21 Best Travel Gifts for Families (for Parents and Kids)

Okay, get this. The Baby Tula Carrier Lite is our travel baby carrier that we keep in the car, and take any time we are on a road trip or flying. It’s the single travel product I know I’ll need if we are going to be doing a plane travel trip, because I don’t know of any other baby carrier that packs into a fanny pack when I’m done using it!

It’s the epitome of a parent travel hack and a pretty cool gift, all in one. Any new parent would be glad to own it!

My travels as a parent would be a lot harder without a diaper change fanny pack, and the No Reception Club Sidekick is a cool product that will surprise and delight any traveling mom or dad.

It includes a magnetic-closure wipes pocket on the backside, and in the front zipper compartment is a handy changing pad that folds out and latches shut, plus space for diapers and some of your own stuff, too. This is an A+ travel gift from one of our favorite parent-run travel brands.

I didn’t think I needed yet ANOTHER travel-sized sound machine (I have four), but this tiny one from Dreamegg has good quality in a small package.

Any parent would be happy to receive it as a gift, because moms and dads are always looking for a spare travel-sized noise machine to leave in smart places during baby naps on the go.

When we first started flying with our first child, I asked around about the best toys for taking a flight with an infant.

It’s no shock that mostly every friend of mine recommended toys with suction cups that would stick to airplane windows, or even the windows at your Airbnb or hotel. These suction spinners are fun from the young baby phase and onward.

Dan and I have used packing cubes for years, and had no idea how handy they’d be when we had a baby.

We use packing cubes for tiny baby clothes, baby’s accessories, rolled-up baby blankets and you name it. The ones from Cotopaxi are fun and colorful enough to entertain your baby when they become a toddler, and older still!

What are these funny-looking suction gadgets? They’re Squigz, and our daughter thought it was hilarious to stick them on a window near our gate during a layover in Houston.

Wait, though, because they’re also bath toys, and you can keep as many of them as will fit in your luggage (you don’t need to pack them all!) so that you can play with them during an entire vacation.

Miamily did it: they created the world’s coolest ride-on luggage for toddlers so that parents can zip through the airport if their stroller was checked as luggage, and a toddler can ride in a fun little seat.

For families whose child is in the toddler years, this is one of the best holiday presents to exist, if you’re gifting big!

Ask any toddler parent what they wish they had for an upcoming hiking or outdoors trip, and it’s a toddler hiking carrier.

The Osprey Poco Premium Child Carrier is one of the best of the best, and has an expert-level child harness, a built-in suspension model for weight management and a deluxe “child cockpit.”

As our toddlers get older, trips turn into a chorus of, “Can I take a picture on your phone?” So why not let them do the job themselves?

This toddler-level camera has both front and rear cameras, and even features photo printing, at a pretty unbeatable price for a quick travel gift.

Believe it or not, WE are the ones who received the Stokke JetKids luggage as a gift for our daughter, when she was born! We knew we’d have to wait a few years in order for her to be old enough to use it.

This is a next-level toddler gift (best for ages 2-7) for kids in families who love to travel, because it’s a ride-on child-size suitcase that turns any seat into a BED!

I was just reading a post in one of my family travel groups and it said, my kids are looking for cool daypacks they can take on our next trip.

I thought of our kids’ Quince backpacks, which we have for both of them, in multiple sizes. They’re full of pockets, and lightweight, with wipe-clean materials and even tablet/tech compartments at the back in a separate zipper. They’ve become a favorite in our house!

Where we live, it seems like every kid has a pair of Native Shoes Jefferson Sandals once the weather gets warm. These hybrid sandal-sneakers not only look cute with all outfits, but they’re a do-it-all shoe, when a trip involves walking, playing, water play, splash pads, beach afternoons or boating!

We like them so much that we have them for everyone in the family, and it seems like lots of smart families got the same idea. Native Shoes are a gift that so many kids will be glad to wear on all travels.

What happens when you take ‘i’ out of an iPad? You get a screen-free and travel-ready drawing pad that’s great for kids who want to be drawing pictures or playing games, while in the car or on a plane.

We like this writing tablet (we have two, one for each kid) because it’s flat, easy to use, and totally mess free, so it’s an ideal gift for packing light as a family.

Beat the worry of iPads getting scratched, botched or broken during travel days and flights with a shockproof iPad case for kids who take their tablets near and far.

The screen protector and built-in stand make in-flight or car entertainment easy, smooth and break-free.

Say hello to my go-to travel gift for girls: a name letter belt bag that holds a day’s essentials when they’re on the go, traveling with the fam.

Make sure you order with the correct name initial, and double-check before purchasing to make sure it’s in stock. Then, watch how any little girl receiving a name letter belt bag glows with excitement.

Any time we have taken a trip to Latin America, I’ve insisted on introducing our kids to some Spanish language.

Learning and retaining another language is hard, but with a gift like these talking flash cards, it’s both a portable gift and an educational one!

Ever since we adopted Vessi waterproof travel shoes, our trips have looked different (and that’s just for us parents!). The brand has devised waterproof footwear to keep feet dry in all wet weather you’ll find during vacations.

Now with big kid sizes in Vessi rainproof shoes, more travelers can enjoy jumping in puddles and having dry shoes for the whole travel day. These make an amazing gift!

At a young age, our daughter started requesting to look at photos from our trips, and we realized that there’s a strong need to print them and put them into albums the kids can enjoy.

With a hardcover album that can live anywhere from a kid’s room to the coffee table, big kids can choose photos and them where to put them in the album pages. A solid gift for families with tons of trips.

These travel binoculars are so cool that they don’t even look like a kid toy. That’s because they’re binoculars for everyone in the family, but big kids can take the reigns in using them.

Whether it’s a turtle on the hike, or big buildings to see in a new city, these expert-level waterproof binoculars are a great tool for young travelers.

Do you know travel-ready kids strong enough to take on Brain Quest? I grew up doing Brain Quest on repeat on road trips, and now with oodles of levels and topics, this travel game can cure any family’s boredom.

These smart cards help kids test their knowledge and feed into the things they learn while seeing the world. It’s an intelligent gift choice for kids 5 and up.

A digital camera just for kids is a travel gift that should not be overlooked! Parents might even want to use this one because it’s cute, totally digital and takes a 32G memory card (enough to last you the whole trip).

If you’re giving a gift to a kid who likes tossing stuff around, fear not, as the silicone casing prevents breakage for the tech of this camera inside.