Travel Chores for Kids

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I remember the first few trips traveling with kids and wondering how anyone possibly manages all the kids and all the needs and all the STUFF. There’s a lot, lol. But everyone’s right that it really does get easier with practice – and especially when the kids get a bit older and are able to help out.

Here are some travel chores and tasks that we have our kids do to make it easier for the whole family when we go on trips!

Kids Travel Chore #1: Researching Destinations

Whenever possible, we try to have our kids research a bit in advance and share with the family. If we’re visiting multiple countries, we may assign each child a country, with the younger ones doing it with a buddy. If we’re only going to one country, we may assign different “areas” – such as language, food, historic sites, etc. It’s a fun way for us all to learn a bit about where we’re going before we arrive!

Kids Travel Chore #2: Packing Themselves

Each of my kids, starting from about the age of 3, packs or helps pack their own items. I fill out a visual packing list for each child (here’s my FREE visual packing list printable) with the number of each item, and provide them with a packing cube(s). If we’re traveling with only backpacks, they put their packing cubes and other items directly into their backpacks, or if we’re using suitcases, they put their packing cubes directly into the suitcase that we set out in a common space like the living room.

Gear Needed:

Favorite packing cubes
Backpacks – Here are the ones we love by age:
- Age 2-5
- Ages 5-10
- Age 10+ THIS or THIS
Favorite suitcase HERE and HERE

Kids Travel Chore #3: Carrying Their Stuff

We personally try hard not to pack an extra bag for a child that is not capable of carrying it for at least SOME of the time. So for instance, if we have a baby or a 1 year old that is just barely walking, I would rather not have an extra bag (especially a small one that doesn’t hold much) because it’s just one more thing to keep track of, and I’d rather have the stuff contained in my bag instead. However, as soon as our kids are capable of carrying their own stuff even for short periods, we start giving them that opportunity. Even if they aren’t successful 100% of the time, it builds their travel “muscles” and gives them practice with keeping track of their things and helping out in the family.

Our current 2.5 year old just started carrying her own backpack and it is so cute! It holds just her packing cube with her clothing and nothing else – that keeps it as lightweight as possible and the bag itself is a decent size for her body. She was honestly SO proud of herself and carried it probably 70% of the time. The rest of the time, we simply hooked it onto the stroller with one of these big carabiners, or one of her siblings helped out by carrying it along with them. They honestly get GREAT at it with practice and my kids ages 5+ all carry their things 100% of the time with no issue.

Kids Travel Chore #4: Keeping Track of Something for the Family

As my kids get older and are a) capable of carrying a bit more weight and b) get a little more responsible, we start to give them one “family” item to carry and keep track of. For one child, this might be the toiletries case that holds all our toothbrushes, toothpaste, nail clippers, etc. For another child, it might be the mesh bag with all our chargers and other electronics. For another, it might be the tablet or a younger sibling’s booster seat (if they’re still too little to add in more weight to their pack). It’s nice to spread these things out amongst the fam and a great benefit of a million kids. 😉

Kids Travel Chore #5: Navigation

If we’re going somewhere that relies on public transit, we love having our kids help us navigate! We’ll either give them instructions on what to look for, or they can look up directions on one of our phones. This is also true for walking directions – we’ll often have one of them navigate while we push the stroller, or vice versa.

Kids Travel Chore #6: Making Purchases

I love giving my kids the chance to talk to strangers and speak up when making a purchase. Sometimes, they’ll need to ask the price (and occasionally will even negotiate!), and other times, they simply need to take the item and pay a set price.

Kids Travel Chore #7: Gathering Family Items When Re-Packing

Similarly, we usually give our kids the task of helping to gather those things when we’re packing up either to go home or to another spot. For instance, we’ll send a kid or two around the place we’re staying to grab all the adapters (this is our favorite one with all its plugs and it works all around the world) and check all the outlets, or to retrieve toothbrushes and other items from different bathrooms. We’ll still do a quick sweep at the end but it makes it way faster to have everyone pitch in to gather and pack stuff up.

Kids Travel Chore #8: Tidying A Place Before Leaving

Of course, if we’re staying in a hotel, this is less needed, but we still try to show our kids how to be good guests by doing things like gathering all the towels and putting them in one spot, or taking the sheets off the bed in a home rental. Some places may have more requirements like washing dishes or running the laundry, so we always try to get them involved in doing those things, as well! We find it’s easier to fully pack up before doing these things and, if possible, to get the luggage out of the house so clothing/stuffed animals/etc don’t get caught up in bedding.

Kids Travel Chore #9: Laundry & Putting Away

To me, the trip isn’t over until everything is washed, folded, and put away! Our kids have the privilege of travel, so we also expect them to help finish travel. We usually have everyone put their packing cubes directly in the laundry area, where I wash everything. Then everyone folds and puts away their own items (the younger two kids get help with putting stuff away). Everyone also puts their backpacks back where they’re stored. This makes it WAY less overwhelming for me when we return home and means we’re able to unpack quickly and get resesttled.