travel toys Archives - Traveling Archive

How to Turn Your Kids Into Travel Detectives

Masada Siegel — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 22:00:28 +0000

Travelers must be flexible, curious, observant and have a sense of adventure. They must understand transportation and be open-minded to learning about new places, cultures, people and foods. If you want kids to be open to the world and open to the beauty that surrounds us, there are ways to help guide them along and then the sky is the limit. Here are a few fun fabulous gifts that can inspire kids and even adults.

1. Budsies

One of my personal all time favorite gifts is Budsies – a super cute, creative way to cherish kids creations. They turn children's drawings, artwork or a photo into a custom, handmade stuffed animal. So if your little one draws a picture of themselves in front of the Eiffel Tower or the Sydney Harbor Bridge, you can give them the gift of turning their creation and forever imbedding the location in their hearts as it comes to life in a stunning stuffed animal. Budsies are designed and handmade (mainly) in the USA and are the results are absolutely gorgeous and most important meaningful.

2. The Night Sky

It’s written in the stars and The Night Sky is both beautiful and an educational way to commemorate a special occasion. The Night Sky arrives as either a poster or a framed print. It is created by using the star catalog of the European Space Agency's Hipparcos mission, a high precision catalog of stars generated by the Hipparcos space-based telescope.

3. Wonderbly: Personalized books – The Wondrous Road Ahead

An all time favorite is way to teach kids about travel is through books and Wonderbly’s “The Wonderous Road Ahead" is truly a special way to make a child feel unique and loved. The book allows the gift giver to choose from three qualities that they want the child to feel passionate about. The choices are Kindness, Bravery, Curiosity, Determination, Respect, Honesty – the story is personalized and it brings up the chosen characteristics.

The book then takes the reader on a personalized magical adventure that is filled with gorgeous, colorful pictures.

4. Yoga Cards for Kids

Traveling can be stressful, especially with younger kids. One great gift is to teach your kids about yoga and mindfulness is the new Yoga for Children – Yoga Cards, by Lisa Flynn. The yoga activity cards are fun. There are over 50 cards with colorful photos and easy instructions. It is a calming activity that can be done at home, in hotels and even at the airport. They are four color-coded categories: Mindful Me mindfulness activities, Time to Breathe breathing exercises, Strike a Pose yoga poses, and Rest & Relax relaxation exercises.

5. GeoSafari Jr. Talking Globe

A great way to open up the world is to bring home the GeoSafari Jr. Talking Globe narrated by Wildlife Warrior Bindi Irwin. It provides a high-tech, hands-on, interactive introduction to geography. It’s also a great way to show kids how to explore without leaving your home, as it shows them how to find locations, animals and nature.

6. Osmo's Detective Game

This game is entertaining, educational and a blast for both kids and their parents to play with both at home and is perfect for airplane rides. Generally, I’m not a fan of IPAD games, but this one is enchanting, especially as it is a physical-digital, search-and-find experience.

The Detective Agency uses Osmo’s proprietary Reflective AI technology to let iPads, and Kindle Fires “see” objects in front of it so kids can use anything – hands, blocks, maps, a magnifying glass, to control the on-screen action and story.

The game teaches geography and culture while players track down missing item across Paris, New York, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Sydney, Osmo Town, and the World.

The clues are hidden in the fold-out maps of each city, and players use a real-life magnifying glass to unlock the next chapter in each story. It’s a winner game.

7. Telescope™

The sky is the limit and a great way to explore the solar system is with the GeoSafari® Jr. Talking Telescope™. The telescope talks to you and will educate both kids and adults alike will learn over 200 facts. It also provides images of planets, stars, and space and includes images from NASA!

8. PLAE Shoes

PLAE Shoes are all about playing, having fun and making happy memories for kids and adults alike. The shoes are comfortable, well made, cheerful and are made with recycled and non-toxic materials and operated in a solar powered fair-labor factory.

One of their latest endeavors is creating adult shoes to match kids shoes called Sidekicks.

It is an adorable option for Moms who never have truly good options to match their little boys in a significant way. Plus shoes are great for travel, lightweight and truly playful.

9. Highlights: Jumbo Book of Hidden Pictures

If you want to teach kids how to notice the details in the world around them, the Jumbo Book of Hidden Pictures is a fabulous option. It is a collection of more than 175 illustrated Hidden Pictures puzzles. It’s a brain- teaser for both kids and adults, and helps teach observation and concentration skills. There are over 1,500 objects to find.

10. smArt Sketcher

Part of travel is seeing the art of every town, city and country whether it is on the wall of a museum or the building in a city. Now you can take those photos in front of the Great Wall of China, from an African Safari or the Empire State Building and transform them into artwork. The smART sketcher allows children and adults to transform photos taken from their smart devices into a sketch. The free app allows photos to be filtered and transferred via Bluetooth to the projector. Instantly your artist in training can find their desired image projected onto paper.

11. Plus-Plus: Learn to Build Set

Made in Denmark, Plus-Plus is a creative toy that provides endless ways to create wild animals, buildings, and designs. The Plus-Plus Learn to Build set contains 400 pieces, a base-plate and a guide book. Player can build in 2D, making patterns and mosaics, and then try their hand at 3D building to make people, animals and more.

12. Super Food Explorer Kit

Travel involves new places, faces and foods. The Super Food Explorer Kit, created by Dina Rose Ph.D. who is also the author of “It’s Not About the Broccoli: Three Habits to Teach Your Kids for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating” is a fun way to introduce kids to the discovery of new foods which is an integral way to experience travel. The Super Food Explorer kit contains many items including a magnifying glass, kids tongs, eye droppers, mini cups, and exploration tray and more.

13. 1-2-3 Build It™ Rocket-Train-Helicopter

The 1-2-3 Build It™ Rocket-Train-Helicopter shows kids that if you can create transportation, you can operate it. The toy comprised of 15 pieces provides clever mix-and-match pieces to build three different modes of transportation — a rocket, a train, or a helicopter, one at a time. Creative kids can also come up with their own unique form of transportation by combining the parts in different ways!

14. Fun Socks

Traveling is fun – and so are “Fun Socks” – especially as they come in packages of three – which makes it useful because they can be mixed and matched. You can always make a pair out of two of them that are not the same design, which is the trend these days. Also if you lose one along the way while traveling or somehow one magically disappears you can use the one you have with the other designs in the pack.

They are soft, durable and cheerful.

15. Mainstays Kids Inflatable Chairs

Kids like familiarity and fun, and Mainstays Kids Inflatable chairs are a great way to make your little ones feel at home in any hotel or new travel location. They are filled with Gold Holographic foil glitter in the shape of pentagons. It is easy to blow up – just use a hair blow drier. An added bonus, they are lightweight. The chairs are a great gift for both boys and girls.

16. Hess Trucks

Hess Toy Trucks are one way of keeping young kids entertained while on the road, and they teach about travel as they are created depicting different types of travel. This holiday season the 2018 Hess models are an RV, ATV and Motorbike set. They are sleek, loaded with lights and exceptionally well made with switch-activated lights. The details are sublime and the quality excellent. Best part batteries are included, so it’s ready to roll when you are!

17. Look Big: And Other Tips for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds

When exploring the wild world, you inevitably will run into critters both big and small. In this book, "Look Big: And Other Tips for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds" by Rachel Levin, she provides an illustrated field guide to avoiding interactions – both dangerous and annoying – with 50 wild animals, including survival techniques, wildlife etiquette, and other essential advice.

18. Gift of Camp – Maine Camp Experience

It might be winter, but one heck of a great gift is summer camp where kids can experience a whole new world. One avenue to explore is the Maine Camp Experience where kids unplug from technology and connect with nature. It provides an opportunity to learn communication skills and participate in outdoor activities. Campers get to try new things such as horseback riding, sailing, lacrosse, ceramics, playing guitar, acting in plays, taking overnight wilderness trips and much more. Also it is a great environment to try new activities and overcome fears.

19. The Melissa and Doug Water Wow! Reusable Color With Water Pad 3-Pack – Farm, Safari, Under the Sea are both educational for travel and useful while actually traveling. The coloring books use a refillable water pen to color on re-usable pages that depict an ocean theme, a safari and sea creatures. They can be used to teach kids about can new animals and the environment. It’s both practical while traveling as well as a clever teaching tool.

20. Beaker Creatures™

Science makes travel possible, so why not explore new worlds while you are at home. Beaker Creatures™ provides hands on science experiments. While the set explains how they are cute characters that hail from distant worlds, the game provides a working lab including fizzing reactor pods. The kit is a good way to foster a curiosity about the world around us and how it works.

The post How to Turn Your Kids Into Travel Detectives appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Terrific Travel Toys 2018

Masada Siegel — Thu, 31 May 2018 16:00:22 +0000

Whether it is by trains, planes or automobiles, traveling with young kids always requires extra effort for smooth sailing. However, the more you prepare, the easier everything is when en route. Finding the best Travel Toys is the way to go, they need to be great while traveling and while at the destination too. I’ve sampled them all, and here are a few that are awesome.

Kids love to be part of any adventure, especially one as fun as traveling to a new location. Give your little ones their own suitcases to pack, the cuter the better. Check out this airplane theme Stephen Joseph’s adorable kids suitcase that convert into a backpack.

Sleeping in new places can be a challenge, especially for kids, so try the Bubzi, a stuffed owl which plays lullabies and projects stars on the ceiling. It can be attached anywhere with its Velcro strap. It’s soothing and will keep your little one’s attention until they drift off to sleep.

For the kid who loves Play-Doh check out Playfoam Pals. They are tiny little sticky balls are easy to sculpt and in each pod is a surprise little character each one cuter than the next.

For the toddler who likes to build, check out Luke’s Toy Factory Cargo Truck, a nine-part eco-friendly three-dimensional puzzle that is also a working cargo truck complete with stacking boxes. (The boxes are a great place to place those adorable little creatures from the Playfoam Pals.)

Another option to help with sleep and bedtime entertainment that is fun for the whole family is the Cinemood. It is an ultra-light 3-inch portable projector that can be used just about anywhere with a flat surface. It comes preloaded with lullabies from all over the globe as well as plenty of kid-friendly content, stories and videos some from Disney. Additionally you can use it with Netflix, YouTube or one of several other applications.

Use the comfortable BuddyPhones headsets earphones – which are specifically designed to keep your little ones ears safe with volume-limiting headphones. BuddyPhones use a built-in, always on, sound control circuit to cap the volume at levels recommended for children by the World Health Organization.

ALEX Toys Little Hands Paper Bag Puppets. It comes with 5 multi-colored bags, 260 stickers, paper shapes, and a glue stick. These little puppets are fun to put together, and come in lightweight packets, so you can take two or so out per flight, make them and then create your own puppet show.

A fantastic option for mess free coloring is the Crayola Color Wonder, which provides markers that only work on color wonder coloring books. The packets come in travel size as well as a larger one.

Another new option from Crayola is their Crayola Color Wonder Mess-Free Scented Stampers which provides mess-free stamping and coloring accompanied with scented inks! The stamper ink and markers only color on compatible Color Wonder paper. The kit includes five scented markers (cherry, blueberry, orange, lime and banana), one scented inkpad (chocolate) and five interchangeable stamps

For the toddler who likes to build, check out Luke’s Toy Factory Cargo Truck, a nine- part eco-friendly three-dimensional puzzle that is also a working cargo truck complete with stacking boxes. (The boxes are a great place to place those adorable little creatures from the Playfoam Pals.)

Creative kids will enjoy the HABA the Seasons Magnetic Box magnet case. The set provides four magnetic backgrounds of four seasons along 90 magnetic images for your kid to punch out and create new worlds.

For a five year old or older, try a beginner digital camera. The Kurio Snap makes it simple to snap, edit and share fun photos and videos. The camera lens can be used as a regular camera or one for taking selfies.

Older kids will enjoy, the Mental Blox, which comes in a travel case. It is a 16-piece puzzle can be played with in multiple ways. Each set provides a book to outline a variety of challenges, including games and activities designed for both one and multiple player.

Try the Transportation Magnetic Play set by Stephen Joseph. The metallic background sets the scene and kids just punch out the magnets. There are about 40 different ones including trucks, buildings, airplanes and trees. Comes in a compact travel magnetic board.

When you arrive to your destination, a fun way to get around for a youngster is on the Razor, Folding Kiddie Kick Scooter. This is especially true for little people who might not be so into sitting into their strollers anymore. This scooter has a stable, three-wheel design, and an extra-wide, slip-resistant deck.

If you use one don’t forget a helmet, try the comfortable Little Nutty which is a multi-sport street-styled helmet has a no-pinch magnetic buckle.

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