Packing for Kids

Going away, what do we take, how much do we take, do we take toys, am I missing something, how do I store it? Oh yeah, the stress of it all is real. So while we are getting ready for our next adventure I thought this might be a useful article to write.

My advice, keep it simple. If your children are old enough, involve them in the process, it saves fights later. (As you can see in the photo above, our children last packed their own boxes). BTW boxes are just Sistema boxes bought at half price from Woolworths.

We are lucky, we have a big van with lots of storage but we still like to keep items to a minimum. The children each have one box of clothes (size of box will depend on size of your child's clothes) and then they are allowed to take one cuddle toy and one play toy each. Stored in the van we have a few games/puzzles, stories, beach toys and colouring for those rainy indoor days, so they don't need much. Depending on where we are going we may also include bikes.

Also we don't allow our children to take their Ipads, the idea is to get outdoors and explore and make our own fun. I do take mine for those absolute emergency times where a child might need some time out to calm down etc, but I only have puzzles, no games. We very rarely get it out though as they are usually too busy and totally forget about them.

So clothes wise, what do we pack? From our experience it's always good to be prepared for all weather, and to save us time thinking we actually have specific camping clothes which stay in the van permanently. We just wash as we go, or once we return home, then repack it straight back into the box. This means next time we are ready to go and no thinking needed. Below is our list (keep in mind our children are still young so sometimes need more than one set of clothes a day, older children would need less).

• 4 x underwear

• 4 x socks

• 2 x singlets

• 1 x summer pjs

• 1 x winter pjs

• 4 x t-shirts

• 2 x long sleeve t-shirts

• 2 x leggings

• 2 x tracksuit pants (3 for our son because he doesn't have leggings)

• 2 x shorts (3 for our son because he doesn't have dresses)

• 1 x winter dress

• 1 x summer dress

• 1 x jumper

• 1 x warm jacket

• 1 x vest

• 1 x rain jacket

We also have bathers, beanies and gloves that live in a cupboard in the van. Shoes wise we have sneakers, thongs and slippers that also live in the van and depending on weather, we do sometimes chuck in a pair of gumboots for the puddle jumping days.

This may seem like a lot when its written down but it actually isn't once packed and apart from the jackets, it all fits in the box. When you have little ones that sometimes fall in puddles or have little accidents you need an extra set of clothes and can't always get stuff dry for the next day. If you don't have the storage space or you need to keep weight limits down for towing then only pack for the weather that you are travelling in, so your clothes list will halve.

The boxes are kept on the end of each of their beds and they can choose their own outfits for the day and, well, because we have identical twins its even easier for us to remember whose clothes are whose (especially for dad).

I hope this helps someone else be prepared. Happy packing!