Travel Toys We Love: Foam Puzzles

Travel toys keep kids entertained
on a flight, but need to be exciting
 enough to work at the hotel too. 

 Traveling with kids means finding travel-friendly toys to keep the transit boredom at bay. But keeping children entertained on long trips can be challenging, even with toys and games purported to be especially for travel.  When we have a family trip planned, I make a special effort to create a travel-pack of reasonably priced toys and activities that will keep the kids happy while we are on the go.  While I am shopping, I keep in mind that the items I choose need to work not only for the plane or car ride, but also need to be exciting enough to keep the kids happy at the hotel.

These dollar store foam puzzles
are great travel toys.   

Small foam puzzles are a great option.  They are decorated with a number of popular characters including those from Disney Cars and Toy Story and the Disney Princesses.  I have also seen Winnie-the-Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and Tinkerbell.  They are light-weight, and can be easily disassembled to fit in any suitcase or carry-on.  Plus they are widely available at dollar stores, toy stores and variety stores.

The great thing about these foam puzzles is their versatility.  The characters are fun, the puzzles are easy to do, each piece is numbered so the kids can work on counting skills, and they can be put together in different shapes.  The flat puzzle is the obvious form, but kids can create cubes that can be used like houses for dolls or garages for cars.  The cubes can be stacked like blocks or tossed back and forth like a ball.  We have created bridges and roads for toy cars and magic paths for the kids to walk along.  The possibilities are endless - and so is the entertainment.  Just the ticket for a pleasant family trip.