Are you flying with a baby for the first time, road-tripping with a baby, or visiting the grandparents for the weekend? Are you an avid traveler, or soon-to-be parent, trying to figure out what to add to your baby registry? Then you are at the right place because I have over 35 of the best travel toys for babies.
My guide to the best baby travel toys is perfect for newborns through 18 months old. There will be tummy time travel toys to challenging sensory-focused activity toys.
More importantly, every child develops at their own pace. Therefore, my guide is organized by the type of toy rather than by the baby’s age.
You will find the best tummy time toys, rattlers, teething toys, toy straps and suction holders, sensory play toys, books, car toys, and more. All perfect travel toys for babies ready for an adventure!
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Read next: 20 + Best Travel Toys for Toddlers (18 Months to 3 Years Old)
Table of Contents
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Tummy Time
If you are traveling with a baby that is not mobile yet (which is one of the best times to travel with a baby), everyday items such as an activity mat and a tummy time pillow are the perfect travel toys. At this early stage in life, they are trying to develop their brain, learn immense skills, and take in their surroundings.
One of the first essential skills a baby is trying to learn is to hold their head up on their own and roll from tummy to back and back to tummy. So continue their development while you are on the go. Promote growth by showing them the world and continue tummy time with these travel toys.
Boppy Tummy Time Prop
When we traveled with our twin babies, we brought our Boppy pillows, which were life savers! You might think it’s too bulky to pack for a trip, but it’s not. The Boppy Tummy Time Prop pillow is slightly smaller, making it the PERFECT tummy time pillow for traveling.
It also comes with a plush crinkle toy and rubber teething ring to attach to the patented SlideLine. The SlideLine is not limited to the toys included with the Boppy pillow. You can connect your baby’s favorite toys to make tummy time more fun and active.
Splashin’kids Inflatable Tummy Time Water Mat
One of the best ways to promote tummy time is the Splashin’kids Inflatable Tummy Time Water Mat. Babies will have fun splashing on the water without getting wet, which means no mess!
The water mat has fun, brightly colored sea animals that float in the water. Babies can try to touch the sea animals and watch them move along the water.
It is easy to inflate and deflate. You simply blow air into the outer ring and fill the inner mat with water. When you need to pack up and go, deflate the outer ring, empty the water, and then fold it, which fits nicely in a suitcase or a large diaper bag.
Lupantte Baby Activity Mat
If you still need an activity mat, this one is highly recommended and perfect for traveling. What I like most is the replaceable washable cloth covers, which come with two! So when you need to wash one, your baby can still play on the activity mat.
The Lupantte Baby Play Mat has cute animals, detachable sensory toys, a black and white crinkle book, and a mirror. It is also easy to assemble or disassemble, lightweight, and easy to carry—all great for traveling with a baby.
Pro tip: the arches should fit in a suitcase, but you can also slide them into a pack n play bag or with your car seat bag.
Taf Toys Tummy Time Activity Book
We love the Taf Toys Tummy Time Activity Book. We have used it for all three boys.
The Taf Toys Tummy Time Activity Book is a great travel toy for babies who need to work on tummy time. It is double-sided with crinkle pages for two developmental stages.
For the first three months, your baby can enjoy the first developmental side with high contrast, black and white single image pages. There is also a baby-safe mirror. The other side is for the second developmental stage, which includes vibrant colors with multi-sensory textures, fun 3D activities, and a tethered baby koala teether.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Toy Straps and Suction Holders
Before we get into ALL the best travel toys for babies, one of the must-have items you need to buy is a toy strap or a suction holder for toys. When traveling with a baby, you want them to avoid dropping toys on dirty surfaces constantly.
Toy straps and suction holders allow you to attach the toys to these devices. So your baby can play freely, and you can be (almost) worry-free of germs and stop the “drop game.”
Silicone Toy Straps
A silicone toy strap is a wonderful accessory on the go. You can use it on car seats, strollers, high chairs, and anything else it can wrap around.
Attach the toy strap to a pacifier, teether, rattler, bottle, sippy cup, or any toy with a handle, and you will stop the “drop game” forever. We love it for everything, but especially on planes and car rides.
These toy straps are washable, stretchable, adjustable, and made from BPA-free food-grade silicone.
Grapple, The Baby Suction Cup Toys Holder
The Grapple is a cute apple-shaped suction toy holder that firmly sticks to flat, smooth surfaces. It also has three adjustable toy straps tethered to keep toys within the baby’s reach and from falling to the floor. I want to specify the within reach because the toy straps are short. So we attach longer toy straps to the Grapple.
It works excellent for airplane trays, high chairs, and restaurant tables. Going out to eat and flying is so much easier with the Grapple!
From personal experience, the bottom of the Grapple easily collects dirt. It works best when it is clean and moist. People often use a baby wipe or get the bottom wet with water to help with suctioning.
Otherwise, we love it! It is small, light, made with BPA-free food-grade silicone, and easy to wash.
Sassy Wonder Wheel Activity Center
The Sassy Wonder Wheel Activity Center is one of the best travel toys for babies because it’s multi-functional. The main component is the spinning Ferris wheel with bright colors, grooved textures, and cascading beads.
The activity toy can also suction to flat surfaces and has “click clack” rings. We like to use the “click clack” rings to hold more toys with a toy strap.
Most importantly, the Sassy Wonder Wheel Activity Center has many benefits for a baby’s development. It has fun sensory elements, strengthens fine motor skills, encourages tactile exploration, and teaches the connection of sound to sight.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Rattle and Teething Toys
When a baby is teething, EVERYTHING goes in the mouth. Honestly, does this stage ever end?
Whether it is a teething toy or not, a baby will chew on it, and they will most likely drop it too. Therefore, I like to pack rattle and teething toys that can attach to a toy strap.
BABY ELEFUN Teething Toy Ring
I know everyone loves Sophie the Giraffe (I do, too), but the Baby Elefun is one of the best travel toys for babies. You can easily loop a toy strap through the center of the teething elephant. So you can have a piece of mind that your baby won’t drop it.
The Baby Elefun has several soothing textures to help massage those sensitive pressure points in the baby’s mouth. Little fingers will find it easy to hold and maneuver to find the right texture in the right spot.
Manhattan Toy Winkel Rattle & Sensory Teether Toy
Of ALL the rattle and teething toys, this is by far the favorite for all three of my boys. We can’t ever part ways with it because it’s been a lifesaver as one of the best travel toys for our babies.
The Winkel is a colorful rattle and teething toy. It’s a maze of soft, continuous BPA-free teething tubes connected to a center cube that rattles. The Winkle is easy for tiny fingers to hold and inevitably shake to hear a rattle, providing auditory stimulus.
When your baby is teething, you can refrigerate The Winkle for additional soothing comfort. It is a simple toy, but one of our most effective and used toys.
Itzy Sloth Lovey and Teether
How can you resist a cute sloth?!? The Itzy Sloth Lovey and Teether is so adorable and snuggly. It will immediately be your baby’s new best friend.
The Itzy Lovey features soft sherpa fabric and a gentle minky plush for delicate baby skin. It’s also more than just a lovey. The sloth arms make crinkle sounds, there are textured ribbons for a baby to touch and explore, and an attached silicone teether to massage sore gums.
It’s the one and all lovey that you must get for your baby! In addition to the sloth lovey, Itzy has other cute animals, such as a bunny, dinosaur, koala, and lion.
Bright Starts Oball Shaker Rattle Toy
The Bright Starts Oball Shaker Rattle Toy is among the best and most popular rattle toys. It is a simple rattle with an award-winning flexible Oball at both ends. Between the Oballs is a clear, textured handle with colorful beads inside.
The Oball finger holes make it easy for little hands to grip, squeeze, and play. Or a baby can easily grab the textured handle and shake it to hear the rattling sounds of the beads. It is so much fun! Your baby will never put it down, especially if you loop a toy strap through the Oball.
Skip Hop Infant Pineapple Rattle Toy
How cute is this pineapple rattle toy? It has cool summer vibes! The perfect travel toy for babies heading to a tropical destination.
The Skip Hop Infant Pineapple Rattle Toy has easy-to-grasp openings for little hands to grab, roll, and shake. Colorful rattle beads sit on top of the sweet pineapple to entertain a baby with delightful sounds.
It’s also a multi-sensory teething toy with rubberized leaves with different textures to help soothe the baby’s gums.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Sensory and Play
Sensory toys are crucial for a baby’s development. Yes, sensory toys are fun to play with, but more importantly, it promotes language, cognitive growth, fine motor, and gross motor skills.
So what are sensory toys? Anything that stimulates a baby’s sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch in a safe and natural environment using play. Some elements include bright, contrasting colors, sounds, different textures, and spinning.
Almost every baby toy has a sensory element, but here are the best travel toys for babies that strongly focus on sensory through safe play.
Melissa & Doug Flip Fish Soft Baby Toy
The Melissa & Dog Flip Fish Baby Toy promotes many development skills through sensory play. It squeaks and crinkles, has bright colors, several textures, a silicone tail for teething, a small mirror, and hidden pictures under the scales. It is the fish that keeps on swimming; I mean giving.
Your baby will have endless fun with this cuddly fish. Yes, it’s a little big, but it fits perfectly in a diaper bag. Trust me. It will be one of the best toys to keep your baby entertained on a flight and at home!
Melissa & Doug Soft Taco Fill & Spill
A baby’s first taco! This adorable sensory toy is a perfect travel toy for babies because it is light and small. The 12-piece soft taco includes a soft taco shell with smooth fabric, textured crinkles, and food-shaped fabric pieces.
When your baby is young, the pieces are great sensory toys to discover sounds and textures. As they grow, the soft taco toy will continue to engage the baby by developing their fine motor and problem-solving skills.
Show them how to fill their taco shell! And they will be making a delicious taco in no time.
3PCS Suction Cup Spinner Toys
Hands down, you must get Suction Cup Spinner Toys. These are the best travel toys for babies. It is the most used travel toy from our one-year-old twins.
The Suction Cup Spinner Toys will stick on any flat surface. From car and plane windows to airplane tray tables, hotel mirrors, and tables – we stick these to anything we can!
The three-piece set has different colorful bugs that promote visual and auditory senses and fine motor skills. Babies can spin the bugs in the center or its large “wings.” Your baby will have endless fun spinning, watching, and hearing the soft jingle bells from Suction Cup Spinner Toys.
Montessori Pull String Activity Toy
The Montessori Pull String Activity Toy is one of our favorite screen-free airplane activities for kids. It’s a beautiful multi-sensory activity toy for babies around 12 – 18 months old seeking a challenge. There are several ways for babies to have fun and develop skills with this travel toy.
Through sensory play, your baby will learn cause and effect when they pull the textured cords. The textured cords make it easy for babies to grasp a hold while promoting fine motor skills and sensory exploration. It will also stimulate auditory senses because your baby will feel vibrations and hear sounds from the textured cords.
If you feel your baby will just put this toy in their mouth, that is okay! The teething journey never ends! Thankfully, the textured cords are BPA-free food-grade silicone. Our babies would chew this activity toy in between sensory play, which was a win in my book.
teytoy My First Baby Tissue Box
The teytoy My first Baby Tissue Box is a fun sensory activity toy that will entertain your baby by pulling out and putting in scarves and crinkle papers. The soft cotton tissue box is great for traveling because it can collapse into a diaper bag and open to its (almost) rectangular form.
It comes with 12 rainbow dance scarves and three crinkle papers. The crinkle paper makes stimulating sounds and is double-sided with vibrant colors, animal patterns, numbers, and the ABCs.
Fat Brain Toys MiniSpinny
The Fat Brain Toys MiniSpinny is an exciting sensory toy that will encourage fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination and teach cause-and-effect. The MiniSpinny has three vibrant propellers that spin down the free-standing corkscrew pole.
Like a rainstick, you can flip the MiniSpinny repeatedly to watch the propellers and listen to the sounds it makes while it spins down the corkscrew pole. Little fingers can also hold the MiniSpinny and spin the propellers down the corkscrew pole one by one.
It’s mesmerizing to watch, and it’s fun to play. Your baby’s senses will be spinning with joy when you take the MiniSpinny everywhere you go.
Sassy Fishy Fascination Station 2-in-1 Suction Cup Toy
The Sassy Fishy Fascination Station 2-in-1 Suction Cup Toy is among the best sensory toys for high chairs and tables. Moreover, it can suction on any flat surface. It is one of the best travel toys for babies because you can suction it to airplane tray tables.
The Sassy Fishy Fascination Station 2-in-1 Suction Cup Toy is a spinning Ferris wheel with many sensory features. The spinning Ferris wheel encourages the baby to reach, tug, and bat the individual spinning fishy toys. It teaches cause and effect while strengthening hand-eye coordination. Each fishy spinning toy also has colorful beads inside the clear structures to allow the baby to connect the sound to sight.
Again, this is a great travel toy for babies because you can remove the spinning wheel from the base for floor play. Hence, the 2-in-1 toy. Your baby can play with the spinning wheel inside a hotel room while you unpack and get situated.
HABA Rainbow Fabric Ball
The HABA Rainbow Fabric Ball is the first and only ball your baby will ever need! It features eight diverse sections with unique textures, contrasting colors, and gentle rattle and crinkle sounds.
The soft, colorful fabric ball is easy for a baby to grasp, toss, and roll. It is a great sensory toy to encourage tummy time, independent play, and crawling.
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Pull-Back Vehicle Set
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Pull-Back Vehicle Set includes a plastic storage bag (great for traveling) and four soft vehicles – a school bus, a family car, a fire truck, and a police car.
A baby can effortlessly pull back the vehicle and watch it accelerate at full speed. Bonus, it does not require batteries because it has a rev-up mechanism inside each vehicle.
The pull-back vehicles teach babies cause and effect while promoting independent play and fine and gross motor skills. They are great to play in a hotel room or grandparents’ house.
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Take-Along Shape Sorter
The Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Take-Along Shape Sorter is one of the best travel toys for babies 9 months and up. The shape sorter is a padded case with a take-along handle and includes two activity sides.
One side has a shape sorter to fit nine textured shape blocks. The other side has crinkle flaps with pictures and matching shapes beneath the flaps.
Babies developing skills to become toddlers will enjoy learning to identify and match shapes by dropping the textured blocks through the appropriately shaped slot.
Fat Brain Toys InnyBin Baby Toy
The Fat Brain Toys InnyBin Baby Toy is a cube with vibrant-colored elastic bands. It includes six fun textured and different-shaped blocks to push through the elastic bands of the cube.
It’s a challenging toy for babies, but it’s manageable. Once they understand the concept, they will stuff the cube with any object they can find.
Although the Fat Brain Toys InnyBin Baby Toy is a 5.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 in. cube, I still enjoy bringing it with us on our trips. It keeps our twin babies entertained in the hotel room as they enjoy putting anything inside the InnyBin cube.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Books
Books play a significant role in a baby’s development. So I recommend packing at least one book when you travel with a baby. Books help cognitive development, increase vocabulary, and reinforce basic reading concepts, such as turning pages and following text from left to right.
Babies are still developing their eyesight for the first few months of life. Therefore, babies should “read” high-contrasting, black-and-white images. As they get older, books with interactive elements such as crinkle pages, different textures, and peek-a-boo flaps will engage and stimulate your baby’s senses.
Here are a few of the best books for babies to pack on your trip!
Hello, Baby Animals Book
Hello, Baby Animals is one of the best and cutest first books for a baby. It has high-contrast black-and-white pictures and patterns with friendly text.
Hello, Baby Animals is also one of many in the Hello, baby book series by duopress labs with art illustrations by Julissa Mora. Other books in the collection include Hello, My World, and Hello, Ocean Friends.
Beiens Visual Quiet Books
The Beiens Visual Quiet Books are high contrast, crinkle books with stimulating exercises on the pages. There are flaps, a turning dial, a baby-safe mirror, a squeaky, and more. All designed to help facilitate development in the retina, optic nerve, and brain.
You can choose Beiens Visual Quiet Book Shapes & Color, Animals & Color, or both!
Lamaze Peek-A-Boo Forest Soft Baby Book
Peek-a-boo books are a favorite at my house. So the Lamaze Peek-A-Boo Forest Soft Baby Book was an instant hit for us at home and on the go.
The Lamaze Peek-A-Boo Forest Soft Baby Book has soft pages with crinkle flaps and 3D features for your baby to interact with and play peek-a-book with all the cute forest animals. The book helps develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Every page has bright, vibrant colors with friendly animals. When you read this book to your baby and play peek-a-boo, both of you will have smiles and giggles!
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids My First Activity Book
You can count on Melissa & Doug to make a fantastic baby activity book. Every page is an activity of learning and fun.
The Melissa & Doug K’s Kids My First Activity Book is a perfect baby travel toy. It has eight interactive pages: learning how to button, buckle, count, match, play peek-a-boo, and more. This activity book can keep a baby engaged for hours, which is great for plane rides.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: Car Travel and Stroller
Road-tripping with a baby or going to an amusement park might feel daunting, but if you prepare with fun car seat and stroller toys, you will do great! Here are a few baby travel toys perfect for the car and stroller.
Read next: A Complete Guide to Epcot with a Baby or Toddler
Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Infant Stim Mobile To Go
Baby mobile for a car seat?!? What a genius invention! Speaking of a genius invention – the travel mobile is from the award-winning Wimmer-Ferguson infant collection, the original innovator of black and white developmental toys.
The Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Infant Stim Mobile To Go has three reversible discs that display black-and-white graphics on one side and high-contrast color images on the other. So as your baby grows and has the ability to see color, you can change the reversible discs.
The travel mobile is lightweight, easy to pack, and can attach to most car seats, infant carriers, and strollers with the sturdy plastic clamp.
Baby Einstein Star Bright Symphony Plush
The Baby Einstein Star Bright Symphony Plush is a cute musical toy at home or on the go because it has velcro straps to wrap around a car seat and stroller. The smiling star has vibrant colors, plays six classical melodies, and has gentle lights that dance around.
It has two settings that caretakers can control. One is a cause and effect, where babies can push the smiling star to turn on the music and lights. The other setting is where the music and lights will play continuously.
Taf Toys Koala in-Car Play Center
The Taf Toys Koala in-Car Play Center is a unique combination of a high-quality, baby-safe car mirror and a soft, colorful car toy for rear-facing babies. There are three cute activity toys tethered to the car toy – a crinkle rainbow, a koala that rattles with a chime bell, and a snail with a baby teether.
The car toy is easy to attach and adjust for the baby’s reach and play. The mirror and car toy attach separately, so if you already have a mirror, you can still utilize the car toy. With that said, Taf Toys also has other fun activity car toys for rear-facing babies, such as a stirring wheel, a cool penguin, and safari animals.
BeeSpring Hanging Spiral Car Seat Toy
Keep a baby happy and calm on your road trip with this BeeSpring Hanging Spiral Car Seat Toy. You can wrap the spiral car toy around an infant carrier and let your baby enjoy the hanging toys.
The spiral car toy also has contrasting colors and patterns to help stimulate a baby’s sight. Tethered to the spiral toy are a flower teething toy, a flower toy with colorful beads inside a clear center, and a rattling cow. If those toys are not enough for your little one, you can also attach more toys to the spiral with a silicone strap.
Lamaze Freddie The Firefly
Lamaze Freddie The Firefly is a fun, interactive travel toy for babies that can easily clip on a car seat and stroller. It has a Soft velour body with multiple textures to explore on the wings, including crinkle wings and a squeaker. There is also a baby-safe mirror for self-discovery.
On the top of the wings are high-contrast black-and-white patterns, while the bottom of the wings has vibrant, colorful patterns. Babies will have so much fun playing with Lamaze Freddie The Firefly while strengthening their tactile processing and auditory and visual development.
Tomy Lamaze Mortimer The Moose
A distant cousin to Lamaze Freddie The Firefly, Tomy Lamaze Mortimer The Moose is another interactive travel toy for babies that can clip on a car seat and stroller. The body is snuggly soft with a squeaky tummy while his antlers are textured to soothe teething.
His dangling legs have colorful hooves with fun patterns and make crinkle sounds to the touch. Babies will enjoy exploring Tomy Lamaze Mortimer The Moose to stimulate their tactile senses.
And if you are wondering which one to get, either Lamaze Freddie The Firefly or Tomy Lamaze Mortimer The Moose, get BOTH!
Infantino Hug and Tug Musical Bug
The Infantino Hug and Tug Musical Bug is a cute musical toy for road-tripping. Wrap it around an infant carrier and let your baby reach, hug, and tug at the musical bug. Babies can either tug the bug or use their tiny fingers to wrap around the clacker rings and pull.
The musical bug is a great sensory toy to teach babies cause and effect from sight to sound. It only has one tune, which plays for 90 seconds as the bug slowly inches its way back up. It’s fun to watch and pleasant to listen to.
Best Travel Toys for Babies: BONUS Activity Center
Check out this bonus travel toy for babies – a portable activity center!
Summer-Pop ‘N Jump Portable Baby Activity Center
The Summer-Pop ‘N Jump Portable Baby Activity Center is a fantastic travel toy for babies. Let your baby get all of their energy out bouncing on the jumping activity center. This portable activity center is a must for active babies whether you are going on a trip with plenty of indoor or outdoor time.
There are three levels of height adjustment to grow with your baby, a floor mat, a removable canopy, and the seat is removable for machine washing. A few fun toys come with the activity center – a spinner ball, rattler, teether, and mirror book.
The Summer Pop ‘N Jump Portable Baby Activity Center is lightweight and unfolds in seconds. So your baby is ready to bounce while you kick back and relax on your trip. It also includes a travel bag with a shoulder strap making it easy to pack and carry.
I hope your cart is full of new, engaging, and sensorial travel toys for your baby. After three babies, I know that having interactive toys is important for a baby’s development on the go, just as much as if you are at home.
