If your toddler is anything like mine, then you know what it’s like to travel with a mobile, inquisitive and talkative little person. While he has a much longer attention span for watching shows and movies, I still like to pack travel toys for my 3 year old.
I found, like many of the other toddler stages, traveling with a 3 year old just needs a little bit of planning and preparation. To help you, I’ve come up with this list of the best travel toys for 3 year olds. I’ve personally traveled with so many of these travel toys (and many others), which has helped me figure out which ones are winners with 3 year olds, and which one’s aren’t!
At 3 years old, your toddler is becoming a preschooler and will have more of an attention span for shows and movies. For quiet activities, drawing, coloring, solving puzzles, building blocks and even stringing bead (or cheerios!) are perfect are this age.
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Best 3 Year Old Travel Toys
Here is my list of the best travel toys for 3 year old toddlers:
Dot to Dot Activity Book
One of our most used activity books for our 3 year old was this Dot To Dot book! Our toddler was entertained solving dot-to-dot patterns and maze puzzles in this activity book. And because the pages aren’t too cluttered with colors, they keep kids focused on the task at hand. To start again, just wipe clean once completed!
Wikki Sticks
Wikki Stix is the ultimate craft toy for promoting creativity, building and imagination. Made of nothing more than yarn covered in food-grade, non-toxic wax, these colorful, soft and pliable sticks stick to each other with ease to allow for hours of creativity.
With no right or wrong way to play with them; no mess, clean-up or prep involved; and even a convenient carrying tube that comes included, these simply are one of the best travel toys for 3-year olds!
Reusable LCD Doodle Board
I love these colorful LCD writing tablets! This little mess-free writing tablet is a fantastic way to keep older toddlers occupied during long flights or on road trips. When my kids got their doodle boards, my parenting job got so much easier – it’s like my kids were no longer there!
Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads
Another of my all-time favorite travel toys for 3 year olds, my kids would play endlessly with these amazing reusable sticker books.
Note, they are too big for carry-on bags (I packed mine in our suitcase). Here’s a smaller one for your carry-on.
Alphabet Water Cards
These Alphabet Water Cards are an excellent travel toy for a 3-year-old. These reusable cards allow your child to “paint” with water, revealing colorful images that fade as they dry, providing endless, mess-free entertainment.
Magnetic Puzzles
This reimagined version of the classic jigsaw puzzle is a wonderful travel toy for 3 year olds who are learning to coordinate their actions and recognize patterns. Designed to enhance fine motor skills and problem-solving abilities, the compact size and magnetic pieces make this puzzle ideal for travel.
Crayola Color Wonder Mess-Free Coloring
Crayola’s Color Wonder Mess Free books are the perfect toddler airplane activity! They can color anywhere without you needing to worry about them getting marker all over their hands (or worse!). We ALWAYS had these in our toddler’s carry-on and as part of our packing list!
These Color Wonder kits are one of the most popular travel toys I recommend and are great for both older toddlers and little kids.
Magnetic Maze Puzzle Game
This magnetic travel game has all of the characteristics of more complex mazes, but simplified for use by little, inquisitive hands and minds! Toddlers will be entertained moving the correct number of balls into their designated slots, while having fun and learning in the process. This developmental travel toy allow tots to exercise their logic, planning, dexterity and counting.Â
Pop Tube Sensory Toys
Pop Tubes are a fun and open-ended STEM toy designed with the aim of helping kids develop tactile stimulation, fine motor skills, and auditory feedback. Stretch them into tunnels, mold them into shapes, use them to make a whistling noise or brandish them as swords in the next duel – the possibilities are endless!Â
Tip: these might get a little annoying on the plane, but they are great for family road trips or hotel rooms!
My Plane Trip Coloring Book
Air travel can be a little scary for toddlers. Talking to them about it ahead of your trip can help. The My Plane Trip Coloring Book features easy-to-color illustrations that depict various aspects of air travel, helping to familiarize your child with the flying experience.
My First Big Book of Coloring
While we are on coloring books, I wanted to share that the My First Big Book of Coloring is hands, down the best coloring book we’re ever had for our toddlers. It’s bursting with fun, simple and easy-to-color pictures that my toddlers just loved.
Anti-Roll Crayons
If you are taking your 3-year old on a flight, do not even think about bringing traditional round crayons (unless you want to spend the entire flight on the floor searching for them). Whoever invented these anti-roll triangular crayons is a genius!!
Water Wow! Activity Pads
My kids LOVED their Melissa & Doug On The Go Water Wow! activity pads! Using a clever water pen, children ‘paint’ the book to reveal colorful scenes. They can repeat this over and over as the water dries. Best of all, it uses water, so you’ll never have to worry about a mess!
Lego Duplo Sets
I love the open-ended nature of Lego Duplo sets. Not only are they fun to assemble in many different ways, but they can be used as an imagination toy. We had a fun tradition in our family where the kids got a new, small Lego set for every family trip.
Buckle Toys Busy Board
Like the original Buckle Toy, this Buckle Toys Busy Board is a simple, yet amazing toddler travel toy. With this busy board, little fingers will get busy engaging in tactile play by buckling and unbuckling clasps, practice tying shoelaces, snapping buttons and pulling the zipper up and down to reveal hidden shapes.
With no batteries, no loud noises, and no lights, the soft foam board is easy to travel with!
Magnetic Building Sticks and Balls
Let your kids explore their creative side with this adorable and versatile set of magnetic sticks and balls. Easy to hold, this toy is great for developing those fine motor skills in young children and helps them achieve a firm grip! When done, just scoop the pieces up and store them in the cute drawstring pouch that comes included.
Erasable Book Doodle Set
Colorful markers that offer toddlers the option to color in pictures, draw their own, or trace out designs are what make this drawing book such a good 3 year old travel toy. Since it’s easy to clean, reusable and compact, it can go along in the car or on the airplane and be reused throughout your trip.
Toddler Busy Book
The HeyKiddo Toddler Busy Book is an excellent travel toy for a 3-year-old. This compact, interactive, mess-free activity binder features 16 engaging themes, including colors, letters, numbers, and shapes, designed to enhance cognitive skills and keep your child entertained during travel.
Magnetic Wooden Block Set
Great for supporting open-ended and unscripted play, these attractive magnetic blocks helps kids develop skills like pattern recognition, balance and sense of scale while keeping them intrigued for hours.
Travel Toys for other age Groups
If you are looking for more options to keep your 3-year old entertained, check out my favorite screen free toddler travel toys and the best toddler travel toys for car trips.
Finally, if you want some suggestions for apps for young toddlers, I’ve shared my favorites in my post on airplane activities for toddlers – don’t forget to practice using toddler headphones before the flight!
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Celine Brewer is the owner of Baby Can Travel. Not only does she have years of experience traveling with babies & toddlers, but she’s helped millions of new parents travel with their babies and toddlers for over a decade. In addition to writing on her baby travel blog, she has shared her expertise on traveling with a baby or toddler by contributing to articles about traveling with a baby with the Washington Post, USA Today, the Lonely Planet magazine and Pregnancy & Newborn magazine.
Celine also writes about family travel on the site FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her passion about her home and travel to Banff National Park and area on their site TravelBanffCanada.com.
