Travel toys

Sitting in a car for hours with wiggly children can be fun for a while, but a basketful of activities serves as much-needed relief at times. Most of us have paper, crayons, and an unlimited supply of finger food, but here are a few items you might be interested in for a long trip or for a day-trip to a berry farm.

Voila makes some fun but simple manipulatives. I never knew a racecar could be so much fun. Racy Rod is a colorful car that can be twisted and turned into various shapes. Three wooden pieces, connected by an elasticized string, allow your child to turn one car into many. Bragging rights allowed here for whoever creates the most unusual shape! Racy Rods are suggested for three-year-olds, but I guarantee that younger and older children will have fun with these cars too.

The Nik Nax that I'm familiar with are plastic and have silly faces on them. Voila's Nik Nax are far superior. These Nik Nax are brightly colored construction pieces that can be bent, twisted, and combined into a variety of shapes (each box contains 12 different pieces). Also look for the construction set that provides heads and wheels in addition to the straight basic pieces. Nik Nax provides manipulative stimulation and lots of exercise for your imagination, and are mostly suitable for children ages four and five. All of these Voila toys can be found online.

The last item here is best saved for when you finally "get there." Several times, we've visited friends who are unfamiliar with the creativity of a toddler or young child and shudder at the sight of a crayon box in the chunky hands of a little one. Allow the Aquadoodle to help out. This easy-to-store travel mat, accompanied by a pen filled with water, allows your little artist to create and draw using water! The mat dries within a couple of minutes, but the artwork is visible long enough for everyone to take sight of the masterpiece before them. You can learn more about this toy here.