Packing for Trips with Kids: What to Bring and How to Pack

With all of the family travel we have planned this summer, I decided it was time to create a great packing strategy for traveling with kids. I had three goals in creating this plan: I wanted to my kids to carry their own belongings, I wanted to fly without checked luggage, and I wanted clothing and other items packed as neatly as possible.

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We leave on our first of two flights today! This trip is relatively short – we are flying to Colorado for my brother’s graduation and wedding. The second trip, later in June, will be quite a bit longer. We are flying all the way to Edinburgh, Scotland! This is the city where Emma was born, and we are so excited to show her around now that she is old enough to remember! Thankfully I have plenty of tips for flying with kids from my many flights growing up plus a decent number flying with my own kids that I can refer to as I get ready for both trips. Traveling with kids is always an adventure, but with good preparation it is also a joy. This is why packing for trips with kids is so important!

Packing for Trips with Kids

When I am packing for trips with kids, one of the things I look for is easy ways to get the kids to carry as much of their own stuff as possible. This is our first time traveling with really nice luggage for the kids. Nice luggage combined with school-aged children means that I will, for the first time ever, be carrying only my own belongings! I wanted to avoid checked luggage, and I was delighted to find these inexpensive two-piece luggage sets. The bright colors made them irresistable!

The little shoulder bags are the perfect size for my older kids. The rolling suitcases hold up beautifully – they have now been checked on several flights, but still look brand new. The Trunki was a very generous freebie from a random stranger who posted it on one of our local neighborhood boards. I have thought for years that those were brilliant for traveling toddlers and preschoolers, but I couldn’t quite justify the cost. Free works brilliantly, and Anna is absolutely thrilled with her luggage.

I was able to fit all of Anna’s clothes inside – secured in packing cubes so that when she opens the case to get out her sticker book we won’t wind up with clothes everywhere. The older kids each have an inflatable Bubble Bum booster inside their suitcase, along with their clothes. No  more checking bulky plastic booster seats! I was tempted by this portable car seat alternative for Anna, but it didn’t seem worth the price for only a couple of flights. It also seems to be quite a bit less user-friendly than you standard car seat. I am still thrilled that people are coming up with creative solutions like this!

I had some printable business card paper that I used to print out luggage labels for the entire family. I ran them through our laminator for durability. Then a punched a hole and tied them on with yarn.

Packing Lists for Kids

There are some great packing list apps out these days, but so far I have stuck with paper and pen lists. Here are the standard items my kids pack:

• Enough shirts, pants, and pajamas for every day of the trip, or long enough to last between laundry washings for longer trips.
• An extra pair of socks and underwear.
• One jacket – even in the summer the weather is sometimes surprisingly cold.
• Sun hat in summer.
• Hair brush
• Hair ties
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Dental floss
• One soft toy.
• One sticker book for the plane. Usborne sticker books are my favorites, both because of the quality of the books and because the stickers are sticky enough to stay on the paper but not sticky enough that you can’t peel them off of things your children stick them to that they don’t belong on.
• A pad of paper and a pencil. We are partial to these small legal pads and mechanical pencils.
• Something for the kids to chew during takeoff and landing. Gum and Tic Tacs are the current favorites (Tic Tacs only because Emma can’t chew gum with her braces).

If you plan to check your main luggage, I highly recommend packing a full change of clothing for the entire family in your carry-on. This includes clothing for mom and dad! I always bring along children’s ibuprofen and diphenhydramine. Ibuprofen for unexpected aches and pains and the diphenhydramine just in case we get an allergic reaction. I haven’t ever needed either, but it’s good to have them on hand. I bring them in chewable tablet form, which is often easier for kids to take and much less messy. It’s also a great idea to bring along a pack of wipes and a Tide To Go pen for spills..

What are your top tips for packing for trips with kids?

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MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.