17 Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips [2023]

ByBess Hours

Have a long road trip ahead of you and nervous about how your toddler is going to handle it? First, I want to say you are going to be OK! Even if the car trip doesn’t go well, it will eventually end. Second, I’ve got you covered! I’m sharing my list of the best toddler toys for road trips that will keep your toddler happy and entertained for hours. We’ve used these on many long car rides with our kids. And I have a lot of experience. My oldest is now eight and the longest road trip she did was 9-hours. And that was after a full day of flying. Talk about a cranky toddler!

Car trip to Olympic National Park

A Four Hour Wait with a Toddler – Made Easy!

Best Toddler Toys for Road trips

I am not here to judge anyone for using screen time to get through a long road trip. Been there, done that. But I’m assuming your are reading this post because you are looking for a good alternative to screen time. Even if you don’t want to avoid screen time, I highly recommend you have a few of these stored under your seat. On really long car trips it is nearly impossible to keep a toddler entertained with just an iPad. Check out one of our favorite summer road trips through Olympic National Park. We used a ton of these toys for that vacation!

Here are the best toddler toys for road trips, perfect for kids ages one to three.

These are all toys we use and love for long road trips. The links are through my Amazon affiliate account and I may receive a small commission for any purchases made on this page. I appreciate your support of Pattons with Passports!

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Staying Organized

Car Seat Trays

Let’s start with the basic building blocks. If you are headed out on a long road trip with young kids you not only need the best toddler toys for road trips, you need a good way to keep them within arm’s reach while your child is in their car seat.

There is nothing worse than being on a busy highway when you get the inevitable, ‘Mom, I just dropped my [insert favorite toy they need immediately]. Car seat trays are a great way to keep loose toys as contained as possible.

Toiletry Bag Toy Organizer

If you are gearing up for a long road trip you are going to need a good organizer to keep your car from looking like a disaster. My recommendation is to get a toiletry bag with multiple compartments for organizing small pieces and loose toys. They are absolutely perfect for bringing the toys from the car to the hotel room too!

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Busy Toys for Busy Toddlers

Busy Boards

Busy boards are a hallmark in toddler households and are a great option for a toddler travel toy. They are compact enough to fit nicely in a toddler’s lap while they are seated in a car seat and provide opportunities for independent play. The best part, busy boards are educational, enjoyable, and portable! Perfect for a long road trip!

No list of the best toys for young children would be complete without multiple Melissa & Doug recommendations. They simply make great travel toys. The Melissa & Doug busy board is a great option for older toddlers who are in their independence phase. They can work on their hand-eye coordination while practicing lacing, zipping, and buttoning.

I love this backpack style busy board alternative too!

Busy Books

Busy books are another great addition to your toy stash for a long car trip. Similar to busy boards they are the best way to keep your toddler occupied. I also love them for a long flight because they are typically easier to pack into a carry-on than a busy board.

This Montessori style busy book contains over 35 activities the 1 to 3 year olds are sure to love! Parents are sure to love the folding design which makes this an excellent travel toy. There are a few different designs, my son is a huge fan of the dinosaur versions. So many different activities will be sure to keep your toddler entertained on even the longest road trip!

Quiet Books

Quiet books are really similar to busy books (and busy boards), but are usually a softer felt making them perfect for throwing in a carry-on for a long flight or in the car for a family road trip.

This quiet book is one of the best toddler travel toys. My son love the zipper page in particular and it does a great job of making time fly on our long trips. Even younger toddlers will love the bright colors. Parents will love that everything is attached!

Buckle Toy

Buckle toys can keep toddlers busy for a long time! Since there are so many buckles, your toddler will have to use their problem-solving skills to make sure they are connecting the right pieces.

Amazon has a ton of buckle toys to pick from but this one is my favorite because of the multiple buckle rows and different shaped buckles. The Boomer Square teaches fine motor skills and helps toddlers identify and learn different colors with six colorful buckles.

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Mess Free Creative Play

Magnetic Drawing Boards

The first thing I think of when I hear magnetic drawing board is no mess! And what parent doesn’t love to hear no mess when prepping for a road trip? I don’t know about you but my car typically looks like a disaster zone, especially after a road trip.

I love the Cra-Z-Art Magna Doodler for so many reasons. The most important one might be because the stylus is attached. If you’ve ever had your child drop something on a road trip and had to frantically climb to the back of a car, you know what I mean!

Magnetic Drawing Boards are great for older toddlers who will enjoy making masterpieces before erasing them and doing it over again. What a great way to work on fine motor skills while having fun! This is definitely one of the best toddler toys for road trips.

LCD Writing Tablet

Anything reusable is a win on a long car trip. Toddlers will love stretching their imagination while playing with an LCD writing tablet. Oh and did I mention they are mess free? Now you see why they are on the list of best toddler toys for road trips!

Little artists can create pictures with bright colors and then erase them with a simple click of a button. LCD writing tablets are great for big kids too. My toddler loves scribbling and making it disappear while my big kid can spend an entire car trip working on a masterpiece.

Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads

Older toddlers and little kids alike will love the Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker pads. They are great toys for promoting independent play. Playing independently encourages imaginative play, problem-solving skills, and builds resilience.

Melissa & Doug offer a massive selection of reusable stickers that even the pickiest two year olds will find something they love! They have a variety of sticker pads but make sure you get these book sized reusable sticker pads that are perfect for car or airplane travel. Little fingers will love moving the puffy stickers around and making new scene. My son’s favorites include farm animals and sea creatures.

Bonus: even older kids will love the Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads. Even my eight year old still plays with her’s!

Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow!

Water wow books are the perfect road trip toy for toddlers. Not sure because they are mess free but because they allow little hands to create colorful works of art. My kids love uncovering hidden animals! And they are so proud that they ‘colored it’ themselves.

Not only are the Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow! coloring books mess free they are reusable. They come with a hard pen that allows toddlers to use the perfect amount of water. But when they flip to the next page and their work starts to dry, poof it disappears! Meaning your little one can create and recreate their art.

Just be careful that your toddler doesn’t drink out of the coloring pen. Both of mine have been caught doing that on multiple occasions! It won’t hurt, it’s just silly!

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Independent Imaginative Play

Window Clings

One of the first tips I read for traveling with kids was to invest in window clings. And boy is that a good tip! Window clings are a life saver on long car trips and long plane flights. Just make sure you book yourself a window seat!

These window clings could not get any cuter with all of the farm animals. Your toddler will love showcasing their imagination as they put together different farm scenes on the car window. Just be careful, it might get a little noisy back there. Moooo!

VTech Turn and Learn Driver

What toddler can resists taking charge of the road trip and driving the car? Certainly not my car obsessed toddler!

Your toddler will love feeling like they are steering the car and honking the horn for you. I particularly love this one from VTech because of how nicely it sits on the car seat tray.

Magnetic Mix and Match Farm Animals

I don’t know why these are so entertaining but I promise you toddlers cannot get enough of these magnetic mix and match farm animals! These are perfect for imaginative play. Don’t be surprised if your toddler enjoys making new farm animal combinations and new sounds to go along with them!

I love the perfect size of these mix and match farm animals because they are large enough to be easy to use for younger toddlers. We usually end up saving one or two farm animals who come to the hotel room with us and out on our adventures.

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Educational Toys

Shape Sorter

We love the Melissa & Doug Kid’s Take Along Shape Sorter. The soft sides make it easy to pack and because it is self contained it is really easy to bring from the car to the hotel room.

This shape sorter contains two different activities. One side has the shape sorter, the other side is like a lift the flap book with crinkly flaps. Young toddlers will love the lift the flap side. While older toddlers will love the shape sorter. It is a great way to teach them the different shapes.

Snap-n-Learn Counting Cows

This farm animal themed counting toy is the perfect toy for a long road trip. Its the perfect way for your younger toddler to learn on the go!

Children will love learning how to count while playing for the brightly colored cows. Once they’ve matched all of the cows up then the imaginative play can kick in while they play pretend. If you have a big kid, I love hearing mine help her little brother work on his counting. One of their favorite things is to line the cows up after they are assembled and count them 1-to-10.

Best Toddler Toys for Road Trips: Sensory Toys

Fidget Toys

Fidget toys aren’t just for older kids! Fidget toys are incredibly satisfying sensory toys that are small, portable, and perfect for a long road trip. Although you do want to be careful that you get a toddler approved fidget toy without small parts. My three year old loves stealing his older sister’s fidget toys so we’ve had to invest in some just for him. These are a few perfect travel toys as endorsed by my toddler.

Tegu Wooden Magnetic Blocks

Make sure you get that car seat tray before investing in magnetic blocks for the car! But once you do these are the perfect addition to your family road trip gear.

I love Tegu blocks and have so many different sets floating around our house. They are a good choice for any age toddler. They’ll love rearranging the blocks and making different shapes. And of course I love anything magnetic for a road trip. Increases your chances of keeping it on the car seat tray! Just be careful of small pieces for younger toddlers.

Bonus Tip For Surviving A Road Trip

I saw this tip on social media and absolutely love it. Wrap the toys in wrapping paper or mismatched socks. Your toddler will have just as much fun opening the toys as they will playing with them! And it is sure to take up some time too.

Happy shopping! Please share which these become your favorite travel toys. I hope you have a fantastic, stress-free road trip!

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