Road Trip Snacks for Kids They Will Actually Eat & Love

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A successful road trip with kids is made easier by having kid-approved food you know they will love. We’ve gathered a range of options that will satisfy cravings, provide sustained energy, and keep little ones happy throughout the journey. Adding these delicious snacks into your road trip preparations, you can ensure a more enjoyable experience for the entire family.

Kid Snacks for Road Trips

Importance of a Kid-Approved Snack

So, I am sure you are wondering what is a kid-approved snack? Let’s be honest, it is difficult to introduce new foods to little kids but it is even more difficult to try doing so on the road where space and options are limited. Traveling is not the time to offer your child something that is new or something you know they may refuse to eat.

With limited car space, make sure you are packing snacks you know your child will enjoy. How do you know they will enjoy it? Try serving different snacks to your child before your trip. Offer options like hummus and celery sticks. If they don’t like that substitute the celery for cucumbers. If that doesn’t work try pretzels with hummus.

Whether or not you try and introduce healthier snacks to your child, ultimately you’ll need to focus your choices on what your child is actually going to eat. We all have great intentions and want our children to have nutritious and wholesome choices, but we also have to make reasonable expectations. What our children eat at home is what they will expect to eat in the car. You know your child best. Be strategic and realistic with your choices.

What are Kid-Approved Road Trip Snacks?

Every child is different but we’ve collected some great road trip snacks for kids that you can try with your child ahead of time to see if it is something that will make sense to bring. We’ve made our choices based on snacks that we back on our road trips or take with our child on-the-go. Our selections are based on snacks that are convenient, easily stored and as little messy as possible.

Fruits & Veggies| Kid-Approved Snacks

  1. Apple Slices
  2. Cucumber Slices
  3. Dried Fruit
  4. Veggie Chips
  5. Blueberries
  6. Strawberries
  7. Banana
  8. Sliced Oranges
  9. Grapes
  10. Raisins

Mess-Free | Kid-Approved Snacks

  1. Cheese Sticks
  2. Jerky
  3. Crackers
  4. Pita & Hummus
  5. Tail Mix
  6. Breakfast Bars
  7. Smoothie Pouches
  8. Nuts
  9. Pretzels
  10. Popcorn

Easy to Pack | Kid-Approved Snacks

We’ve gathered our favorite on-the-go snacks.

Click the images to shop around and see if there’s something that could be a good option for your child!

Choosing the Right Type of Snacks for a Road Trip

As you pack your road trip snacks for kids it’s important to focus on the right type of snacks. These are snacks that are going to be easy to store in the car. You don’t want to bring too many bulky snacks or too much food that needs to be temperature controlled. When you are traveling with luggage and toys there won’t be enough room for large coolers.

We love to pack fresh fruits and veggies for the first part of the trip and then switch to pre-packed snacks for the remainder of the drive.

We find that the best snacks to bring are pre-packaged snacks. You can find all different types of snacks from organic to vegan as listed above, and it just makes everything so much easier when driving long distance. When we make little stops along our route we will usually purchase something fresh to eat without having to worry about storing it in the car all day.

Travel Snack Containers and Organizers

It can be really difficult to keep snacks properly refrigerated especially in large enough quantities to last an entire road trip. Bring a cooler bag large enough to store a few fresh snacks and drinks but compact enough that it doesn’t use up too much space. Our favorites are listed below.

Road Trip Snack Coolers

CleverMade Collapsible Cooler Bag: Insulated Leakproof

YETI Hopper Flip 18 Portable Soft Cooler

ROCKBROS Soft Cooler Insulated Leak Proof Cooler Bag

Road Trip Snack Containers

Snack containers are especially important when eating in the car. It helps keep the snack from spilling out and getting too messy. We always look for snack containers that have a spill or leak-proof lids.

GoBe Kids Snack Spinner

Bentgo® Snack Cup

Bentgo® Pop – Lunch Box

Snacking in the Car without a Huge Mess

How do you give your child a snack in the car without making a HUGE mess? I wish I had the answer to this, but you unfortunately cannot control what goes on in the back seat. The only thing we can do is try and. create a space that is accessible and easy to clean incase of an accidental spill. We LOVE to use this Kids Travel Tray not only for road trip games but for having a sturdy place to snack on. For extra organization and mess protection you will also need a car seat protector and organizer. This will keep everything off the floors which will help keep snacks easily accessible. Having everyting prepared ahead of time will help make the road trip snacks for kids an easier task.

Kids Travel Tray

Backseat Car Organizer

Car Seat Protector 

The best plan is to bring a variety of snacks including some fresh and some pre-packaged. Be realistic with your choices and make sure your child has tasted them before counting on them as a good snack option.

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