Classic Travel Kiddy Review

The Classic TravelKiddy – Hours Of Entertainment For Kids

Author: Randy

Jen over at TravelKiddy was kind enough to send over a Classic TravelKiddy (ages 3-6) for us to evaluate during the second half of our Cruise Views Marathon. Due to the fact that this kit had to be used in order to be evaluated, we have retained any remaining items in the kit for our kids to play with and enjoy. TravelKiddy was also kind enough to provide our lucky Scavenger Hunt winner with a Basic TravelKiddy.

Now for the review…

Our Classic Travel Kiddy was sent via Fedex and arrived within a couple of days of shipment. It was well packaged and upon opening the box, the unmistakable large, lime green canvas bag was staring at me – the neon color allows you to spot it easily across the room – I love it! The actual bag measures 11x15x3, allowing you to stuff lots of extras inside. This is ideal if you have more than one child or if you intend on taking a longer trip. Heck, I admit that we even carried an extra diaper and snacks in it. It has an easy carry handle and is the perfect size for young kids.

I was most impressed with the quality of the canvas – this bag looks and feels like it can hold up to some abuse, even from our young Hercules. With a small zippered pocket inside and a durable zipper, this is definitely a well thought out selection that will last for years.

The difference between a Basic Kit and Classic Kit is a small package of goodies that can be used as a refill on your return trip. For the additional $5, it is well worth it. Some of our kid’s favorite toys were in that packet, most notably the wind-up ladybug, color mask, little finger animals and Wikki Stix.

We built up the anticipation, not allowing the kids to open the kit until we boarded our ship a few days later. Our 4 year-old had no trouble carrying the TravelKiddy even when we stuffed it with a few extras. We weren’t in our cabin long before the kids dove into the kit and started exploring all that it had to offer.

More than once we had to ask them to pick up the various toys and crafts that they had strewn about the room, but the great part was that everything always fit neatly back into the canvas bag. I will say that since we have a 19 month old, we had to confiscate the smaller plastic animals, as they are a choking hazard. This is clearly disclosed before you purchase the kit as well as on the tag that is on the kit itself. The kit is not recommended for kids under 3, but with some selective removal of items, our younger child was able to enjoy the kit also.

This kit is geared toward arts & crafts type activities with small toys interspersed for times when spreading out isn’t an option. The 8×12 foam drawing board made for a stable surface when a table was not available. It can also be used to color upon, but the kids never got that far as there is so much more to do in this kit. There are three activity books, a blank tablet book, crayons in a sturdy container and lots of craft items. My favorite is the fishy hat that you can color.

Our kids two favorite items were the magnetic art board and the measuring tape – maybe now they will leave our measuring tape alone. In addition to the sticker book, there are also several pages of loose stickers that they can use to “decorate”. The folks at TravelKiddy indicate that the kit is intended to provide 8 hours of activity. I could easily see that being unlimited with some of these toys.

On the cool, but interesting side, they’ve also included two blank postcards with postage, band-aids in a tiny carrier, tissues and wipes. Note to self – remove these items before they get destroyed – the younger kids think everything is a toy!

The only two things that I would change – try to get postcards that have pre-determined patterns for coloring and substitute slightly larger animals. Otherwise, this is a quality activity kit that will entertain your kids for hours…our kids even used it in the car on the way home from the pier, then again at home.

The Basic and Classic Travel Kiddy are available for ages 3-6 and 6-9. Contents vary accordingly. The Basic Kit retails for $29.95 and the Classic kit is just $5 more. TravelKiddy will also put together a custom kit especially for your child. Be sure to check out their other cool kits and products too!