TL;DR:
Holiday travel with kids is mostly a logistics problem, and logistics problems can be planned for. Give every kid their own color-coded packing cubes, let them help pack, hand them a small job on travel day, and keep snacks, a change of clothes, and a clean/dirty cube within arm's reach. Wrap gifts at your destination, make your bags easy to spot, and leave a little room in the schedule for the unplanned stuff. That's usually where the good stories come from.
In This Article:
Before You Go: Packing Tips for Parents
The holidays are some of the busiest travel days of the year, and kids multiply everything: more bags, more snacks, more ways for the schedule to slip. The good news is that most of the chaos is predictable, which means most of it can be planned for. The tips below come from our own holiday packing guides and from Eagle Creek ambassadors who travel with their kids year-round, by plane, by car, and by camper. They've learned what's worth packing, what's worth skipping, and how to keep everyone in decent spirits until you pull into the driveway.
Give every kid their own color
The most common system we hear from families who travel a lot is also the simplest: one packing cube color per person. Some of our ambassadors use different colored Pack-It® cubes to keep each family member's clothes separate, so nobody digs through a sibling's pile looking for socks.
Color-coding also pays off at your destination. Staying in a relative's guest room or a shared cabin? Each family member's cube becomes their dresser drawer, and getting dressed stops being a family-wide search party.
Pack with your kids, not for them
Packing is a real travel skill, and the holidays are a good time to start teaching it. If your kids are old enough to have their own bag, show them how to organize their own bag. If they're still sharing your suitcase, let them fold their clothes into their own cubes.
For younger kids, turn the packing list into a scavenger hunt. For older ones, it can be a quiet half hour of one-on-one time in an otherwise hectic week. Either way, kids who packed their own bag tend to know what's in it, which saves you a few "where's my…" questions later.
Keep a clean/dirty cube within reach
Kids generate laundry at a pace that defies physics, and holiday travel adds spilled cocoa and gravy to the mix. A clean/dirty cube keeps messy or wet items separate from everything else, and it earns its spot in a diaper bag or carry-on, not just your checked bag.
Staying with family for a week or more? Ask about using their washer and pack a packable laundry sack so dirty clothes have somewhere to go between loads.
Pack snacks like they're essential gear
Because they are. Holiday travel days come with delays, long security lines, and gates where every outlet is taken. Give snacks their own small cube or pouch so they're easy to find, easy to ration, and not crushed under everything else. Some of our ambassadors also use cubes outside of travel days entirely, for diaper bag organization and keeping kids' snacks contained in a day pack or beach bag.
Pack light on the way there
You'll almost always come home with more than you left with, especially in December. Tuck a collapsible bag into your luggage. It takes up almost no room on the way there and gives the new toys somewhere to ride home.
On the Way: Travel-Day Tips
Give kids a job
Holding the snacks. Keeping the backseat tidy. Spotting the gate number on the departure board. A small, real responsibility keeps kids engaged and tells them they're part of the crew, not cargo. It's also how confident young travelers get made: one small job at a time.
Keep your hands free
You'll be holding a hand, a boarding pass, and probably a pie. A waist pack or crossbody bag keeps your phone, IDs, and the emergency fruit snacks a zip away without anything to set down and forget. A travel backpack does the same job for bigger loads.
Bring low-stimulation entertainment
Travel days wear everyone out, and kids feel it most. A tablet buys quiet in the short term, but a full day of screens can leave kids wired and cranky by the time you land. Mix in calmer options: coloring books, an audiobook, a round of I Spy, or a deck of cards to teach older kids solitaire.
Protect the nap
A skipped nap is how a meltdown starts, and that goes for tweens as much as toddlers. Pack a soft eye mask and ear plugs to help kids rest on the plane or in the car, plus a familiar blanket or travel pillow. Everyone arrives in better shape, including you.
The Holiday Part
Hide the gifts in plain sight
If you're traveling with presents, dedicate one large packing cube to gifts and nothing else. It keeps small items protected and in one place, and an opaque cube keeps them hidden from curious eyes in the back seat. Leave the wrapping for later: wrapped gifts may need to be opened at security, so bring gift bags or flat-packed paper and wrap once you arrive, or simply purchase wrapping materials at your destination. For anything big or fragile, ship it ahead.
Make your bags easy to spot
Picture the baggage carousel after a long holiday flight, kids running on fumes, and a parade of black suitcases. A brightly colored bag or a luggage tag or tracker turns that into a quick grab instead of a long wait. Even better: skip the carousel when you can. A carry-on-only trip means fewer bags to track and none that can miss the celebration.
Leave room for the unscripted
Holiday schedules fill up fast: dinners, parties, cousins, church services, the annual light display. Plan the anchors and leave some white space around them. Some of our ambassadors like to book a few destinations loosely and leave the rest open, and they say a lot of their best moments come from staying open to whatever turns up. Before kids, a roadside dinosaur attraction was never on their list. Now it's a highlight.
Things will go sideways at some point. A flight gets delayed, a kid gets carsick, the snack cube runs dry an hour early. Our ambassadors’ advice to other families is to find your own travel rhythm and not wait for a perfect plan, because there isn't one. You might regret a purchase, but you never regret a trip.
Kids' Carry-On Checklist
Everything you'd want within arm's reach if the gate agent announces a two-hour delay:
- Snacks (more than you think)
- Refillable water bottle
- A full change of clothes per kid, in their own color cube
- Clean/dirty cube for spills & accidents
- Wipes, tissues & hand sanitizer
- Diapers & supplies for little ones
- Any medications, plus a small first-aid kit
- Coloring books, cards, or an audiobook
- Headphones & a charged tablet
- Eye mask, ear plugs & a small blanket or travel pillow
- A favorite stuffed animal or comfort item
- Warm layer for chilly planes & cold arrivals
For the full grown-up list, from winter layers to getting your house ready before you leave, see our Ultimate Holiday Travel Packing List.
