The Best Books & Toys For Your Diaper Bag
As moms of six kids between the two of us, we’ve packed our diaper bags a time or two! If we aren’t preparing for a trip to the park or library storytime, we’re bringing along some “entertainment” for those busy hands and can’t-sit-still bodies. So we know exactly how valuable a well-packed diaper bag is! (And how showing up without everything you need in your diaper bag is basically the parenting equivalent of that nightmare where you’re naked on the first day of high school! 😂)
But, as pediatric speech-language pathologists, we also know that not all baby and toddler entertainment is created equally! So we try to be intentional about what toys and objects will be engaging our little ones’ minds. With this post, we’re meeting the needs of the busy, on-the-go parents we are most of the time—but we’re doing it by packing up only those toys that our at-work selves would approve of. We hope it helps you pack your next diaper bag with the decisiveness of a seasoned mom and the perspective of a speech-language pathologist.
You got this!
What To Pack In Your Diaper Bag
Of course, the real diaper bag MVPs are the diapers, the wipes, the changing pad, the fresh clothing, sanitizer pumps, and all those other hygiene essentials that you probably already have covered. (And, there are also the rocks, pine needles, scraps of papers, and other treasures they find and MUST keep!) All that is probably keeping your diaper bag pretty full already, so when you’re out and about, if that feels like enough, that’s okay!
We want you to know that you don’t need TONS of toys in your diaper bag to entertain your toddler. There are so many communication opportunities for little ones in the world around them, like the people they see and the places they go. And taking all that in is so great for their development!
So no parent-guilt around what you pack or don’t pack, okay? 💛
That said, small, simple books and toys are a great way to promote language development on the go, too. They’re low-prep, zero-mess, and they make it easy on you while keeping them entertained—a win-win.
Here are the books and toys we almost always pack in our diaper bags!
(None of the links included below are affiliate links, so we don’t get paid if you buy. They’re just books we love and want you to be able to get your hands on.)
Best Books For Diaper Bags
Indestructibles
Little ones LOVE to handle paper books, but we all know what happens when they do! 🙈 Indestructibles are amazing because they feel like paper, but your little one can chew on the page, crinkle it up, and it goes back to normal! You can even put them in the bathtub! Plus, the illustrations are excellent. We’re big fans!
Tiny Books For Tiny Hands
We love little books that fit well in little hands because they let our children explore the pages much more independently. Some of our favorites are Helen Oxenbury’s books and Little learning books.
Fabric Books
Fabric books are great because they’re quiet books, and they typically include lots of fun textures for little hands to explore. Depending on your budget, we like the fabric books at IKEA (the lowest price), JellyCat and Melissa & Doug (mid-range), and these from Etsy which are a splurge, but they’re amazing! You could also check your local bookstore.
Books with Real Photos
Real photos are great for development. They’re easier for little ones to understand early on—they can grasp “real-life” concepts in images much quicker, well before illustrations! But, children’s books with real photos can be tricky to find. So we love the Bright Baby series, a simple set of books with one real photo per page.
Best Toys for Diaper Bags
Music Scarves
A music scarf is great for pairing with a little song or rhyme—like the Popcorn Kernels Song! Singing a little rhyme together is a relatively quiet activity, which is helpful. And the scarf won’t add any extra noise! Plus, music is so powerful for your little one’s development, so you can feel really good about this activity.
Related: Music & Your Toddler’s Development
For babies, use the scarf to play peek-a-boo or put music scarves on different parts of their body to teach those concepts. (You could say, “I got your belly!” or “I got your toes!”)
Egg Shakers
Egg shakers are another—slightly noisier—toy that pairs perfectly with songs and rhymes! They can also be fun for encouraging motor imitation (little ones love to copy you as you shake, shake, shake!), which develops long before they can ever imitate your sounds or words.
Nesting Cups
We love nesting cups for all the ways you can play with them! They’re fun to stack, but they’re also fun for playing peek-a-boo, and they can be a great place to hide or house little figures. (Just pack a few in case one gets lost in the parking lot!) Your toddler can also go to town putting something in and then it taking it back out of a nesting cup—a preferred toddler activity. (Just ask your Tupperware drawer!)
Little Vehicles
Little cars, trucks, and tractors are fun for rolling across a flat surface, but we also love “driving” them across their bellies and legs while waiting at the doctor’s office! Vehicles are also great at coaxing environmental sounds out of little ones like:
Beep beep
Honk
Vroom vroom
Crash
Uh Oh
Wee
Fun sounds like these are typically easier for little ones to imitate than function words.
Our Fav No-Prep Activities On The Go
We love that books are no-prep and easy to take with you on the go. But they’re not the only thing that’s easy to keep in your diaper-bag back pocket! Songs and rhymes are fantastic, too.
Simple songs and rhymes can pass the time, help you connect, and even turn the mood around when your toddler isn’t feeling like their most calm, patient self—but you’re stuck in a long lineup! We’re big fans of adding them to as many daily interactions as you can with your little one.
Get Song & Rhyme Inspo
We teach so many fun, developmentally-appropriate songs and rhymes through our Songs + Stories membership! You can learn them yourselves and use them on the go and they can double as high-quality screen time when you need a minute (or ten).
Feeling like that might be just what the doctor’s-office lineup ordered? Download our free storytime video and see if it’s a fit for your fam!