Looking for the best travel gifts for the kids and toddlers in your life? Sometimes shopping for gifts can be a struggle, so I’m happy to help out! Whether it is a Christmas gift, birthday gift, or a gift for another special occasion, I am excited to share some of my top picks for the kids and toddlers in your life who love to travel. Look no further for ideas related to travel gear, games, activities, books, toys, and experience gifts. You can check out more travel gift guides here.
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Travel Gifts for Kids and Toddlers in 2019
Travel Games, Activities, and Electronics for Kids and Toddlers
Travel Journal – Travel journals make great gifts for kids who love to document their journeys. There are several options out there, including this one that gives a lot of writing prompts and this one that offers a lot of travel activities. Older children might enjoy a more traditional notebook, personalized with their name.
Digital Camera – Kids often love to take photos! This one is inexpensive and perfect for children and this one is great for little toddler hands.
Binoculars – For kids who love outdoor adventures, binoculars are a must! This pair is high resolution and perfect for bird watching!
Water Wow Books – Melissa & Doug makes these incredible Water Wow! Books that are perfect for toddlers! Kids and toddlers can color the books over and over with little water pens. They are mess-free and reusable, making them the perfect travel activity. They have several options ranging from farm animals to letters to numbers.
Melissa and Doug Puffy Stickers – My toddler is currently loving the Puffy Sticker Sets by Melissa & Doug. They are reusable, so she can use the stickers again and again.
Wipe Clean Books – These activity books by use a small dry erase marker and wipe clean. They are another reusable option that kids can use again and again.
Christmas Around the World Mini Book – If you’re looking for a fun gift to give at Christmas, consider this adorable Christmas Around the World Mini Book. Once you purchase it, you can download it immediately and print it at home. Kids will learn about Christmas traditions around the world, and they can color the pages on their own. Pair it with a small set of eco-friendly crayons, and it makes a great travel-day gift during the holiday season.
Buckle Toys – Buckle toys are a must for our toddler when we travel. She fell in love with buckles by age 1, so buckle toys keep her occupied on long travel days. Our favorites are the Buckle Buster toys and this soft activity board.
Dimpl Toy – Another favorite of ours is the Dimpl Toy. It has soft silicone bubbles for little hands to push (or “pop”) back and forth. It’s a great toy for babies that lasts into toddler-hood (our daughter’s older cousins even enjoy playing with it)!
Travel-Sized Games – Small games are great for keeping kids occupied on travel days. Monopoly Deal, Uno, and Connect 4 are all classic options.
Tablet – If you’re interested in buying a tablet, the Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet is a great option for kids. It comes with cases in fun colors, allows for parent controls, and is perfect for travel days.
Headphones – Headphones are must for travelers of all ages! These fleece, wrap-around headphones are comfortable for kids and come in fun animal styles. If you prefer traditional headphones, our toddler uses these and loves them!
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Travel Books for Kids and Toddlers
Where Would Santa Go? – If you are looking for a fun, Christmas-themed book that will teach kids more about the world, this is an excellent choice! Join Santa as he takes two children on a Christmas Even adventure to destinations like Egypt and Antarctica. You can also grab a free Santa countdown calendar and activity book on the author’s website!
City Trails by Lonely Planet – These fun books teach kids fun facts and stories about major cities around the world. Check out their books on Paris, Tokyo, Rome, Washington (DC), and London. They have books for other cities too!
All Aboard! Board Books – Our toddler loves these books by BabyLit®. Using adorable images, little ones are taught about popular destinations around the world, including U.S. National Parks, California, London, and New York City.
Atlas – Kids who love learning about the world and studying maps will love a kids atlas. National Geographic makes several great ones, including this one about the United States and this one about the World.
Fact Books – Similar to atlases, fact books are a great way to both prepare kids for upcoming travels and keep them occupied on long travel travels. Here are a few fact book options for traveling around the United States: Explore the U.S.A. with 50 Fact-Filled Maps, Explore America’s Cities with 50 Fact-Filled Maps, and Celebrate the People, Places, and Food of the U.S.A!
You might also be interested in: What to Pack in a Toddler’s Carry-On
Travel Gear for Kids and Toddlers
Luggage – Packing and traveling is more fun when kids have their own, fun luggage that they can take ownership of! Our family loves the Chester Minima Spinner Suitcase. While it isn’t designed specifically for children, it comes in super fun colors (like pink and sky blue) and is perfectly lightweight for kids to use (just 7 lbs). You can read more about these spinner suitcases in this post: Minimalist Carry-On Luggage | Chester Minima Spinner Suitcase Review. If you prefer luggage is specifically designed for kids, Skip Hop makes fun suitcases on wheels that look like animals.
Backpack – Every kid loves to carry their own backpack to fill with travel snacks and activities. Fjällräven makes wonderful, sustainable bags in both regular (classic) and mini sizes.
Luggage Tags – Luggage tags are a must for frequent travelers, and there so many cute options out there for kids. If you would like to have them personalized with their name, these adorable airplane ones are hard to beat. You can also go with rainbows or Legos! If you are looking for something simple that kids can fill in themselves, these cat ones, these dinosaur ones, and these emoji ones are adorable.
You might also be interested in: The Best Travel Strollers
Gifts to Inspire Travel at Home for Kids and Toddlers
Globe – Globes are an excellent way for kids to learn more about the world while they are at home. This illuminated globe is colorful and easy-to-read, and this app-based globe allows kids to learn more about regions by scanning the photos on the globe.
Scratch Off Maps – These fun maps are meant to be personalized over time! Kids can scratch off the places they’ve been. They are beautiful when displayed on the wall too! There are several options out there, but this one is colorful and comes with both a world map and USA map! This USA map comes with little flags, and you can personalize this world map with the child’s name before ordering!
Place Mats – Looking for a fun way to encourage learning in a simple way? Place mats are such a fun way to encourage kids to learn as they eat. This double-sided placemat features a world map on one side and a map of the USA on the other.
Map Rugs – Help kids add a little adventure flair to their bedroom or playroom by giving them a stylish map rug. These rugs are another great way to help kids learn about the world. This one will help kids learn their continents, oceans, and where native animals live.
Puzzles – My toddler is currently obsessed with puzzles, which is great for development. A wipe-clean world map puzzle or a U.S.A. map puzzle are both fun options.
Adventure Fund – Encourage kids to be a part of the saving aspect of travel with a cute adventure or travel fund bank.
You might also be interested in: The Ultimate Gift Guide for Travelers
Experience Gifts for Kids and Toddlers
National Parks Pass – For kids who love adventure, a national parks pass is a fun option that they can enjoy for an entire year. You can purchase U.S. National Parks passes online here.
Amusement Park Tickets (or Annual Passes) – Most kids love visiting amusements parks, so tickets for the day or an annual pass (if they live nearby) are fun experience gifts. Disney World is always a popular option!
Travel Activity – Airbnb experiences offers a wide range of fun travel activities. These are great options for kids who really want to explore the local culture while they travel. Consider a cooking class for families in Bangkok, family treasure hunt in Venice, or family ski lessons in Spain if you’re looking for inspiration.
You might also be interested in: 20 Baby Registry Ideas for Traveling Families
I hope that you enjoyed browsing through my list of ideas for travel gifts for kids and toddlers. I would love to hear from you! What travel gifts do you love?
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41 Comments
Ann
Oh the little Fjällräven is so cute, I am definatly buying that – for myself 😀
Leah
Right?! They are great for adults too! 🙂
Chelsea Messina
What a great list! I love the adventure fund boxes, its so exciting to watch it fill as you get closer and closer to your trip!
Leah
I agree! It is such a fun way for kids to be involved in the process too!
Nancy | MapandFamily
I love all these ideas and I wish we’d had some of them when my boys were toddlers! Those Water Wow books look brilliant and i like the little digital camera.
Leah
I am so glad you liked these ideas! 🙂
Tamyara
Great gifts for kids traveling children.
Leah
Thank you! 🙂
Denise Gardiner
Great gift ideas for kids and toddlers! These items should make for a fun and adventurous trip. Thank you for sharing!
Leah
Thank you! It is always fun to give kids that they can truly use on their trips!
Renee
What a great idea – travel gifts for kids! I love the scratch-off map. I think this would make a great gift for my little travelers. 🙂
Leah
The kids in my life love scratch off maps! It is such a fun way to document travels! 🙂
Julie
Love all these ideas! Especially the scratch off maps! And we totally used the map placemats when my kids were younger- they are awesome!
Leah
How great! I always loved them as kid, and I plan to give my daughter one for Christmas too!
Kinzy
So many fabulous ideas!! I need to get my daughter one of those buckle toys. Great gift guide!
Leah
Thank you! The buckle toy has been a life-saver for us on long trips! It is also her go-to car toy!
LORI LEROY
Some great ideas on here – and we have a couple items that you recommend. Seems simple but one of the best ways we’ve been able to talk about future trips or learn about geography is through map placemaps! We discuss potential vacation spots over dinner based on the maps.
Leah
So fun! I have placemats linked on here and would love to find more!
Megan | Lost in Momtopia
I love that camera! My kids both love taking pictures and this would be an easy way for them to do it, without using my phone 🙂 Great gift guide!
Leah
Haha- it would definitely be great to get your phone back! 🙂
CIndy
I am always looking for new travel themed gifts for my grandchild and these are great! I particularly love the globe as he has watched us pick destinations to go to with the spin of the globe.
Leah
Aren’t globes fun? We are giving my daughter one for Christmas! We love them!
Jill
This is such a great post for the adventure loving parent. I have a one year old and plan to get him the All Aboard National Parks book after reading this post. We are hoping he loves National Parks as much as us. Great gift ideas. Thank you!
Leah
I am so happy to hear this! We love the “All Aboard!” books. They are simple and beautiful for little ones!
Sarah Wilson
So many great ideas! I especially love all of the books!
Leah
So happy to hear this! We love travel-related books!
Victoria
Love this list, it gave me so many great ideas on what to get my nieces and nephews!
Leah
That is great! so glad to hear that! 🙂
Jennifer Brommer
I love the idea of the ‘easy to read’ globe! No one thinks to buy their kids globes anymore, but they are oh, so fun! Great ideas all around!!
Leah
I agree- globes are so fun! I know I’m biased as a geography/history teacher, but they are so important! 🙂
Margie
Great ideas. Been thinking about the Fjällräven backpack for a while now.
Leah
They are such a great company!
Tiffany
These are such great ideas! Our kids LOVED the Water Wow books from Melissa & Doug when they were little and they both were so stoked when their grandparents got them binoculars one year.
Leah
That is so great to hear! 🙂
Karen
Such great ideas, I love that you’ve included some activities as well.
Nancy
Love this list! When my kids were younger, I often hunted for travel-sized gifts. Now, I focus more on travel experiences. Well done including items for all ages and stages!
Leah
We love experience gifts too! 🙂
Liona
So many great ideas. You’ve been a great help with my Christmas shopping!
Leah
So happy to hear this!
Jayne
I love the idea of this list! The camera is a great option for little ones i agree!
Leah
I’m so glad! 🙂