used them on a long haul flight for a 1-week road trip in Northern Ireland. And our whole family played with them!

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 3+ years. We started using these around 18 months with assistance.  I’d recommend waiting until kids are past the stage of putting things in their mouths.

9. Magnet Toys

These magnetic scenes are great because they can be reused over and over again. Plus, the contents are all magnetized to stick together. (Which makes them easy toys to travel with!)

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 3+ years. We started using magnets around 12 months with some assistance.

10. Sticker Books for Travel

We love these Usborne Sticker Books anytime we travel. Sticker boys are great because it takes younger toddlers to place them on the page one by one. We love the airport sticker book in particular since it teaches kids about airports and flying.

Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 5+ years. Similar to magnets, we started using stickers around 12 months with a little more assistance.

Do you have any favorite small toys for travel that aren’t on this list?  Please share in the comments. We’re always looking for new ideas!    

Related Posts:

• Flying with a Baby: Tips for Before & During Your Flight
• Flying with a Toddler: Tips, Tricks and Products to Help You Navigate 
• How to Survive Long Car Rides with a Baby
• Beach with a Baby: 8 Tips to Help You Prepare                                                                          

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