If you’re planning a trip with kids, it can be daunting trying to work out how to keep your little angels amused for the journey. Whether thats a 6 hour road trip, 2 hour flight or series of hops from home to your final destination, boredom management is a major factor to bear in mind.

Of course there are a bewildering array of Travel toys for kids on the market, which doesn’t make things any easier. But, having done a few trips in our time with little ones, we think we’ve got some great suggestions.

This post isn’t gonna be your standard list of things you can buy to keep the kids amused while travelling. Yes, we are going to link to some great travel toys – but we’re actually gonna suggest some DIY things too.

OK blah blah, enough preamble – what travel toys are gonna keep your kids amused and, crucially, keep you sane?

1. Travel tubs

On a recent trip, my better half had the great idea of using an old Chinese takeaway tub full of little toys, with lumps of playdough. The little toys were the sort of things that you either have lying around from Christmas crackers, kids meals or just small tub sized toys.

As well as keeping the kids amused for several train and bus journeys, they also loved playing with them while we were in our holiday apartment and once we got home too. Genius…

2. Amazon Fire Tablet

On a long journey, the last thing you want is your kids running down the battery on your phone. We use a pretty cheap Amazon Fire 8 tablet to keep the kids amused with games, downloaded Netflix shows and even just snapping pics of each other on the (slightly crappy) camera.

Why the Amazon tablet? Mainly because it’s cheap, and you can also cram a load of kids books on the Kindle App. Plus if they do break it they haven’t busted your £300 iPad…. Grab the 8 inch Amazon Fire Tablet here.

Talking of which, don’t forget the case!

3. Colouring books and pens

Obviously, right? If you want to keep kids amused while travelling then what better way to keep them focused than with some colouring. Add in some stickers and you’ve got a winner. Although you will end up with stickers all over the back of the chair in front.

The other great thing about colouring books and pens is that these can be packed in a day bag and plopped on a table while waiting for a meal. You *might* even be able to get an adult conversation in, or enjoy the view.

4. Groov E Bluetooth headphones

These have been a lifesaver more than once on recent travel trips. Although they’re not technically a kids travel toy, these handy headphones are actually pretty decent, despite the low price tag. Our eldest loves to sit on a train (or plane) and look out of the window while singing ‘Let it go’ on repeat. So having these handy bluetooth headphones means she can enjoy her music without driving everyone else mad (apart from the singing bit).

At under £20 these are a total bargain too (check them out on Amazon).

5. A bag of forgotten toys

Your kids probably have a load of small toys that they barely ever play with. Before you go away, take a look around and see what is small enough that they can fit in a side pocket, or even jacket pocket. Pop a small handful of forgotten toys in a small drawstring bag and bring them out at an opportune moment.

It might be a bunch of Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars, or a forgotten Paw Patrol character. Or even some smaller soft toys. So long as they’re the forgotten toys that they won’t care about losing, they’ll make excellent travel distractions.

6. Kids camera

Our kids LOVE taking pictures. What this means is that we end up with a ton of terrible blurry pics on our phones (or we used to). But our new favourite travel toy, and one our kids love too, is the Vtech Kiddizoom camera.

What makes this one so popular is that it’s really easy to use, it even has a pop up lens for selfies (which amuses them for hours). And, there are also some really simple games on there too.

Obviously this also means your kids get into holiday photography too – although ours haven’t quite mastered the art of framing yet.

We also like the look of the GlobalCrown camera too.

Another option for a kids camera is to use an old point and shoot camera. Our kids have both the camera above – and an old Nikon Coolpix which has fallen into disuse. You can pick up an old camera for about £20 on eBay. Don’t forget the memory cards too though!

8. DuoLingo

OK this isn’t necessarily a kids travel toy, but is a great fun way to get your kids involved in learning the language before you arrive (or even while you’re there). If you’ve not used DuoLingo before, it’s the fun and simple language learning app which makes picking up a language childs play – literally.

Again if you have a tablet or device for them then they can click away with Duo. Oh and you’ll also need those headphones cos the sound effects can be annoying if you’re clicking away on a bus or in a cafe.

But if you want them to feel like they’ve learned something on their travels, definitely add DuoLingo to your list of favourite kids travel toys.

9. Travel board games

Even as adults it can be borrriiiing when your flight or train gets delayed. Doubly so if you have grumpy kids to keep amused.

There are loads of travel board games you can get these days. You can easily get a roll-up snakes and ladders, a pocket sized connect 4 or Guess who or other classics like Battleships. A great way to pass a few hours.

10. Fidget poppers and spinners

Got a kid who is full of energy? Toys that can keep them focused and fidgeting – BUT IN ONE PLACE – can be a literal Godsend. Fidget poppers are excellent and noiseless, which is nice.

Other options for fidget toys for travel include fidget spinners and stress balls (get the craziest and squeeziest ones for the best distractions).

11. Rubiks cubes and puzzles

Another excellent way to keep kids amused while travelling is to give them a puzzle to focus on. Rubik’s cubes are obviously great, but there are all manner of similar style puzzles.

For younger kids, you can also find puzzle books – which either contain quizzes and puzzles, or have actual puzzle pieces.

12. Retro gameboy/game console

OK, last resort here as you don’t really want your kids absorbed with a screen while you’re travelling. BUT…. There is something to be said for having a handheld games console to hand for when it all gets a bit too much.

There are loads of handheld games consoles similar to Nintendo Gameboys on Amazon. We like this model which gets good reviews.

But there are obviously lots of options such as the Nintendo Switch (if you wanna shell out the big bucks) and the old but still decent Nintendo 3DS. Prepare to want to have a go yourself though….

Travelling with kids

Of course, travelling with kids should be enjoyable and help them to enjoy seeing the world. These travel toys for kids are all intended to make your travel experience less stressful.

So what do you think?

Do you have your own suggestions for toys to keep kids distracted when travelling? Share them in the comments below….

The post Keep Kids Amused While Travelling – The 12 Best Travel Toys appeared first on Gone Travelling.