Road Trip Travel Toys for Baby

baby wearing pink pretending to drive maroon truck

Getting ready to take your first long road trip with a baby can be stressful! We hope this post can ease some of that anxiety by helping you gather some inexpensive travel toys for baby that’ll help keep everyone happy.

The road trip entertainment suggested in this post are great as travel toys for babies and travel toys for 1 year olds.

Gathering Travel Toys for Baby

First, a few tips on finding and using free or cheap travel toys for your road trip with baby:

By digging deep in that toy bin you can surprise baby with a “new” travel toy if he or she hasn’t played with it a lot recently.
Do a temporary toy swap with a friend who has similar aged kids. Take a photo of all you are borrowing so you know what to return after the road trip.
Check out baby magazines (non-rippable pages) from your public library.
Rummage through your kitchen, craft closet, recycling, etc to find some great DIY travel toys that babies often find even more interesting than their shiny store-bought ones! And of course, check them over for safety and then supervise - even the most well made DIY toys could cause problems. So sit in the back with your baby as he or she plays with the travel toys you’ve created. Save those store-bought options for independent play time.
Look for multipurpose objects: an empty wipes container with a pop-up lid can be used in a lot of ways (see below), while many large travel toys tend to be very single purpose and less engaging. If you are crunched on space during your long car ride with baby, consider this as you search for things to bring.
Jot down a list of all the travel toys you are bringing for your baby or 1 year old. Knowing what you have will help you better dig and provide based on your baby’s mood.
Avoid letting your baby play with the car seat entertainment stash during your vacation. Saving the travel toys you gathered for baby for the vehicle only will help to keep them exciting and engaging while on the long car ride.

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Great Travel Toys for Baby

Loosely rotate how you are engaging your baby with these road trip travel toys. Rather than a constant flow of noise making plastic toys for an hour, mix in a toy that moves, or something that has a new texture, or something visually appealing, and then something that requires a little more active engagement from the baby.

Visually Interesting Travel Toys for Baby:

glowing and interesting toys for baby to look at during road trip

Dimly glowing or light up toys (toys that flash red and blue WILL make you think you’re getting pulled over)

Small flashlight (parents’ hands only of course)
Tightly closed jars with water, food coloring, & soap to shake
Videos of him or herself
Blow bubbles above car seat
Toys with faces
Empty water bottle filled with a mix of rice, buttons, sequins, pom poms, etc., and closed securely

Travel Toys for Baby that Make Sound:

diy rattles and shakers to entertain baby on road trip

Songs and rhymes from parents
Empty water bottle to crinkle
Toys that make noise
Add coins to tightly closed water bottle to shake
Make new “rattles” from empty containers filled with bells or buttons, then tightly sealed
New crinkly sounding toys

Travel Toys for Baby the Encourage Movement:

rolling and moving travel toys for baby on long car ride

Patty cake or other nursery rhymes paired with action
Peek-a-boo
Spinning/rolling/turning type of baby toys - something they can learn how to effect
Toy cars

Travel Toys Especially For Their Oral Development:

teething toys to bring for baby on a road trip

Mesh feeder* filled with ice
Eating solids? Snacks, snacks, snacks! Especially new and time consuming ones
Try a whole apple and enjoy monitoring
Teething toys

Travel Toys for Baby to Be Entertained:

books suction cup toys puppets and games for baby to use as travel toys

Something that can suction to the window to look at and reach for (like suction cup balls* or a small shower caddy)
Empty wipes container with a large object to hide inside and locate
Colored ribbon or fabric strips tied together and inside a wipes container to pull
Read books and baby magazines
Stacking or nesting toys* with an object to hide underneath or inside
Puppets

When All Else Fails During Your Long Car Ride With Baby:

Try to pull over and get out of the vehicle before your baby transitions to full on meltdown mode to help him or her reset and (hopefully) start fresh.
If you can’t pull over or your baby is always bordering on meltdown mode, have a few go-to distractions and travel toys that will engage your baby long enough to become distracted from her current misery. From the lists above, these things have all been wins for us in times like this:
- Ice chips in a mesh feeder
- Food
- New and unusual travel toy
- Watching videos of herself
- Use technology (even if you are against this, NOW is the time to just do it)
Switch drivers! Giving your baby a refreshed adult with a new face, new voice, and new ideas can help.
Take deep breaths and know it’ll be okay. And maybe after a few inconsolable minutes he’ll fall fast asleep. Power through!

We hope some of these road trip tips and travel toys for baby can help keep everyone happy during your next family road trip, and that you feel encouraged to give it a try if you haven’t yet! Chances are, it won’t be as bad as you’re imagining.

And having that much uninterrupted time together really can be a nice bonding experience between family members!

If you’re looking for other general tips related to road tripping with a baby or toddler, go here!

As always, thanks for reading, and be sure to SUBSCRIBE for blog updates or to follow along on our journey!