10 Travel Themed Toys & Books For Young Kids

If you read my blog regularly you’ll know I love to go to new places and explore. We go on a lot of day trips, about one a week in and around Brighton or London. We’ve also been on many exciting adventures abroad including to India! Now my son is three, he’s at the age where he is absorbing everything. He knows the names of different countries, is learning about the concept of time and distance, his language is improving every day and he is constantly asking questions about everything! I want to encourage him as much as possible to learn about the world around him including the name of countries & how people in different cultures live. He has lot of travel themed toys already because he is a BIG Thomas the Tank Engine fan and since he was a baby has loved anything with wheels on! I wanted to make a list of the best travel themed toys for little kids, some of which we already have and some I'd like to purchase. Here they are:

10 Travel Themed Toys & Books For Young Kids

1. Train Set. My son has been fascinated with trains since he was a toddler and loves them. He still carries one in each hand every time we leave the house! As well pushing the trains around the track he plays with the level crossings & stations and invents imaginative stories about going to his two favourite destinations at the moment, India and Africa! We have a huge track on the ground but I do wish we had a table like this on from Symths Toys. It would keep things a lot tidier would save all that bending down! 

2. Atlas book. I’ve seen a lot of lovely kids atlas books in shops lately and still need to buy one. The Miles Kelly Children's Atlas of the World includes detailed maps, country fact files, lots of photos and amazing stats. This book is suitable for 3 years + so ideal for younger kids. 

3. Globe. Tying it with the world theme, a globe is a great way to teach kids about the world. My son has one and he can now recognise England and several other countries and continents. It’s so sweet that he’s starting to understand the world and the concept of countries! This globe from Smyths Toys is also a 3D puzzle so you could easily spend a couple of hours assembling it. It's suitable for 8 years and over so little kids will need some help but a great way to learn about the world!

4. Interactive World Map. One thing that I have seen other people do and something I would love to do is buy a map, either of England or the World and plot all the places we have been onto it. I like the look of this Interactive World Poster which gives you detailed facts every time you press on a country! Suitable for ages 6+.

5. Festivals of India Book. As well as learning about the physical world and geography, I think it's a wonderful thing to understand different cultures, religions and languages and see how other people live. When I was little I read my mum's childhood encyclopaedia, which must be from the 1950s! I really enjoyed it and was fascinated by the country profiles including the traditional dress of each country. I was trying to find something similar but couldn't find a thing (please let me know if you have a recommendation). I did, however, find a children's book about Indian festivals. We've just returned from India and saw Ganesh Chaturthi when we were there so I'd love to buy this and teach my son about all the other festivals in India. 

6. Spot A lot of Vehicles Book & Jigsaw. This is one of the books we received as part of being a Parragon Book Buddy and it's still a favourite. The book includes every type of vehicle you can imagine; cars, buses, helicopters, diggers, planes, motorbikes, trains, submarines and more! The rhyming story is accompanied by some lovely illustrations and you can have fun with this book for hours, spotting things and counting the vehicles on each page. Plus, if you buy the whole pack it also comes with the jigsaw! Perfect for ages 3-6. 

7. Chrysler Building. If you want a souvenir of somewhere you've visited how about building a model of a famous monument you saw on your trip? This 3D puzzle of the Chrysler Building also lights up! Suitable for ages 10+ but I'm sure little hands could help out and would love to see the finished effect in the dark.

8. Lonely Planet Pop-Up for kids – London. I saw these books for the first time at the Family Travel Show at the weekend. Perfect for little kids learning about the main attractions & iconic landmarks in the city. I've featured London but the series also covers New York and Paris.

9. Space Sticker Playbook. Sticker books are so handy when travelling, they keep kids entertained for hours! The Miles Kelly Sticker Spaceship Playbook includes a fold out activity book, 50 reusable stickers, stories and rhythms all about spaceship travel. Suitable for ages 3 years +. 

10. Jungle Book. Do you have any travel-themed kids films you'd recommend? Although the Jungle Book is not strictly travel related it is set in the Indian jungle, another reminder of our recent holiday to India :-)  The Jungle Book DVD is available at Sythms for just £2 at the moment and given a U classification. 

Have you used any of the above? What other travel-themed toys/books would you recommend? Would love to know your thoughts.

* This post contains a sponsored link. All words and opinions are my own.

PIN IT