As a mom of two little frequent flyers, I’m always on the lookout for inspired and educational travel-related gifts for kids. With my daughter’s birthday coming up next week, I’ve been scouring the internet for a few of the newest products on the market and even a few products I may have missed (hey, it happens!).
Here are a few new or new-to-the-site products that would be a great birthday gift, addition to your child’s Easter basket this spring, or fun gift for no reason at all.
(Trips With Tykes uses affiliate links. See our full disclosure policy here.)
State themed flash cards from Bright Eyed Baby
After a successful Kickstarter campaign this past summer, a fantastic mom-owned business, Bright Eyed Baby, recently began making state-themed flash cards perfect for teaching kids all about our great country. From Bright Eyed Baby‘s site:
Our country is so great, and from state to state, region to region the cultures vary drastically. Why not create something that can teach children all of the great vocabulary associated with each state. In turn this can inspire our kids to travel, and spark their curiosity about new places and cultures from an early age.
The flash cards are a $18 per set and the cost is definitely justified by the extremely high quality. These are definitely not flash cards you are used to from the dollar bin at Target! I had the chance to try a complimentary sample of the California state cards with my almost 6 year old daughter. My daughter loved looking at the gorgeous paintings on the cards and learned quite a few new words from our home state. She surprised me with some words she already knew too. The cards really sparked her creativity as she began making up her own games using the set. Although the cards were a perfect fit for her at the age of just learning to read, I also think the flash cards would equally well for kids several years younger who would be captivated by the colorful pictures.
Right now, California, Colorado, and Washington state are already available on Bright Eyed Baby’s site (use code tykes for a special 15% discount for Trips With Tykes readers), but there are plans to add more soon. Watch for the chance to preorder Florida, Texas, New York, and a special USA 50 Card series in an upcoming Kickstarter soon. The founder and I both have Alabama roots, so I’m hopeful that Sweet Home Alabama will be making its debut very soon too!
World Coin Collection from Little Passports
As a child, one of the most fascinating parts of travel for me was checking out all the unique currency that different countries had. My grandfather was an avid coin collector and I recall many happy childhood moments perusing his binders full of unique international coins collected on his world travels.
Why not teach your little ones all about world currency too? The newest offering from Little Passports is the World Coin Collection. At $19.95 for a 20 coin set, it is the company’s most affordable product yet. My daughter received a subscription to the Little Passports World Edition from grandma and grandpa for Christmas this year, and pretty much everything the company makes is a great gift idea for young travelers.
Little Pim Language DVDs
One of my daughter’s favorite things to do when we travel is to learn a few words in the language of our destination. The Little Pim language video series teaches your child hundreds of words in a variety of new languages. Since we live in California and hear a lot of Spanish spoken everywhere we go, Spanish has been our family’s first trial. But you can also find French, Chinese, Italian, German, and many others.
Little Pim is available in DVD sets but if you have an Amazon Prime membership, streaming Little Pim in a few languages is already included in your subscription.
Disclosure: Bright Eyed Baby provided me a complimentary sample of the California flash cards for review purposes. As always, all opinions are mine.