On the road… without toys
14 August 11
Our four daughters are young (6yo and younger), so toys have been an important part of their lives until we began travelling. Once we moved into our tiny horse truck, all toys were abandoned in favour of fitting more practical items into the small space. So our young family has learned to adjust to this difference and after six months with practically no toys, we’re confident that toys are not necessary when travelling!
I love toys. I’ve bought most of the ones that we own, but while on the road, space is an issue, and toys that can be easily cleaned up is an even bigger issue. The girls currently possess a tiny collection of toys (from a variety of sources), and this little motley crew seems to be enough to keep them occupied.


So what do our children play with without a variety of toys on hand? How do we keep our daughters occupied?
We’re travelling, which means the scenery changes. The playground changes. The shops change. Every place we stop contains new adventures and interesting pathways to unknown destinations. Instead of playing with toys, we do things together. On days with good weather, we’re outside all the time. Our ever-changing outings provide the stimulation that previously had to come through interaction with toys.
Our girls have learned to be innovative in creating their own toys. They assign anthropomorphic characteristics to random objects — sticks, leaves, feathers, shells, rocks, flowers, etc., can all be made into people, fairies, animals or monsters. It’s amazing to watch our three oldest girls enter into the same fantasy — using found items to talk and interact with each other. I’ve had to become innovative too. When we lost our collection of sand toys, I felt devastated — until I realised that “spoons and bowls” from our kitchen drawer are just as effective!
Our daughters enjoy drawing and colouring. Every couple of months we need to buy some more blank paper, crayons or pens, and they’re so well received. When the weather doesn’t permit us to play outside, the girls love to sit inside the truck (or in someone’s house) and draw. We’ve noticed wonderful advances in their imaginations and drawing techniques in just a couple of months.
We involve the children in the tasks that occupy us. Although on the road, our days are full of the menial chores that make a household run smoothly — meals, washing up, tidying up, shopping, packing away, washing clothes, etc. All these can be shared with the children. We don’t assign chores to the girls. Instead, David and I tackle our tasks with a positive attitude and discover that in doing so, we attract our daughters to our sides — with them asking if they can help. Together, we share the jobs and the girls learn valuable life-skills from simply living alongside us.
Our children play with other children’s toys. We often visit other families, and they usually have toys — lots of toys, more toys than they know what to do with. So they’re happy to share. And our girls love the variety that comes with the different families and haven’t really haven’t missed out on anything that’s available in a toy store! I’ve had to learn to let go of my so-called high expectations when it comes to letting our children play with others’ toys. When our girls meet new friends and are exposed to toys that previously I may have “sheltered” them from, I trust that these toys are going to be okay for them, and that — at the very least — it’s a temporary thing.
All these factors combine to make our children highly imaginative in their play, independent in their entertainment, creative in their expression and well-rounded in motor skills. If you’re hitting the road — even just for a family holiday — why not leave the pile of toys at home and trust that your children will find other things to play with!
1 · Janice · 14 August 2011, 23:13
Good to hear, Lauren, we recently spent six weeks with our families in the US and Canada when my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I let them bring one cuddly toy on the plane and a coloring book and crayons. They had a great time with various grandparents, cousins, playing in parks, at the beach, pond etc. I am now looking forward to paring down their ever growing footlocker/toy box of various play things! :) thanks for the encouragement!
2 · Ailsa Grady · 15 August 2011, 10:59
Great post Lauren! When we travel to NZ, my girls take minimal toys and there isn’t many toys once we arrive, but that is really when their imaginations go wild! My girls also love blank paper and some pens!
3 · Tracy · 15 August 2011, 11:13
I really enjoyed reading this! We’ve been travelling for 18mths now with our two kids who are under 6. We travel with a similar amount of toys and I think I could say ditto to every single point you made. My children always loved colouring, but since we’ve been on the road they’ve become avid drawers. I’m glad we’re travelling in cheap countries as we go through blank paper and pencils at such a ridiculous rate we’d probably go broke back home in Australia.
4 · Amy · 15 August 2011, 11:51
I think that when kids have very few toys and good toys that are open ended for imagination they begin to develop avid imaginations and are able to make up games and entertain themselves better then when they have a whole bunch of toys. We are not traveling yet so we do have a lot more toys than you do right now but we have way less than the average family. Toys like Lego, and Tinker Toys are a hit in our house and the boys will play with them for hours building things.
5 · Tina · 15 August 2011, 12:42
Thank you for writing this! I SO needed to hear it right now. We will be packing up over the next couple of months to go full time on the road in September/October and I am already worrying about telling my 9yo daughter that some of her MANY toys will need to be left behind…and then there is my son’s LEGO…yikes!
6 · Susan · 15 August 2011, 12:47
We recently embarked on an extended trip to Costa Rica and space in our bags was at a premium, so toys were almost afterthoughts. But the ones we did bring, I tried to make them involve more than one child, like travel sized games, a deck of cards, and a small Lego set. With 5 kiddos, I wanted to bring something for rainy days, but paper and crayons/color pencils and a computer provide lots of things for them to do. Great post! I think children are much better served with fewer toys than closets full. :o)
7 · Lisa Wood · 15 August 2011, 13:36
It is amazing to see what children can do without toys. Like you, toys used to be really important in our family. Our five boys had more toys then they knew what to do with!
Now that we have little space, they play outside mostly…and its with whatever is avaiable. They make cubby houses out of cut down trees, and they use boxes to make forts. They even find a tree to climb – and it soon becomes a battle ground for their imaginary army!
Love how creative your girls are becoming, and hearing about there drawing skills.
Cheers
Lisa
8 · Manou · 15 August 2011, 19:48
Did you say that you BUY blank paper?
Oh dear.Usually printers are glad to off load scraps or else look in their bins!xxxxx