14 Fabulous Travel Toys for a 4-year-old

We can’t adequately express enough love for these mess-free coloring pads. Amongst our favorite travel toys for preschoolers, this variety pack has enough coloring pages to keep your four-year-old entertained for hours of independent play, and the best part about these travel coloring pads is that they’re reusable! 

Each page clears as it dries, and you can refill the water pen and store it to use again and again.  These Melissa & Doug Water Wow Coloring Pads also help your child improve multiple skills, such as fine motor skills, reading and writing, and visual discrimination. Suitable for 3 to 7 years, we got so much use out of these, even with older children, they are a fun travel toy!

Your older toddlers can create endless patterns with this unique and travel-friendly threading toy.  We love that the threading tool is attached to each toy (an adorable turtle and starfish), as this minimizes the chances that it will fall between airline or car seats. 

This unique travel toy for four-year-olds helps develop problem-solving and hand-eye coordination and can also build your child’s shoe-tying skills!  They can play with these lightweight threading toys again and again, and they conveniently fit into the side pocket of your diaper bag or your child’s backpack.  

If you’re searching for a noise-free toy to cut down on the inevitable fidgeting and squirming that goes hand-in-hand with long flights and car rides, this travel toy works like a charm with young children as much as older kids.

Pop fidgets come in various shapes and colors, and the lightweight silicone is easy to wash off and wipe clean.  

Your little kids can use this as a fun fidget toy, or they can play a bubble-popping game with their sibling (if age-appropriate).   This Lizber Push Pop Fidget Toy is an excellent way for your child to work on reasoning skills, mental arithmetic, and critical thinking as well (even my tween still enjoys this one!)

The best travel toys for four-year-olds come with multiple playing options, and this Melissa and Doug Flip-to-Win Memory Game hits the mark.  This is a perfect game for siblings to play with each other or for you to play with your child on flights or in the airport on a layover. 

The wooden memory game comes with seven double-sided cards to add a different competitive element each time, and your child can keep the score right on their game card.   

This entertaining book for toddlers is ideal for any little artist who loves to color, count, and problem-solve. 

The activities within the book touch on foundational learning concepts such as numbers, letters, shapes, simple words, and counting, and the thick lines on the coloring pages help your child stay within the lines, reducing potential frustration (some children are very meticulous colorers!). The best part is no batteries are required with coloring books! 

The perfect travel toy, these art tools come with a carrying case to minimize the chances that your child accidentally leaves that essential purple marker on a plane that’s now heading to Detroit. 

The clear backpack comes with a little bit of everything, which is perfect for providing your four-year-old with different activity options.  The kit contains crayons, Ultra-Clean washable markers, sidewalk chalk, stamps, and a stamp pad.  You can easily remove items you don’t want to bring along to make room for other travel toys as well. 

Help your four-year-old improve their number recognition and counting skills with this engaging, magnetic number maze.  Children can move the apples into their appropriate number slots with the attached magnetic wand, and the clear cover prevents any unwanted messes. 

The board itself has a sturdy wood construction to protect against accidental drops, and it’s appropriate for ages 3-5, so younger siblings can join in the fun. It’s a little on the bulkier side, so not great for flying and small backpacks, but perfect for car trips and waiting in restaurants.

There’s nothing wrong with revisiting class travel toys, and your four-year-old will love giving Wooly Willy all kinds of crazy hairstyles. 

Your child can use the magnetic wand to create fun and funky eyebrows, mustaches, and hairdos, and it’s sure to have everyone in your row of the plane giggling.  

Your little artists will love this on-the-go Crayola Washable Dry Erase Travel Pack, which is an excellent, mess-free solution to markers and paper while traveling. 

The travel case opens up to provide your child with two different drawing surfaces, and elastic bands hold the included dry-erase markers securely in place.  Once finished, you can use the E-Z Erase Cloth to clear the drawing board for more masterpieces.  

This travel-sized magnetic drawing board is another great idea for your child to create endless drawings without the added clutter of used paper and potential messes of crayons and markers. 

The erasable board comes with the pen attached, ensuring these two items stay together throughout your entire journey.  We also love the four color zones on the board instead of just a black background option.  Three fun-shaped stampers are included and snap securely onto the drawing board.  

We’re fans of any travel toy for four-year-olds that are designed to minimize the loss of game pieces, which is why the Take ‘N’ Play Anywhere Matching game has our vote for road trip toys!  

The game can be played alone or with a partner, and the magnetic matching pieces stick securely to the metal playing boards.  This is an excellent way to pass the time on a long car ride or flight, and it can be mixed, sorted, and repeatedly played for hours of entertainment. 

Although we certainly don’t advocate plugging your child into their tablet for the duration of your travels, we also cannot deny that a tablet can be one of the best travel toys for four-year-olds.  There are times when they’re going to be required to sit down and be quieter than usual, and there is nothing wrong with allowing them screen time to watch a few downloaded episodes of their favourite show.  

The Kindle tablets are wonderfully customizable so that you can set time limits for your child each day in all content areas.  Don’t forget a secure, kid-friendly case to protect against bumps and falls; it even comes with a two-year warranty.  

And, of course, the golden rule of tablet use – bring headphones! Although 4-year-olds are a little more careful with these things than the toddler crowd, you still need something robust and volume-limiting as the AILIHEN I35 Kid Headphones have proven to be one of the most reliable and long-lasting with our kids.