Road Trip Snacks For Kids | Healthy On The Go Snacks
We love taking family road trips and have spent countless hours in the car with 3 young kids over the years. I wanted to share with you one of my best tricks when it comes to road trip snacks for kids.
By allowing my kids to help choose the snack options for our long car rides and giving them their allotted snacks for the day at the beginning of the trip we have completely taken away the “I’m hungry” and “can I have a snack” comments when on the road together. Below I share with you our favorite travel hack for road trip snacks when traveling with kids!
Road trip food can be hard to manage. Often it seems easier to stop at a convenience store or fast food restaurant. However, a little planning before you hit the open road can go a long way.
You often save money by bringing your snacks along and it is so much easier to make healthy choices with some pre-planning. If you are planning a road trip with your family you may be interested in these ultimate tips for long road trips with kids and our favorite screen free road trip activities as well! 🙂
Our Secret Road Trip Snack Hack For Kids
Before leaving for a trip we will have our kids sit down with us to list out some road trip snack ideas they would like to bring along. This allows them some freedom to pick special snacks and makes the road trip a little extra special. I always try to help sway them towards some healthier snacks that I know will stick with them longer, but it is always fun to let them choose a few special treats as well.
Once we have our snacks on hand I pull out one 1 gallon zip lock bag per child. I label it with their name and fill the bag with one of each snack that was picked. This is their bag for the day of traveling.
We give them the bag at the beginning of our trip and let them know that they can eat any snack in that bag during the trip, but once it’s gone it’s gone. They may choose a sugar snack at 8 AM, but that is the fun of the trip! They know that if they choose to eat the most prized snack first they won’t have it for later on in the day.
If you have multiple kids make sure every bag has the same items. This avoids the “why does he have more of…” comments.
This is an important tip- so if you read anything read this…
Don’t forget the snacks for the way home!
I often will pack two zip lock baggies for each kid, one for the way to our destination and one for the way home. This makes it so easy and quick when we are packing up to leave and I don’t have to worry about what we have left to offer them for the ride home.
This also applies if you are traveling over multiple days to get to your destination. If it is a longer road trip over many days I will have a “refill snack bag” that I go to every morning to refill the gallon bags so they start out fresh that day.
This has been our go to way to give snacks to our kids since they were preschoolers. I worried they would just gorge on all the snacks in the first few hours, but to my surprise that has never been the case. They love the freedom of being able to choose what and when they eat during the trip and it has minimized the hangry comments from the back rows of our van. This honestly has been one of our saving graces during really long road trips together.
Our Favorite Road Trip Snacks Ideas For Kids
Sometimes it is hard to figure out good snack options for kids. Over lots and lots of trips we have come up with some of our favorite, easy road trip snacks. We love to offer snacks that are healthy and don’t have too much added sugar. With that being said, we always try to have a few extra fun options in the mix.
Some of our go-to snack options for long road trips include:
- Fruit – Apples, bananas, pears and oranges last well in the car over a few days
- Yogurt covered raisins (we only buy these for road trips to keep them extra special)
- Applesauce packets
- Dried fruit
- Granola bars
- Ritz peanut butter crackers
- Larabars (this pick is a family favorite)
- Goldfish crackers
- Zbar (Kids Cliff bar)
- Pretzels
- Animal crackers
- Fruit Loops (An extra special treat for my kids)
If you have a sweet tooth dark chocolate chips are a great option but may lead to messy hands. Remember to keep a pack of baby wipes in the car just in case. 🙂
Road Trip Snack Ideas That Require A Cooler
If you have the space and ability to bring a cooler bag and ice packs on your trip that is an added bonus. This allows you to pack food that doesn’t last when out in room temperature for your entire trip.
Our go-to snacks to put in our cooler include:
- Fresh fruits
- Protein balls
- Meat sticks or beef jerky
- Cheese sticks
- Raw veggies like cut peppers, baby carrots and celery sticks
- Salami or pepperonis (pairs perfectly with crackers and cheese for an easy lunch)
- Yogurt- Gogurt is my favorite when traveling
Tips & Tricks When Needing To Stop For Food On Road Trips
If you do find yourself in a pinch and need to stop at a rest stop for some food that is okay. Fast food options usually leave my kids hungry an hour after stopping which drives me crazy. But you can find healthy choices with a little digging.
We often prefer to stop to get gas station snacks versus stopping at fast food restaurants because we can find good options to appease the whole family.
Our favorite gas station snack choices include string cheese, yogurt packets, apple slices or oranges, pretzel and hummus combo and whole grain crackers. My husband loves sunflower seeds or his favorite nuts for a salty snack. You can also find some good sandwich options if you are looking for a meal.
We usually find that stopping at a gas station is cheaper than a fast food restaurant which is an added bonus!
Key Take-Away Points For Road Trip Snacks For Kids
- Take a little time to plan out some healthy snack options
- Allow your kids to be part of the snack buying process
- Try to find healthy, low sugar options so the food sticks with your kids longer
- If possible, bring a cooler for added snack options
- If you are in a pinch and have to stop there are often healthier and more cost effective snacks at gas stations versus fast food restaurants
Fun Road Trip Activities & Games You May Like
We would love to hear your family’s favorite healthy road trip snacks so we can add them to our list!
