Are you planning a family road trip and not sure what to pack for your kids? We’ve got you covered. We’ve been road tripping for years now with our kids, from short weekend road trips to month-long cross-country road trips, so we’ve got a few tips on what are the road trip essentials for kids to bring with you.
If this is the first time you are going on a road trip with kids, it can be difficult to know what to pack. Plus, it’s very easy to overpack because you’ll probably think you need lots of your day to day items.
However, we’ve got you covered! This packing list will help you get all the essentials that you need for your kids. And if your road trip is still far away, you can download our printable road trip checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything.
If you’re planning a camping road trip, you can check this article for more must-have items.
Let dive in! Here is our list of road trip essentials for the family, mostly for kids.
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Road Trip Essentials for Kids: The Basic Stuff
1. Kids’ Car Seats
This is one of the most important things when planning a road trip. kids. You want to make sure your kids are safely restrained in the car.
If you’re renting a car at your destination for a road trip in another region or country, make sure to check local legal requirements about kids’ car seats.
2. Change of clothes
Depending on the length of your road trip, it’s always a great idea to add a day bag to your road trip packing list. Same things as when you’re flying with kids, it’s important to have a change of clothes easily accessible.
It’s not rare that kids will get their clothes dirty when drinking, eating and even colouring.
So pack a change of clothes or a few different clothing options is a bag pag that is easy to reach without having to empty the entire car.
3. Snacks
Snacks are a road trip essential for kids, and even adults! You can spend many hours on the road and it isn’t easy to find a place to stop and eat. Whilst you can be more patient about food, kids won’t be.
Also, petrol stations may not have the healthiest snacks for your children.
Before starting your road trip, pack some healthy snacks for your little ones. For example, some pre-prepped vegetables and fruits, homemade granola bars, and sandwiches.
You may also want to consider bringing a cooler so you can store more fresh food on a longer road trip so you don’t have to stop at the store every day.
For more ideas, check out this article where we share our favorite road trip snacks for kids.
4. Wet wipes
We always have a few packs of wet wipes when we go on long road trips. They are perfect for cleaning up the kids after they have their snacks. Kids will need some wipes to clean their hands, or you may need to clean up any mess in between.
Make sure to take enough wet wipes for the journey!
For a more eco-sustainable option, reusable Swedish cloths can be a great alternative. They are easy to wash and they dry fast.
5. Water
Water is an essential item to add to your family road trip packing list for you and your kids. We love using reusable water bottles that we can refill in most places. Not only will you save money but be more eco-friendly.
Having said so, we also pack a few large bottles of water in case we really need water and we can’t find a safe place to refill our bottles.
6. First aid kit
Small scratches, injuries or mosquito bites can happen on the road. A good first aid kit will have all the essentials (plasters, bandages, small scissors, etc.) you need in case you have to treat a small injury.
We always keep a first aid kit in the car to be safe, and we also have one in our day backpack for our family hikes.
7. Sickness bag and Trash Bag
Sickness bags are always useful to have in your car, especially if you know your kids get motion sick. You never know who may need them, and they’ll help you avoid a mess that you’ll have to clean later.
But we really hope you won’t have to use them.
One thing we often forget is trash bag. On long road trip, you want your car to stay relatively clean so having a trash bag that you can dispose at the end of the day is always a good idea.
8. Blankets
The change of temperature from day to night can make your kids cold or they may want to feel cosy with a blanket when they sleep, that’s why you need to add blankets to your family road trip checklist.
Plus, blankets are a comforting item, so it should also help the kids at bedtime when your traveling.
9. Portable Chargers
There is no road trip without electronics, you need your phone to keep in touch with the world. In addition to this, it’s very likely to also pack a tablet or other devices so your kids can watch movies or listen to music.
In any of these cases, you need to remember to pack chargers. For longer road trips or campervan adventures, a bigger portable charging station is essential. Jackery and EcoFlow have good options.
10. Sunglasses
Sunglasses are super handy for kids when you’re on the road as well as walking in a national park or sunny city.
11. Sunscreen
Using suncream is very important regardless of the season and weather. We always use sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.
A good tip is to put it on before entering the car. That way, the kids will be able to open their windows while you’re driving without risking sunburns.
Road Trip Essentials for Kids: The Entertainment Stuff
12. Books
This really depends on the age and interests of your children. Some kids love an old fashioned printed book whereas others prefer an ebook or audiobook.
In our family, we prefer physical books, but it limits the number of books each kid can bring. But we do have a few audio stories downloaded from Spotify.
EBook and audiobooks are very convenient because books take up space which matters when you’re packing for a road trip.
A good option is children’s podcasts too!
13. Games
You’ll need to find road trip activities for the kids to entertain themselves while driving.
If you have two or more children, games are a great solution if you don’t want them to be on the screen for long. There are plenty of games that you can take with you on your road trip.
Some fun games for kids are:
- Car bingo
- Magnetic board games
- Travel scavenger hunt
- Family Talk 2
For more ideas on road trip games for kids, check out our detailed article here.
14. Music playlist
No matter how old your children are, they’ll love a music playlist. Download some of their favourite songs from series and movies and let them sing along.
Here the boys love the soundtracks from Vivo and Encanto. But they’ve also started liking some of our own music.
15. Headphones
We’ve just talked about a music playlist, but we must admit that it can get a bit annoying if they’re replaying the same song, so to avoid this, pack some headphones.
It’s also good if you’re traveling with more than one kid and can’t agree on a song or an audiobook.
16. Coloring books and pencils
Kids usually love coloring, so we always pack a coloring book and some pencils to keep them happy during the journey. And it’s a great way to pass the time in the car, but also at destination.é
The Melissa & Doug water WOW books are one of toddler road trip essentials. They are mess-free and can be reused once they dry.
For this it is important you get a foldable plastic table so they can color or draw with ease.
17. Toys
Toddlers and smaller kids love their toys, and although we wouldn’t advise packing lots of toys, it’s good to let them pick two or three with which they can play along the way.
Also, don’t pack noisy toys if you don’t want to lose your patience.
Some toys that are good for road trips are little action figures, Pokémon cards, teddy bears, Wikki Stix travel set.
18. Small Sport Items
Balls and frisbees are great for your kids to play on rest stops on a long journey. They’ll make your kids move and they’ll love playing with them.
We try to stop every few hours to let the kids burn off some energy. We try to find kids’ playgrounds, but when we can’t, we simply stop in a park and run around with a soccer ball.
19. Swim Gear + Travel Towels
Same as for the small sport items, always bring swim gear with you on road trips. You’ll want to pack them strategically in the car so you can use it along the way without having to unpack the entire car.
Kids will love having a rest stop by the beach, or at a spray pad park after being stuck in a car for a few hours.
Make sure you bring towels that are light and that dry fast. We love our Decathlon microfiber towels.
20. Binoculars
We love packing binoculars for our two children. They’re always very excited to see animals or unique landscapes when we’re traveling around a National Park. Plus, they can be used when doing outdoor activities.
21. Travel journal
Older kids and teenagers may love the idea of documenting the family trip and will be very happy to take a travel journal in which they can write anecdotes, stick stickers and photos, etc.
22. Movies
We’ll be totally transparent here.
We’ve decided not to allow screen time in the car…. For now at least. Long road trips would probably be more calm if we did, but we are dealing with it.
But I totally understand how practical it can be.
Road trips are long, and although you don’t want kids to be on a screen for long hours, you sometimes need to give them something to keep them entertained and happy.
Before your trip make sure to download your children’s favourite movies on their tablet.
Baby and Toddler Road Trip Essentials
If you are traveling with a baby or toddlers, you may want to add those items to your list:
23. Baby Food/Formula
If you’re traveling with a baby, you need to pack enough baby food or formula at least to get to your destination.
Of course, you can stop at a pharmacy or grocery store, but it’s always nice to have everything on hand when needed.
24. Bibs
Not only for babies, but toddlers and smaller kids can use bibs to avoid getting their clothes dirty when they eat.
This will help you reuse some of their clothes and avoid a big pile of clothes to wash when you get home or to your accommodation.
Final Thoughts: Family Road Trip Essentials
There are a few things to pack when planning a road trip with kids. Hope this list helped you get ready. And don’t forget to download our printable road trip checklist for families.
Emilie is the founder of Love Life Abroad. She helps moms plan epic road trips and outdoor adventures with their families. Because who said adventuring had to stop once we have kids? She’s based in the Canadian Rockies and shares her love for the region as well as other unique places in Canada & USA. She works with tourism boards and outdoor brands to inspire families to experience new unique destinations and outdoor activities.