DIY Toddler Travel Toys

You know all of those little toys your kids get at birthday parties and Easter egg hunts that somehow end up on your floor waiting to get stepped on? I can’t tell you how many little stamps, sticky hands, jumping frogs, plastic dinosaurs, etc. we have cluttering up our house. Instead of trashing them, I started saving those toys and bringing them back out as toddler travel toys when we go on trips. Suddenly, they’re fun again because my toddlers have not seen them in a while. And, since they’re cheap toddler travel toys, you don’t fret about losing one or two while on vacation.

Literature Mailer Boxes

I like to save the literature mailer boxes that my online purchases sometimes come in. They are small and compact cardboard boxes that make good travel toy stations. If you don’t have these, a simple Ziploc bag will do.

Art Station Toddler Travel Toy

The art station toddler travel toy is always a huge hit on our family vacations. I use velcro dots to stick stamps to the inside of the box. Velcro dots also work well for sticking Post-It Notes to the inside of the lid. Then, I just throw a few crayons and stickers inside and voila, you have an art station! The great thing about Post-Its is that your child can make their art work and stick it to airplane walls, car windows, hotel mirrors, etc. That allows them to show off their artwork!

Here’s a picture of my art station toddler travel toy almost completed. I used an old candy corn paper pad from Halloween and a horse paper pad from who knows where. I just need to add the Post-It Notes, stickers, and crayons!

I also tried using magnet sheets with adhesive backing to stick the paper pad and post-its to the inside of the lid. That did not work out so great, since the pads kept falling off on me.

And here’s Jo Jr. creating his works of art while on our Grand Canyon road trip:

Lego Station Toddler Travel Toy

Jo Jr. also really likes playing with the Lego station toddler travel toy. I used velcro dots to stick a 5×5 inch lego board onto the lid of a small craft box I had laying around. We didn’t have any legos at my house, so my friends Allison and Teresa let me have some of theirs.

Velcro Popsicle Stick Station Toddler Travel Toy

The velcro popsicle sticks I made were a hit for both Jo Jr. and Missy Jo on our Grand Canyon road trip. This toddler travel toy is fit for nearly all ages.

To make them, I put 1 cup of white vinegar into each of  five different quart size freezer bags. Then, I squeezed one entire tube of Betty Crocker gel food coloring into each bag. Mix it up so the color is evenly distributed and put 20 popsicle sticks (or more if they will fit) into each bag. I soaked them overnight and then laid them out to dry for a day.

Next, I put small velcro dots on the ends of both sides of each popsicle stick (so 4 velcro dots per popsicle stick). I would just mix it up as far as on which sides you put the rough velcro dots and on which sides you put the soft velcro dots.

Kinetic Sand Station Toddler Travel Toy

Missy Jo has been obsessed with her kinetic sand box at home for a while now. We have a large shallow plastic food container at home that I made into a kinetic sand box. I wanted to create a miniature version of it to bring on vacation. Using a slightly deeper literature mailer box, I put some kinetic sand, pony beads, various bottle caps I had laying around, and Play Doh toys from Dollar Tree in it. I found a miniature wooden spoon somewhere in the house that we never use and threw that in there too. Missy Jo loved it! The kinetic sand station kept her quiet so her daddy could sleep a few extra minutes. That’s why the picture is so dark!

Contact us! We would love to hear from you!