Just about any parent with kids would know that a road trip with the toddlers can be a challenging situation. When driving for long hours, toddlers can tend to become bored and agitated as they sit still for hours on end. But who can blame them – being strapped in a seat for long hours isn’t necessarily the most pleasant experience in the world.
A road trip with the little ones requires an abundance of preparation. So if you’re planning to go on a family adventure, it may be best that you do a decent amount of research on toys that will provide a good amount of entertainment and activities as you drive through the country roads.
Needless to say, an entertained toddler who isn’t on edge during the road trip would keep everyone in the vehicle safe. The alternative scenario – where kids are lashing out because of boredom because their tiny bodies can’t handle their big emotions – would be nothing less than a cause for concern.
To address this concern, the congregation of parents all over the world have conferred to help fellow moms and dads, like you, with road rage – not the notorious kind but the one that often involves our toddlers in the back seat – and the solution that they have for you is both expected and simple yet quite complex.
The primary solution that parents recommend is to keep them busy; the complexity in this is how to do that exactly. Well lucky for you, this isn’t their rodeo, so they have a few tricks up their sleeves to make sure that you’re up to date.
Investing in quality road trip toys – yes, it’s a whole category of its own – is essential. Studying research and experience of their own, parents have discovered that the best road trip toys for toddlers are those that aid in education or learning, exercise fine motor skills, train kids in reading, writing, spelling, word recognition, and last but not least, drill them through problem-solving activities and improve critical thinking.
To help keep them busy, investing in good road trip toys for your toddler is essential. The best road trip toys for toddlers help with learning, motor skills, reading, writing, spelling, word recognition, and problem-solving.
To help you find these toys, this article has a few recommendations that may provide you with some options as you search for the best ones.
This unique rendition of sock puppets is a fantastic toy that will keep your kids occupied for hours. The Super Z Outlet Velvet Cute Animal Style Finger Puppets for Children provides your imaginative kids with ten different characters to use in their pretend play sessions.
Remember the classic sock puppets – adorable characters you can slip into your hands and pretend to have a conversation with as you play with the rest of your toys? These animal finger puppets can serve the exact same purpose but better, as you have ten different characters to put into each of your fingers.
Manufacturers use high-quality soft velvet reminiscent of the best plush toys your kids have at home to make the product. The set features a variety of animals elephants, rabbits, bears, cows, mice, pandas, frogs, ducks, koalas, and dogs. Each designed to be cute, it is a guarantee that these animals and your kids would be the best of friends in no time!
Keep your toddlers occupied with something that not only satisfies their need to explore new experiences but also teaches them essential skills that they will need to master as they grow old. The Toddler Busy Board – Montessori Sensory Activity Board for Toddlers is a powerhouse in the car during long drives with the kids as it can easily maintain and engage their attention through several exercises that work on their fine motor skills, teach them about cause and effect, and develop their problem-solving skills through essential sensory experiences.
The creatives behind this innovation furnished the busy board with a patented sensory exercise that features nine different buckles, ties, and buttons. With the use of such inclusions, kids will learn and be able to practice essential dressing skills independently. The surface is made out of soft felt wool to ensure that the sensory experience doesn’t stop at the equipment installed on the busy board.
The exercises are great anywhere, be it at school, at home, in the car, or even on a plane. This toy can provide a wide range of sensory experiences for children at many developmental levels. To the adult eye, the buckle and buttons may seem mundane, but research has found that different buckles provide a puzzle-like challenge to the young mind, which children can use as a repetitive, soothing activity.
You can take this colorful farm-based puzzle along for the ride to keep the kids engaged and focused on something entertaining and educational as you drive through the country. The Melissa & Doug Wooden Take-Along Sorting Barn Toy with Flip-Up Roof and Handle is portable and ready for use in the car during the road trip.
Packed with 10 different farm animal figures and the farmer itself, the barn is a puzzle with holes where the pieces fit in perfectly – kind of like the classic cubes and shapes. Only this time, it’s more of a challenge because the kids have to recognize the animal and farmer shapes to accomplish the puzzle.
The beauty of the Melissa & Doug Wooden Take-Along Sorting Barn Toy with Flip-Up Roof and Handle is that it’s more than just a puzzle and sorting toy; it can also be used for imaginative and open-ended pretend play that children can enjoy in a different way.
As a quality of life feature, the visionaries behind this novelty also equipped the toy with a handle for better portability and a flip-up roof for storage and easy access to the pieces. The animals included in the playset are the horse, pig, goat, sheep, chicken, dog, cow, tractor, and farmer. These figures can also stand on their own and be played with separately.
Developing an early interest in animals is a gateway to nurturing an interest in science. The LeapFrog 100 Animals Book is a fantastic visual educational book that introduces kids to the world of animals and the many habitats they live in.
Using six double-sided, highly interactive, and engaging pages, the LeapFrog Animals Book takes kids on an adventure through the world by sharing fun and educational information on 12 different categories that include the forest, the ocean, and various other environments that animals thrive in on the planet.
It’s a different adventure every time you open the Magnetic Fun® Tin: Cars, Planes, and Trains, as it utilizes excellently designed tin toys to create a variety of vehicles that your children can use for playtime!
The case opens up a brand new world filled with majestic marvels for transportation. Your kids get to join in on the adventure that was unveiled in front of them using the brightly colored magnetic pieces shaped like cars, trucks, plains, and other vehicles that they can stick onto the scenery.
Best for kids three years old and above, the vibrantly designed tin can be used as the playing surface, storage container, and carrying case – a 3-in-1 function.
Aside from the richly painted scenery inside of the tin, there is an additional environment available that depicts a busy airport, enhancing the world your children are playing with. It also provides children with three sheets of magnets that house a total of 55 individual magnets that your children can explore as they play independently in the back seat.
The Magnetic Fun® Tin: Cars, Planes, and Trains has complied with and passed all the safety standards necessary to ensure that kids are safe as they play.
Dressing requires the development of several essential skills like hand-eye coordination and fine motor capacities. This is why it’s crucial that you find ways to help your kids develop the necessary dexterity-based skills that they need for such vital and routine tasks.
The Alex Little Hands Learn To Dress Kitty Kids Toddler Art and Craft Activity toy prepares children for similar challenges by providing kids with exercises that will refine their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving capacities, and critical thinking.
With 11 different dressing activities that include puzzles that involve laces, ties, snaps, buttons, zippers, and other materials that focus on developing children’s dexterity, this arts and crafts toy that comes with an adorable polish the kids can dress themselves will keep the kids engaged throughout the road trip ahead of the family.
These baby beads are deceptively simple as, despite their straightforward aesthetic, manufacturers jampacked the Manhattan Toy Classic Baby Beads with essential functions that develop necessary aspects of child development.
The Manhattan Toy Classic Baby Beads are high-quality heirloom toys that experts crafted with polyester or rubber elastic strung together to create the final product. Creators specifically designed the product for younger toddlers, so each of the beads is size-appropriate for children to grasp, pull, twist, and rattle, creating a holistic sensory experience for them as they play independently while you drive.
These beads are also safe for teething babies as the experts behind this innovation know that growing kids often develop a habit of just putting anything they can put their hands on into their mouths. With that in mind, the Manhattan Toy Classic Baby Beads ensure that its materials are natural and baby-safe wooden beads and rubber resources, guaranteed to be secure and risk-free.
To provide kids with a comprehensive sensory experience that utilizes audio, visual, and tactile stimuli. The Manhattan Toy Classic Baby Beads help children develop motors skills, a love for art, and hand and arm strength.
Learning should never stop – even if it’s through the grit of a long road trip. Melissa & Doug See & Spell Wooden Educational Toy is an excellent educational toy that will keep your kids engrossed in entertaining play that challenges them with puzzles and develop literacy skills such as letter recognition, spelling, and many more critical skills.
The educational toy package comes with a puzzle that consists of 50 different puzzle pieces and letters that fit perfectly into eight two-sided cutout boards, exercising your kids’ literacy skills as they spell three-letter and four-letter words.
This educational toy set is an amazing toy to bring on the road because of its portable packaging that can also be a massive help for storage purposes. As the toy keeps your wary toddlers engaged in activities, the products also keep your children guided in developing sight-reading vocabulary, spelling, and fine motor skills. If your kids have siblings, the toy also encourages interpersonal collaboration that develops social and emotional skills.
There’s more to buckles than meets the eye. Studies have found that buckles can foster a puzzle-like experience for children who play with them when presented in the right way. With the goal of helping develop fine motor skills, cognitive capacities, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving skills, the trailblazers at the toy company Buckle Toys combined the developmental benefits of buckles and the comforting perks of adorable plush toys in creating the Blu Whale, sensory instrument and a cute soft toy rolled into one.
The beauty of this learning activity toy is that aside from being a sensory instrument, it also serves as your kids’ favorite companion, keeping them comfortable through the long drive ahead.
Your kids’ favorite plush toy is also a valuable tool in teaching kids essential dressing skills that also double as developmental exercises for both mental and physical aspects of a child’s growth. Manufacturers equipped the Blue Whale Learning Activity Toy with a zipper pocket that they can use to heighten their fine motor skills and enhance their dressing abilities; embroidered numbers and shapes that are brightly colored so they can use their hands and eyes to memorize the form of shapes and numbers for mathematical learning; and clasps to which they can practice their hand-eye coordination.
The many activities kids can explore with this engaging plush toy will keep them captivated for hours on end during the drive, and if ever they feel tired, Blu, the whale, is right by their side to lull them to sleep.
Eliminate dull drives with the power of your imagination using the FLUESTON Toys for Girls Boys LCD Kids Writing Tablet. This creative doodle board uses an LCD blackboard to provide a unique drawing board for your kids so they can let their artistry run wild.
With a 10-inch multi-color screen and a stylus that children can use to draw colorful lines that are all battery-powered, kids can take art time anywhere through this portable tablet that can stay powered for a year. The FLUESTON Toys for Girls Boys LCD Kids Writing Tablet is the Etch-and-Sketch of the future.
A road trip wouldn’t be a good one without some good grub. The road can be a barren place sometimes, so as parents, you’ll want to make sure that there’s always some to snack on while you’re on the road.
Besides, tots who have the munchies can be a nightmare on the road, and you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that pent-up energy. That’s why novelties like the Skip Hop Baby Snack Container are perfect for a day on the road. Not only does it solve the storage needs that you may have for the kids’ trip, but its unique and amusing design is an excellent distraction that can be the target for children’s excitement.
The Skip Hop Baby Snack Container provides children with the tools that encourage independent snacking that teaches kids how to eat without making a mess. The package comes with an easy-grip handle that was deliberately size-appropriated for children’s small hands and a snap-top lid that secures the food inside and keeps it fresh. The container makes use of a flexible inside opening to make sure that the snacks don’t spill out during a bumpy ride and utilizes two lids that keep things organized and the bags crumb-free.
Sorting and matching games will always have a special place in the field of child development. The Coogam Letters Matching Eggs bring a unique twist to the game by using a distinct aesthetic that will keep kids on their toes.
Disguising the matching and sorting puzzle as eggs, the Coogam Letter Matching Eggs is a hit for children who’re looking for a challenge. Opening up all 26 eggs will reveal a colorful puzzle that tasks children with a simple goal. Breaking the eggs open will reveal two components: one side with an embossed letter, and an opposing side with a hole shaped with the corresponding member of the alphabet. The kids will then match the embossed letter and the holes to piece each of the eggs together again and sort them into the egg tray to which they belong.
The insides of the eggs are color-coded to help kids make the association between the letters and the colors, helping them match the eggs that fit together through visual and tactile cues. There are five different colors to help the children with the puzzle; the insides of the eggs are either red, blue, yellow, orange, or green.
The eggs can also be arranged in different ways, opening up more challenges for your kids. The eggs can be organized by color, alphabetically, and even by vowels or consonants. The toys look so realistic that children and parents may even use them in open-ended play.
This fantastic novelty may break the “few pieces rule,” but since the kids tend to stay in the car, the Stephen Joseph Crossbody Purse is perfect for the occasion. This unique storage solution is an excellent companion to the kids on the road as it encourages them to create their own busy bag for the adventure ahead.
The main charm of the Stephen Joseph Crossbody Purse is its endearing aesthetic that makes use of bright colors and whimsical designs that excite children. Designed with the comfort of children using the bag in mind, the designers built the zippers on the Stephen Joseph crossbody purse to be size-appropriate for children for easy access.
To avoid misplacement or loss, designers equipped the bag with an attached strap that children can sling over the children’s shoulders, so the bag stays safe and sound. The Stephen Joseph Crossbody Purse uses polyester and durable materials to withstand enthusiastic and spirited play, perfect for excited children on the road who can be rigorous as they enjoy their toys.
Customization is the name of the game with the Lamaze Mix & Match Plush Toy Caterpillar Baby Toy Puzzle For Sensory Play, as each differently-painted segment can be detached and reattached according to the kids’ creative decisions.
The chunky segments that make the caterpillar are plush toys that deliver a varied set of stimuli that highlight auditory, visual, and tactile cues. The children will have fun for hours as they explore the squeaking and chiming that correspond to the colorfully-designed segments. To complete a comprehensive sensory experience, the plush toys have interesting textures for children to discover as they work on knotted legs and other similar puzzles that improve fine motor and problem-solving skills.
As they learn more about the diverse designs and functions of each segment, the kids can mix and match the unique features among each other as they rebuild the caterpillar using the eight whimsically colored plush toys.
It’s important not to forget that road trips are a chance to bond, and as you travel with your family, it may be helpful to find a toy or game that will help you build your relationship with your kids. One such game is Feelings and Dealings: Card Game.
As parents, it’s vital that you pay attention to children’s emotional and social intelligence. It’s an essential aspect of growth that helps them build their relationships in the future and acts as a guiding force on how to identify and communicate their feeling towards others in a safe and secure way.
Feeling and Dealings: Card Game gives both parents a means to help their kids understand how to identify, process, comprehend, and communicate what they feel. Families use this award-winning game to play five different therapy games and three educational games, explain 24 universal emotions and help explore 48 expressive feelings through a single deck of cards.
The best part about this game is that it can be played during a road trip and isn’t limited to a single classroom, home, or playroom. The whole family can jump and help the youngest of the family develop essential emotional and social skills that will surely benefit the kids in the future. It can be an exciting way to form connections among the family and build the relationships between parents and their children.
The Mudpuppy Around The World Mini Coloring Roll is a coloring book with a twist! Instead of using the typical flippable pages, this novelty rolled a 10-foot image into a single massive artwork.
This ingenious product will surely keep children occupied for hours as they explore the vast artwork that needs their creativity. You can keep all 10 feet of the coloring roll in a small box that you can take with you on the road, and while traveling, you can unravel just a bit of art to color for the kids so they can pace themselves adequately and avoid getting overwhelmed.
The art package comes with four crayons in the box, but you can, of course, use any art materials you have at your disposal to create open, vibrant possibilities for the coloring ahead.
Sometimes, toddlers have that weird tendency to gravitate towards strange everyday objects and use them as toys. Keys, for instance, are one of those things that children simply cannot seem to get enough of obsessing over, no matter how many toys you buy for them.
But what if a toy disguises itself as an everyday object? It turns out that children can’t get enough of it, too! The B. toys – FunKeys Toy – Funky Toy Keys for Toddlers and Babies is a toy creator purposely designed to look like a real key. The similarities go beyond looks as the rest of the product’s functionality delivers matching features with a real car key. On top of these realistic features, the developers designed the FunKeys Toy to provide a fantastic sensory experience.
The buttons on the remote produce real car sounds and have natural flashlight capabilities. Three keys are attached to the toy and can act as a rattle for your growing babies as they swing mesmerizingly.
The best toys for kids are the ones that not only entertain but also educate; in that respect, the LeapFrog LeapReader System is a treasure chest of both fun and learning. The star in this classic LeapFrog education is the cutting-edge LeapReader pen that reads letters and words that appear on the pages of each of the books.
The amazing LeapReader pen helps children learn how to spell and read by introducing the sounds of each letter and how to read each word aloud. This educational package provides families with 10 early learning books that mainly focus on fundamental aspects of reading and language like vowels, sight words, and simple words. Each book comes with interactive stories and activities that have words that can be scanned and read by the special LeapReader pen.
Additional downloadable content is available online through the LeapFrog app center that can expand the educational value of this product. The content includes prominent audiobooks, sing-along songs, and fun facts.
Sensory play takes center stage in the Coolplay Baby’s First Non-Toxic Soft Cloth Book Set. The product boasts an incredibly soft texture that kids can enjoy as they play. As they turn the pages of the book, the kids can enjoy the sensory experience enriched by colorful visuals and soothing auditory cues.
Each of the books is small and lightweight, making it perfect for the developing physique of a baby or toddler. This portability is also beneficial for the kids who can bring them everywhere they want to play whether it be at home, school, or in the car for a long journey ahead.
There are eight books in the Coolplay Baby’s First Non-Toxic Soft Cloth Book Set that take on a variety of topics like colors, characters, shapes, food, animals, life under the sea, numbers, and vegetables, all of which are packed with exciting content that can keep kids engaged through the road trip ahead.
The Clip Connect 100 Pieces is a widely-used developmental toy in occupational therapy because of its highly effective play mechanic that develops interests in construction and creative activities.
Each piece is durable and built to withstand excited and enthusiastic play. Children can let their imagination go wild in exploring the many builds possible through the Clip Connect pieces due to its versatile construction features.
Your little engineers can create various shapes through the toy set like flowers, animals, cars, and structures by simply clicking the pieces together in place. The Clip Connect 100 Pieces is perfect for fun on the road as it nurtures independent play, hand-eye coordination, spatial skills, and dexterity.
Hi, my name is Elena Jones, and my full-time job is a teacher. Through teaching, I have discovered that children learn in many different ways, and have seen the positive impact both STEM and Montessori toys have on children.
Through this site I hope to educate parents and adults about these toys, providing them with useful information on how they can be used, and provide some in depth reviews of different toys to consider too.
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