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Best Travel Toys for 1 Year Olds

Perhaps you are already dreading being stuck on an airplane for hours with a 1 year old. I’m going to be completely honest, this is one of the most challenging ages to fly with. That being said, being prepared and having some travel toys for 1 year olds will go a long way.

The thing is, young toddlers who are around 12 to 18 months old are mobile and want to explore EVERYTHING! Not exactly conducive to being confined to a seat on an airplane. I don’t say this to scare you, but rather to prepare you for flying with toddlers.

We’ve always said that some practical tips and setting expectations will make the flight much easier. Plan to be entertaining your toddler the entire time. Plan to be skipping from activity to activity. And most importantly be prepared with a multitude of activities and ways to entertain your 1 year old on the plane.

This includes packing some of the best airplane travel toys, having plenty of toddler airplane snacks (plus a spill proof snack cup for toddlers) and even having a few ipad games to play (age appropriate apps, of course).

toddler travel toys for airplane

Don’t let yourself get too stressed about other passengers, if you toddler isn’t the best behaved! Toddlers are not developmentally capable of sitting in silence or engaging in activities like coloring, drawing or reading for very long durations. They are wired to want to explore and touch everything, which is why we recommend choosing a few favorite travel toys for one year olds.

You can expect your toddler to be more interested in the things around them like plastic cups, bottles, airplane seat belts and tray tables – and only for really short periods too.

After all that playing, hopefully your toddler will settle into a comfy toddler airplane bed for a rest and you’ll get some downtime too!

Fly Tot toddler airplane bed

We encourage you to take a read through our posts on the best baby travel toys and best travel toys for 2 year olds, as you might find some of these are also well suited to your toddler. You also will find some of our screen-free toddler travel toys make perfect travel toys for one year olds.

Finally, if you want some suggestions for apps for young toddlers, we’ve shared our favorites in our airplane activities for toddlers and don’t forget to practice using toddler headphones before the flight!

Need something faster? See our Quick Picks for Toddler Travel Toys on Amazon!

toddlers wearing best toddler backpacks watching planes at airport

The best travel toys for one year olds are mess-free, lightweight, and easily-packable into your backpack diaper bag or your toddlers travel backpack.

In this article, we go over some of the best toys for travel with 1 year olds in the market, toys that are best suited for travel, toys which will enable you to keep your baby or your toddler busy during a long flight or a car ride and our favorite books for 1 year olds that are perfect for on the go reading. 

We’ve included toddler travel toys that are best suited to young toddlers from the age of 12 months to 18 months.

This post contains compensated links.

See all the best travel toys for 1 year old toddlers in our convenient Amazon Shopping list!

Best 1 Year Old Travel Toys

Toddler Books for Travel

Most parents want something to help toddlers feel relaxed, safe, and comforted during long flights and while on vacation, nothing beats a book for this! A familiar book can help maintain your toddlers naptime and bedtime routines even in challenging places like airplanes, (because let's face it, getting toddlers to sleep on a plane is no joke)!

Just get your toddler into pj's, grab a good book and you'll be ready to start mastering the technique of coaxing your toddler to sleep no matter where you are. Reading to toddlers also helps them develop better vocabulary, listening skills and communication skills among many other benefits, so there is no reason not to continue this on your travels!

Listed below are some fun books for 1 year olds to help get your baby book library going and make excellent companions to your best toys for airplane travel with 1 year old toddlers.

See all the best travel toys for 1 year old toddlers in our convenient Amazon Shopping list!

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Best Travel Toys for 1 Year Olds