First off, I’m not opposed to screen time for toddlers. I have taken many flights with toddlers and I have always included some screen time on flights to help entertain our toddlers on the airplane. But, I have found that too much screen time can make my toddlers grouchy and difficult to deal with. So, to mix up their travel activities, I always packed a bag of screen-free travel toys for toddlers to use on the flight and during our time traveling at our destination.
In my post on airplane activities for babies and toddlers, I explain how a toddler will cycle through all the toddler travel toys you pack in your toddler’s backpack for travel.
Based on my experience, my best advice for how to entertain a toddler on a plane is to have a variety of activities that you can present to your toddler throughout the flight.
In this post, I focus exclusively on screen-free activities for toddlers on planes and on road trips. If you are looking to include some screen time in your toddlers travel entertainment, I recommend several apps for toddlers in the post mentioned above. In addition, I give many more screen time ideas in my lists of the best 1 year old travel toys and 2 year old travel toys.
This post contains compensated links.
22 Best Screen-Free Travel Toys for Toddlers
Based largely on my real-life trials and errors traveling with my toddlers, here are my favorite screen-free toddler travel toys. I’ve also included some fun DIY toddler travel toys for variety later in this post.
LCD Drawing Tablets
I love the LCD drawing tablets our toddlers have. I'm always amazed at how long my kids will sit there and draw new pictures over and over and over.
These LCD drawing tablets make look like a screen toy, but they are not. The tablet surface remains a dull black until it is drawn upon - like a chalkboard.
Not only are these great travel toys for toddlers, but they are ideal travel toys for preschoolers and kids too. These are small enough to pack or even leave in the car for road trips. I prefer the drawing tablets with a lock button so our toddler doesn't accidentally press the erase button and lose his drawing while trying to show me!
This bigger magnetic drawing board is one of the best car travel toys for toddlers, rather than for the airplane. It's a little too big for a carry-on bag and the extra pieces would likely go missing on an airplane.
Window Gel Clings
These fun little gel clings always show up on my lists of toddler travel toys for airplane. Why? Because toddlers love them! Let them decorate the airplane window or seat back with as many of these mess-free stickers as they please!
Dogs aren't your toddlers thing? This search on Amazon will give a lot of fun gel cling options!
Melissa & Doug Water Wow
My kids just loved their Water Wow activity books! In my opinion, these are one of the best screen-free travel toys for a 2 year old or a 3 year old. These make such great airplane activities for a 3 year old, because all you need is to fill the pen with water. They can scribble away as the colors come to life on the page.
When you switch to a new activity, you can let the Water Wow pages dry so they will be ready to color all over again!
Crayola Color Wonder
For all the same reasons as the Water Wow books, my kids and I also loved these Crayola Color Wonder books.
These fun & creative books are great screen-free travel toys for toddlers in the car or on a plane. The special Color Wonder markers will not mark anything, except for the pages in the coloring book. I always rest easier knowing my toddler won't make a giant mess! Depending on what your toddler is into, you'll find plenty of fun Crayola Color Wonder options!
Quiet Book for Toddlers
Quiet books are full of excellent screen-free activities to keep toddlers busy on a plane. Usually filled with fun activities and building skills, these quiet books are soft and easy to pack.
In addition to the featured quiet book, check out this one from Melissa & Doug.
Coloring Book
If you'd prefer an actual coloring book, I recommend you get one with big, easy pictures for your toddler to color. If you will be using the coloring book on the plane, do yourself a huge favor and buy triangular crayons that won't roll off the tray (one of the best inventions ever!!).
The Big Book of Coloring was the best toddler coloring book we have ever owned. It's full of fun & interesting pictures which are easy enough for a toddler to color. The one downside is that it's just a little too big to travel with, so I would just tear out a few pages for each of our trips!
Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads
While I think they are too big to bring in my carry-on airplane bag, these super-fun reusable Melissa & Doug sticker books accompanied us on many trips! They are good screen-free travel toys for preschoolers and toddlers to play with at the hotel or in an apartment. Plus they are flat, so they pack easily in a suitcase.
My toddlers love to do imaginative play with their reusable stickers! I love how many options the kids have to make scenes - it keeps them entertained for a long time!
Buckle Toy
This outstanding toddler travel toy appears on so many of my toddler travel lists, and for good reason - it's one of the best screen-free toddler travel toys! This buckle toy is bound to keep any toddler busy on a flight - at least for a little while!
Toddlers just love to play with buckles, which is why this toy is so popular. At least with this toy you might be able to distract your toddler from the car seat and airplane seat buckles!
KeepEmQuiet Travel Pack
As a working mom, I fully understand that parents are BUSY! That's why I love these curated travel packs by KeepEmQuiet!
Not just for toddlers, you can specify the age of your child and size of travel pack! Imagine, all your screen-free travel entertainment for toddlers delivered in one package PLUS snacks!
My First Hidden Pictures Book
We subscribed to Highlights High Five magazines for years, and always bring some on our family trips. Magazines allow us to read stories to our toddler without having to pack heavy books.
One section in the High Five magazine our toddlers always love is the hidden pictures, which makes these hidden pictures sticker books by Highlights the perfect non-screen time activities for toddlers on planes.
Mini Animals Toy Set
There's not many things that my son would drop his Water Wow book for, but plastic animal toys are one of them!
Be prepared for fun imaginative play with your toddler on the flight with these animal figures! No matter where we go, we always have a few little animals with us.
Construction Vehicles Set
My son just loves these little construction trucks. If you have a toddler that also loves watching construction trucks, then these mini construction trucks make great screen-free travel toys for toddlers. Pack along some pom-poms or Cheerios and get your little construction worker lifting and moving!
Mini Assorted Construction Vehicles & Race Car Toys
Pull back vehicles are another fun screen-free travel toy for toddlers. They would provide plenty of entertainment in hotel rooms or apartments as well. Other options are these matchbox cars or these ones if your toddler is into the Disney movie Cars.
Don't forget the painters tape to create roads and other creative ways to play.
LEGO DUPLO Construction Bulldozer
Though I didn't often bring Duplo on the airplane, we brought Duplo sets with us on nearly every family trip.
These Duplo construction sets are a really fun screen-free travel toy for 2 year olds (up to and including preschoolers). With only 10 pieces, you could easily pull them out on the airplane, since the larger pieces would be easier to keep track of.
I always tear the Lego sets apart each time we move hotels during a trip. Toddlers can rebuild them each time and play with them the whole time. I typically buy a new Lego set for each trip for each of our kids and they love them.
Wooden Apple Lacing Toy
Whether you are looking for screen-free airplane or car travel toys, this threading apple travel toy will keep toddlers busy. I love the simplicity of this toy for toddlers. Not only can parents make up fun stories about the caterpillar but toddlers will love threading it through the apple over and over again!
Buckle Toys Busy Board
With the popularity of the buckle toy, now you can get the buckle toy as a busy board for toddlers. This compact screen-free toddler travel toy is easy to pack and gives some other fun activities for toddlers to try.
I love that it's foam and has plenty of buckles to master. It also has a zipper, a snap pocket and even laces to try!
Finger Puppet Set
My kids loved when I'd (try) to entertain them with finger puppets on long flights. This cute finger puppet set comes with 14 animals and 6 people. Entertain your toddler on the flight by making up fun stories! Ultra compact, and equally fun, these really are some of the best screen-free travel toys for toddlers!
I also love this Moana finger puppet set or this Superhero set from Etsy.
Magnetic Fishing Game
Felt toys are ideal screen-free airplane travel toys for toddlers, they are soft, small and easy to pack! Your toddler will love a magnetic fishing game, especially this one that has plenty of fun ocean creatures besides just fish!
Parents will love that this toy is quiet and can easily be played on the airplane tray table!
Felt Memory Game
This fabric memory game is easy to include along with all your travel toys for 2 year olds and 3 year olds! It's just one more screen-free activity for toddlers on the airplane that you can easily take out when you need something new!
I especially like that it packs small, so you don't have to worry about over-packing your carry-on bag!
Dinosaur Felt Puzzle
Can you tell I love these felt travel toys?? Puzzles also make good screen-free travel toys for toddlers, but this one has easy-to-grab pieces and won't take up any space in your toddler's carry-on! It's perfect for little dinosaur lovers.
Magnet Building Tiles
If your toddler loves blocks and building as much as mine, then pack magnetic blocks to keep your toddler busy on the airplane! These are also great screen-free toddler travel toys for in the hotel room or in your Airbnb apartment. These bright colors will make them harder to lose too!
Travel Busy Board for Toddlers
While I wouldn't pack a large sensory board for a flight, it certainly would make one of the best screen-free car travel toys for toddlers. For something smaller, this fun block sensory travel toy for toddlers has plenty of fun activities for your toddler to explore.
My Top Picks for the Best Screen-Free Toddler Travel Toys
I know you don’t always have time to read, especially when you are chasing a busy toddler! So here are my top picks for the best travel toys for toddlers without a screen:
Best Overall Screen-Free Toddler Toy for Travel:
LCD Drawing Tablets – I was always amazed at how long my kids would sit and draw on their LCD tablets. They’d make a new creation, show me, then hit the reset button to erase the tablet and start over.
Best Mess-Free Coloring Toys for Toddler Travel:
Melissa & Doug Water Wow & Crayola Color Wonder – these two ingenious travel toys allow toddlers to make colorful drawings, while making zero mess! My kids loved the Water Wow as younger toddlers, then graduated to the Color Wonder books as they got a little older.
Why isn’t Play-Doh on my List of Screen-Free Toddler Travel Toys?
Hey – I love Play-Doh as much as the next mom, but to be honest, I’m not a big fan of bringing Play-Doh to entertain toddlers on airplanes. My kitchen floor is always a big mess when the kids play with Play-Doh, and I’d hate to do that to an airplane, but that’s just my opinion.
How to Choose the Best Screen-Free Toddler Travel Toys?
If you are racking your brain trying to think of screen-free ways to entertain toddlers on a flight or on a road trip, I have plenty of ideas for you.
For airplane travel toys for toddlers, look for small toys that are easy to pack and don’t have a lot of small pieces that you will be constantly picking up off the floor.
If you have a long flight and, like me, also don’t like constantly picking up stuff, I recommend a Flyaway Designs inflatable toddler airplane bed. It’s the perfect solution for flying with a toddler, giving your toddler a place to play and sleep. And with the design of this airplane bed for toddlers covering the seat and floor space, all your toddlers screen-free airplane travel toys won’t end up on the floor.
For travel toys for toddlers in the car, you can go with travel toys that are a little bigger and heavier, since you don’t have to pack them in your carry on. I also like this travel tray to help keep your child’s activities together on a road trip with a toddler.
5 DIY Screen-Free Toddler Toys for Travel
If you don’t have time to order new toddler travel toys before your flight or you’d rather not spend extra money on travel toys for a flight, here are some fun DIY screen-free toddler travel toys:
1. Pipe Cleaners in a Spice Jar
This was one of my best mom travel hacks! This cute little screen-free toddler toy was so easy, yet it turned out to be one of the best toddler toys for travel I’ve ever had! Simply clean out an empty plastic spice jar and use it with cut pieces of pipe cleaners. Your toddler will have fun trying to fit the pipe cleaners back into the jar.
2. Cheerios Strung on a Piece of Yarn
Another simple but fun toy I created as a screen-free DIY travel toys for toddlers is a piece of yarn (or those pipe cleaners from above!) that your toddler can string Cheerios onto. My son was such a fan of Cheerios that we always had plenty with us anyways! Don’t forget the snack cup so they don’t end up all over the floor.
3. Use Painters Tape to Make Roads for your Matchbox Cars
It may sound funny, but one of my favorite things to pack while travelling with a toddler is painters tape. It comes in handy for so many reasons – taping curtains shut to keep room dark, making Hot Wheels race tracks on the floor of our Airbnb, etc.
Not only that, but with a little creativity, painters tape can be a great screen-free DIY toddler travel toy! Imagine all the ways to keep toddlers busy on a plane with it! You can use it to make a road across the food tray, use it as stickers, or make a ball out of it… Throw a roll of painters tape into your toddlers suitcase and you’re sure to make good use out of it!
4. Craft Pom Poms for Sorting and Counting
Our toddler LOVED pom poms! He would carry them around all the time and it became one of my favorite easy screen-free airplane activities for our 18 month old! You can have your child sort them into colors, count them or use the construction toys to pick them up! There are so many uses for them that are all non-screen time activities for toddlers on planes!
5. Small Toys from the Dollar Store
This is one of my favorite fast & easy screen-free toddler travel toys. If you have the time and energy, simply run to the dollar store and grab a bunch of small toys that you can wrap individually. These toys should all be small and easy to pack. You can keep your toddler entertained on the flight as you give them a steady stream new gifts to open throughout the flight.
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This post was written & edited by:
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.