On the go with kids: games and toys that fit in one bag
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Card games, small building sets, and stickers work better on the go than a board game from the cupboard. This is what does and doesn’t go in the car, on the train, and in the waiting room — and how to pack it so nothing gets lost.
Two hours in the car, an hour waiting at the dentist, a train ride to grandma's. The tablet works, until it runs out of battery or until you'd rather not give it to them. What's left is what you brought yourself — and that's precisely where things go wrong: you grab a board game from the cupboard, it doesn't fit on your lap, the pieces roll under the seat, and after ten minutes, it's over.
Toys for on the go are a different category than toys for home. Smaller, flatter, fewer loose parts, and they must work without a table. With the autumn holidays approaching, we've listed what DOES work, what you'd better leave at home, and how to pack it so you still have something left on the way back.
Four requirements for travel toys
Check your purchase against these four points, and you'll rarely go wrong:
It packs flat. A 5 cm thick box fills your entire bag. Card games, polybags, and flat sets always beat boxes full of air.
Loose parts are manageable. You can pick up one set of cards that falls on the floor. Not a hundred building blocks in a moving car.
It works without a table. On your lap, on a book, on a knee. Anything that requires a flat, stable surface, save it for the holiday home.
It's replayable. Something that's fun once is dead weight. A game you play five times is five times as valuable.
Card games: the most playtime per gram
If you only bring one thing, bring cards. They weigh nothing, they work on your lap, and they fit in a jacket pocket. The UNO Flex Card Game for 2 to 8 players (€ 6.99) is playable with a wide age range — a six-year-old child and an adult can play together without it getting boring. Handy detail: it comes in a variant that also works if someone has difficulty distinguishing colors.
For the smallest bag: the Mini Poker Playing Cards - 54 cards (€ 1.95) are approximately 6 x 4 cm and fit in a pocket. Small size does mean: less suitable for small hands that drop everything, and not ideal in the dark. For card game enthusiasts at home, the Automatic Card Shuffler for 1 to 2 decks (€ 12.95) is a nice addition, but you'd leave that at home — it's battery-powered and needs a flat surface.
Building and fiddling on your lap
Small building sets are surprisingly good on the go, provided you unpack them in the right place. In a moving car, it's asking for bricks under the seat; on a bench in a waiting room or at the table of a holiday home, they work perfectly. Loose polybags are made for this: small, one task, finished in twenty minutes. Think of the LEGO Jurassic World Dinosaur Market 30390 (€ 9.95) or the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 30443 Spiderman Bridge Battle (€ 9.95).
For older children who can sit still longer, a screw construction set can be an evening-long activity in the holiday home: the Würth Construction V01 Metal Construction Set has 188 parts and costs € 19.95. Do not take such sets in the car — but do pack them in your suitcase.
Stickers and small items you distribute in portions
Don't underestimate stickers. They are flat, inexpensive, and keep young children entertained for a long time, especially if you distribute them in portions instead of the whole sheet at once. The Transformers Stickerbox with 36 stickers on 3 rolls (€ 1.95) is suitable for children aged 3 and up; the Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver stickers (8 pieces, € 5.00) are more for collectors aged six and up.
For the table: camping, holiday home and waiting room
As soon as there IS a table, the playing field changes. A travel set with many games in one box is then more efficient than three separate boxes. The 99-in-1 Games Set with dice, checkerboard and score pad (€ 14.95) covers most of a rainy afternoon in one box. For quick games with lots of movement, the Kids' Basketball Game (€ 9.95) works on a table, and outside, the Bouncy Balls Rubber 25 mm - 6 pieces (€ 9.95) do the job. Note: bouncy balls and a parking lot are not a good combination.
Packing so you still have something for the way back
The biggest loss isn't the game itself, but the components. Three things that help:
Take everything out of the original box if it's large and flimsy, and put the components in one sturdy box. A white packaging box with magnetic closure of 9.5 x 9 x 10 cm (€ 5.00) stays closed in a bag; a cardboard box with a lid will open as soon as someone holds it upside down.
Give each child their own bag. This way you don't have to divide anything on the go, and at the end of the day, you know who lost what.
Distribute in portions. Not everything at once. One game per hour of travel works better than the whole bag on your lap at departure.
Do you store the toys at home between two holidays? Then put them together in one box, for example, a cardboard box of 15 x 15 x 15 cm (€ 1.99) with a label on it. Then you don't have to search through three closets next time.
What you'd better leave at home
Anything with many small loose parts that don't fit in a container. Games with a large foldable game board. Toys that are only fun with sound — in a train or waiting room, you won't be popular with those. And things that need batteries without you having spare batteries: they'll run out exactly halfway through the journey.
One general rule: rather buy three small things than one big thing. On the go, variety is worth more than bulk, and taking three new things out of the bag stretches the peace for hours.
Briefly summarized
Cards are the best ratio of weight to playtime.
Building sets are unpacked on a table, not in a moving car.
Stickers and small gadgets are distributed in portions.
Components are stored in one box that stays closed.
Looking for more? Check out Games, Card Games, Building & Construction and Toys. If you are looking for something to store or send everything neatly, you will find boxes and small boxes in Packaging & Shipping. If you are unsure whether something is suitable for a certain age or fits in a letterbox package? Feel free to email info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we are happy to help you before you order.
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