In our years of full time travel, finding RV gift ideas for our kiddos has been a challenge! Those of us who are living tiny know how carefully we have to think about every item that comes into our home, so I’m extremely careful about what we buy. In the past, I’ve searched for RV gift ideas lists for the kiddos and come up pretty empty! So today I’m sharing a list of RV gift ideas that have been tested, tried, and true for our family.
December is a wild ride for us, with three kid birthdays (!) and Christmas all within a few weeks. I save gift ideas to wish lists all year long and hoard extra money for months so that everyone has a magical December. Last year, our oldest told me unprompted that I make Christmas magical, and it was just the sweetest thank you for all of the effort. I know you’re putting in so much effort to make this time of year special for the kiddos in your life, too. From fall clothes shopping to Halloween costumes to holiday gifts and seasonal parties. I see you!
Hopefully this list will give you some RV gift ideas that you haven’t already considered. I’ve separated gift ideas into categories for easier reading, but if you want to see my whole list of recommendations, head here.
Indoor Toys
Our kids own about a quarter of the toys that they did when we lived in an apartment, and they are totally satisfied. But when you have fewer toys, you want to make sure that they’re open-ended toys that can be played with in many ways. That’s always our goal when bringing in new indoor toys, and these are our favorites:
- Magnetic tiles and fun accessories 1, 2, & 3
- Lego and fun lego storage for big kids, minifig wall display
- Duplo and vehicle accessories for toddlers
- Playmobil vehicles like this cute RV
- Peg people (we painted ours!)
- Animal figurines (we’ve been collecting these slowly for years)
- Dinosaur toys
- Matchbox cars
- Bluey RV
- Little People camper
- Road tape
- Hexbugs
- Pop toys
- Puzzles (we often thrift and donate ours, but a state puzzle is a must!)
- Jewelry organizer for nature collections
Craft Supplies
Our kids are big into crafting, so we dedicate a fair amount of our storage space to craft supplies. Craft supplies are the perfect RV gift ideas item because they’re consumable and won’t take up space forever!
- Paint by sticker books
- Colored pencils
- Watercolors
- Sketch books
- Colors of the world markers
- Portable photoprinter for scrapbooking
- Cardboard box toolkit
- Fairy garden supplies
- Drawing books
- Art supply organizer
- Artwork storage
Outdoor Toys
We have way expanded the number of outdoor toys we own since living in apartment. We’re outside so much more thanks to RV life that it makes total sense! Plus, these items ride in the bed of the truck or toy hauler room on travel day. So they don’t take up too much inside space!
- Portable swing frame
- Saucer swing
- Small trampoline
- Bounce house
- Walkie talkies
- Compact sensory table
- Folding water table
- Kinetic sand or dollar store beans, rice, or pebbles
- Stomp rocket
- Foam glider
- Tonka dump truck
- Outdoor stepping stones
- Catch and release (my kids LOVE this!)
- Reusable water balloons
- Collapsible buckets
- Digging tools
- Bug catcher
- Slingshot
Hiking Gear
We spend so much time hiking now that hiking gear had to make the RV gift ideas list! Plus, kids are always outgrowing their gear. I resisted getting our kids fancy hiking boots for a long time, but it has been totally worth the investment (have you read our hiking with kids tips?).
- Hiking boots
- Hiking backpack
- Columbia fleece jacket
- Kid binoculars
- Compass
- Camelbak water bottle
- Handheld microscope
Books
When you’re traveling and out in nature all of the time, there’s so much to learn (even for grownups!). These are some of our favorite books for learning about the world around us.
- Nature Anatomy
- Peterson Field Guides
- Constellations for Kids
- A Kid’s Herb Book
- How to Teach Nature Journaling
- National Park mystery chapter books
- National Parks activity book
- Junior Ranger Passport book
Travel Day Activities
Traveling kids spend long days in the car. So items to help pass the road trip days are the perfect RV gift ideas for kids! These have made our travel days so much more enjoyable. Especially the Yotos. Worth every penny.
- Yoto player, plus protective case and headphones (read my detailed Yoto review!)
- Kindle paperwhite kids
- Nintendo Switch
- Doodle board
- Storage clipboard for artwork and schoolwork
- Scratch & sketch book
- Travel bingo
- Bento lunchbox
Memberships & Subscriptions
Traveling families can take incredible advantage of museum memberships that have reciprocity agreements. We have visited at least a dozen science museums with one science center membership, thanks to the ASTC reciprocity program. This makes a membership the perfect addition to the RV gift ideas list.
- Science center membership with ASTC reciprocity
- Zoo membership with AZA reciprocity
- Children’s museum membership with ACM reciprocity
- Kindle Unlimited or Audible subscription
- Library card with excellent e-book options
RV Gift Ideas for RV Living
There are a few miscellaneous items on this RV gift ideas list that just make RV life a bit better.
- A cozy blanket
- Stuffed animal hammock
- Junior Ranger badge display
- S’mores sticks
- Affordable digital camera
- Beach tent
I should probably add that if you’re buying a gift for someone else’s traveling kids (how sweet!), you should always check in first. Space really is so limited, and you want to make sure their kids need the same things that mine do. I also want to note that it’s totally okay and maybe even necessary to scale down how much you buy for RV living. Don’t let this RV gift ideas post make you feel like you need to buy all the things. Your kids will be totally happy with less, as you’ve probably already learned <3
Don’t miss our RV gift ideas for grownups post, too:
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
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