If your toddler is anything like mine, then you know what it’s like to travel with a fully 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
Based on my experience traveling with my kids at this age, here is my list of the best travel toys for 3 year old toddlers:
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.
- Truly mess free ink
- Built-in storage folder
- Brand trust and easy refills
- Strong character appeal
- Refills use proprietary paper
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).
- Reusable cling stickers that peel and restick
- Five large scenes per pad for variety
- Flat and packable for suitcases
- Stickers can lose tack with lint or crumbs
- Large pages need a clean flat surface
No glue, no crumbs, no rolling pieces. Wikki Stix are wax-coated yarn strands that kids bend into shapes and stick down with light pressure. They’re lightweight, mess free, and perfect for keeping a 3-year-old busy on flights or while waiting for food.
- Truly no mess and reusable
- Tiny pack fits any day bag
- Open ended creativity without screens
- Quiet activity for flights and restaurants
- Can collect lint and need a clean surface
- Lightweight and ultra thin for travel
- Large drawing area for toddlers
- One button erase for endless doodling
- Completely screen free and mess free
- Durable enough for flights and restaurants
- Stylus can be lost without a tether
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!
This version is an alphabet activity book, the perfect travel toy for a 3-year-old!
- Reusable and truly no mess
- Flat and ring bound for travel
- Great for quiet learning on flights
- Single water pen can get lost
- Colors are lighter than regular markers
Two 15-piece magnetic puzzles in a fold-out case with a carry handle. The magnetic backing keeps pieces from sliding off airline trays, and shape-coded backs make it easier for young travelers to sort and succeed.
- Pieces cling to board for fewer drops
- Carry handle and compact fold-out case
- Shape coded backs help beginners
- Trusted brand
- Small parts are age 3 plus
- Magnets are light, not “lock tight”
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!
- Erasable pages for endless use
- Builds pre-writing skills on the go
- Fits well on airplane trays
- Budget friendly
- Needs a fine dry erase or wipe-clean pen
- Marker can smudge if kids lean on the page
- Eases first flight jitters
- Simple pictures for little hands
- Pairs with crayons and sticker books
- Great gift add-on for trips
- Paper books are not reusable
Hands down, My First Big Book of Coloring was the best toddler coloring book we've ever owned. The pictures are big, simple and super fun for toddlers!
- Almost 200 pages for long trips
- Large images suit new colorers
- Low cost and easy to replace
- Pairs well with triangle crayons
- Not mess free like Water Wow
- Heavier than a small pad
Learn from my experience and pick up some anti-roll crayons before your next trip. I’ve spent more flights than I can count crawling on the floor of tight economy seats searching for round crayons that rolled off the tray - never again!
These triangular crayons from Melissa & Doug are a true travel genius. The durable plastic design won’t break easily, and the shape keeps them from rolling away while helping little ones develop a proper writing grip.
- Non-roll design is perfect for planes
- Hard plastic resists breaking
- Comes in a travel friendly case
- Age 3 plus per manufacturer
- Self contained with no loose parts
- Tethered pen stores on board
- Builds color recognition and planning
- Packs flat for flights and car rides
- Some toddlers may need help at first
- Fits in a small backpack pocket
- Encourages open ended creative play
- Embedded magnets reduce mid flight drops
- Durable sustainably made wooden blocks
- Small magnetized pieces require supervision
- Six pieces may feel limited for older toddlers
I typically buy a new Lego set for each trip for each of our kids and they love them.
- Large DUPLO bricks are easy for toddlers to grip
- Encourages creative, hands-on building play
- Compact enough for hotel playtime
- Durable design ideal for repeated builds
- Takes up some space in a carry-on
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!
- Highly packable for travel
- Built-in handle allows toddler-sized grip
- Includes several fasteners that support fine motor and cognitive skills in young children.
- Toddlers under 18 months may find the buckles too advanced
When you want maximum variety in minimum space, this binder delivers. The laminated activity pages cover early skills like colors, letters and numbers, with reusable pieces that keep a three-year-old engaged on long travel days.
- Many activities in one binder
- Reusable pages for repeated play
- Compact for flights and restaurants
- Strong value for the variety
- Loose pieces require supervision
- Velcro can wear with heavy use
I like reusable doodle books for planes and trains because they’re mess-free, slim, and kids can color, trace or free-draw. This version includes 12 markers and wipes clean to reuse throughout the trip.
- Reusable and compact
- Includes a full marker set
- Quiet activity for flights
- Markers can dry if left uncapped
Pop Tubes are fantastic for road trips and hotel play because kids can stretch, connect and shape them for satisfying sensory fun. I recommend skipping them on planes since the popping sound can be loud in a quiet cabin.
- Open ended sensory play
- Great for connecting and building
- Durable and easy to clean
- Affordable multi-pack
- Noisy in quiet spaces
- Can scatter if dropped
The microMAGS pieces are smaller for on-the-go play and the metal tin doubles as a build base, which is perfect on plane trays and restaurant tables.
- Travel tin acts as baseplate
- Open ended builds anywhere
- Safer than loose magnet balls
- Smaller pieces than classic magnetic tiles
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!
Read More
Flying with a toddler can be a little intimidating. Before you go, be sure to review my list of essential toddler travel gear and my tips for flying with a toddler.
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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.