You need some great road trip snacks for the kids if you’re going to survive your next road trip! It’s just absolutely essential. If you’re not loaded down with snacks for the kids and adults, alike, you’re gonna have a grumpy crew on your hands. And, you don’t have to worry about making everything healthy, include some fun junk food travel snacks while you’re at it.
See all my Road Trip Posts together in the Ultimate Road Trip Guide Post that you can read here.
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Drinks for Your Road Trip
Water Only! This is Essential!
We’ve learned the hard way that it’s best to limit the amount of fluids the kids get. Our kids don’t have the biggest bladders, which means, we’ve wasted a lot of time stopping for potty breaks. To combat this, we don’t allow soda, juice or any other enticing drinks. With a small bottle of water, they will stay hydrated but won’t be tempted to guzzle.
Road Trip Snacks for Kids
Road trips are the perfect time to buy those fun snack-sized packages. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past making up my own snack bags and with everything else on my list, it just wasn’t worth the pennies saved.
Part of the road trip fun will be allowing your kids to enjoy all those little packages. So, be sure to include at least a few so they’ll have some fun road trip snacks.
Don’t worry if they eat a little more junk food than they’re used to. This road trip will be over soon enough and you’ll be back to your typical eating practices.
Related Reading:
Our Favorite Road Trip Snacks for Kids
Dry Salty Snacks Perfect for Long Car Rides
- Goldfish Crackers, here’s a great pack with sweet and salty combined
- Pretzels
- Ritz Bitz
- Ritz Crackers
- Rice Cakes
- Chex Mix
- Veggie Straws
- Cheerios
- Popcorn
- Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
- Rice Crackers
- Gardettos
- Plantains, O My Gosh this is the best deal I’ve seen
- Pringles
- Bagel
- Pita
- Peanuts
- Trail Mix Mmmm, this is nuts and chocolate
- Pepperoni Sticks
- Jerky
- Handi-Snacks
- Seaweed Snacks
Dry Sweet Snacks
- Cracker Jacks
- Cookie Packs
- Graham Crackers
- Cereal – These boxes are fun
- Mini Muffins
- Fruit Loops
- Teddy Grahams
- Granola Bars
- Banana Chips
- Raisins
- Real Fruit Strips
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Fig Newtons
- Animal Crackers
- Nilla Wafers
- Eggo Waffles
- Larabar
- Dried Apricots
- Dried Apples
- Crispy Fruit Snacks
- Craisins
- Mini Donuts
- Fruit Gummies
- Fruit by the Foot
Cold Snacks for Your Road Trip
- Gogurt
- Yogurt
- Drinkable Yogurt
- String Cheese
- Cheese Slices for Crackers
- Baby Bell
- Salami
- Pepperoni Slices
- Ham Cubes
- Uncrustables
- Hard-Boiled Eggs
- Olives
- Fruit Smoothie
Produce Aisle Car Snacks
- Carrot Sticks
- Celery Sticks
- Snap Peas
- Mini Peppers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Mandarins (peel ahead)
- Small Apples
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Melon Cubes
- Apple Slices
Homemade Road Trip Snacks
These snacks are good homemade options. You can buy them at the store if you like, but they’re also an easy way to have cheap road trip snacks.
- Slow Cooker Chex Mix from Gimme Some Oven
- Trail Mix
- Cookies
- Perfect Rice Krispie Treats from Cookies and Cups
- Brownies
- Fruit Slices
- Veggie Sticks
- Popcorn
- Muffins
Getting Your Road Trip Snacks to the Kids
Keep all your snacks in the back of your van or the trunk of the car. You can keep the cold things in a cooler until they’re needed. We like to keep a small cooler by the front seat and load it with each day’s cold snacks.
Depending on what you think will work best for your kids, use one of the following ideas to manage your kids’ daily snacks.
How to Pass out the Snacks
Use one of the two options below for passing out snacks to your kids.
- Each day, divide the snacks evenly amongst the kids and give them each their own snacks in a paper sack, lunch bag, or plastic box. OR
- Let the kids pick out their own snacks from the back of the car to place in their own container.
If you’ll be eating snacks that don’t already come in a package, you’ll have to figure out what to put them in. There are so many options to choose from when you’re looking to package up your snacks. Different containers are going to work better for different snacks. These are just a few options.
- Ziploc Snack Bags
- ReZip Stand-up Reusable Snack Bags
- Rubbermaid Take along Containers – these are great
- Canning Jars – work for dry or wet snacks
Related Reading:
Keeping the Cold Road Trip Snacks Cold
Obviously, if you’re going to have some cold road trip snacks, you’ve got to figure out how you’re going to keep them cold. And, you’ve got to consider what space you have available while you’re at it.
If you’re going to be on the road for several days, it’s a good idea to keep a large cooler in the trunk or cargo area and then have a small cooler up front that you can reach for the day’s snacks and drinks. I like the backpack coolers because they’re easy to carry around when you’re sightseeing.
Each day, put your ice blocks in your motel freezer so they’re ready for the next day. These are so much better to use in a small cooler pack, than loose ice.
Managing Trash
Be sure to have some sort of mini trash can or a trash bag on hand to handle all your trash. You’ll want to make sure and gather it up at each rest area or stop along the way and throw it out. Road trip snacks create a little more trash than normal. That’s OK — you’ve got it under control.
I like to have something secured to the headrest because whenever I put one on the floor, it gets knocked over or things don’t actually make it inside.
Here are some great ideas for managing all the trash the kids will be creating.
You could spend an hour at the store trying to pick out all the snacks you’ll need on your trip, but it’s not necessary. I tend to go overboard, and then bring half of them back home from my trip.
Instead, buy enough snacks for just a couple days of your trip and then stop at a grocery store when you run out.
I know these are not the only ideas for kids’ road trip snacks, but it should give you some great ideas to get started.
Let us know in the comments what some of your essential road trip snacks are. Do you prefer homemade road trip snacks? Or, do you prefer to buy your travel snacks?
More Reading in My Family Road Trip Series:
- Family Road Trip Ultimate Guide
- Easy Road Trip Meal Ideas for Families
- Instant Pot Hotel Room Meals
- Family Road Trip Tips – Top 10 Tips
- How to Eat a Healthy Hotel Breakfast
