I’ll be honest, all my kids want to do this year after an entire fall and winter of being stuck at home is travel. I don’t blame them! Not only do I want them to have ready-to-go travel bags and kits for fun but also, if you have been following along on Instagram, you know that we had to EVACUATE (twice) in the last 6 months. The first time for wildfires within 4 miles of the house and the second for an ice storm that dropped so many trees we had no power for a week. So, building Kids Travel Kits this year was an absolute must for me.
Kids Travel Kits
I can’t believe how even after evacuating once before, we were so unprepared the second time. WHY ON EARTH do you kids not have “Go-Bags?!” was the question I kept shouting aloud in my head as we were trying to find toothbrushes and pack shampoo as fast as we could. I mean, we adults have at least some sort of pre-packed travel essentials. My boys do not. Which I now understand to be because they never really go anywhere without us. Overnights and sleepovers are not a thing for us at this age yet. Sure, we’ve had a few sleepovers with Grandmas, but we also had weeks to prepare for those and pack ahead of time. We’ve also packed them in one bag to share mostly in the past. I’ve decided that the boys officially need their own Kids Travel Kit.
Easter Basket Swap
The timing for me is actually perfect for this idea… {I’m pretty proud of myself really} I’m swapping out the whole Easter Basket with this Duffel Bag that has their name on it. Really, my mom is the BIG Easter Queen around here {I mean she owns the bunny farm after all} so we’ve never emphasized the basket here anyway. I typically spin it to be a Spring Basket with either a Garden Theme like when they were toddlers in Toddler School or a Spring Cleaning and Earth Day type of thing. Last year, 2020 was the first year I even bought them little Easter Baskets because thanks to the quarantine hot topic in April, we didn’t get to go to my Mom’s for Easter at all.
Again, I’m pretty proud of myself for coming up with this plan, to surprise them with massive travel kits as Easter Baskets… The one thing they want an endless supply of is Sleepover Time with their cousin. Especially since their Aunt and Uncle have housed us for weeks through two evacuations this year. They practically think it’s their second home anyway.
If you’re set in your Easter Basket giving traditions you can still make this Kids Travel Kit for a Spring Break Surprise Gift, Kindergarten Graduation present, Christmas Eve Gift for kids or for a birthday. It doesn’t have to be Easter Themed at all to work. Your kids will love it any time of year they receive it, I promise!
So… let’s get to the goods!
What is in the Bag?
First and foremost, let us cover the BAG itself. As a child, I loved everything with my name on it, plain and simple. So when finding a bag, I jumped onto Amazon and searched for “Customized Duffle Bag” and these babies popped up.
CUSTOM DUFFLE BAG
For only $20 including personalization they were a steal!
I love the size that makes them easy to carry for kids. Fun Fact, when toddlers become kids at age 6 and 7 their clothes get dramatically bigger and take up more space. This is a bonus reason I wanted them to graduate into having their own bags. Plus, I strongly feel like, as a sibling myself that you just need space and room that is only yours when traveling. Maybe that is just me, but my kids now get to benefit from my quirk.
Cash’s current favorite color is Yellow, so I got him the grey bag with yellow embroidery. I’m sure that this bag will grow up with him for at least a few years, especially the “Diddy Bag” that hangs which is just like his dad’s. Both boys have always admired their dad’s travel essentials. More on that to come… with my little boys becoming mini-men.
DIDDY BAG
I obviously started my search for a bag that could hang on a towel rod and not take up a bunch of counter space. Young kids don’t have a whole lot of toiletries at this age, but I still wanted something that wasn’t cheap. I want them to be quality so they last a nice long time. Eventually, I hope, we’ll all be traveling again soon! This Mountain Top Toiletry Bag was exactly what I wanted and for only $10!
DIRTY LAUNDRY & WET BAG
Okay, so these next two are a #boymom necessity. Really, all moms want their kids to have these things in their travel bags: A Dirty Clothes Bag and a Wet Bag. Yes, kids always have something wet to bring home… soaking pants from the beach, a run-in with a friendly muddy dog at the park, an actual wet bathing suit, etc.
LARGE WET BAGS: These Wet Bags come in a set of 2 and are only $10. They’re about 17″ x 12″ and fold up nice and tight with a strong zipper and inner liner.
DIRTY LAUNDRY BAGS: These Dirty Laundry Bags come in a set of 2 for only $12 and have a nice drawstring closure. Plus, they fold up into this zipper pouch when not in use so they take up very little space at the bottom of the duffel bag. Also, I just liked how they were cute. My kids are not motivated to put laundry in any correct place. So I’m hoping, “The GREY BAG WITH THE DUDE ON IT!” will translate when I shout it across the house.
These are the four main pieces of the Kids Travel Bag.
I’ve made an Amazon List for Traveling with Kids. Here you can find all of my kit supplies and more.
In the next post, I’ll give you the full tour for the rest of the kit and some of the Easter Essentials, along with my Dollar Tree haul and more!
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