17 Best Road Trip Snacks for Kids

There are Affiliate Links on this Page that may result in compensation for Family Travel Folio at no additional cost to you. Please read our Disclosure Policy for more information.

Snacks are mandatory when it comes to traveling, but what snacks travel well? 

The best road trip snacks are ones that don’t melt easily, are mostly on the healthier side, and curb that hunger before the hanger sets in.

I’m not a nutritionist, but these snacks are what we pack for our road trips with our girls (ages 4 & 7 at the time of creating this list). My husband and I take road trips with our girls every month. Our weekend road trip distance can often take up to 6 hours to get to our destination.

We’ve gone on road trips with our kids to multiple National Parks, Las Vegas, and Monterey Bay. We’ve driven long distances for snowboarding weekends and dozens of camping trips. As Magic Key holders, we also make the 2-hour drive to Disneyland very often.

It’s amazing what a good road trip snack can do. I’ve had snacks help prevent meltdowns, stop whining, and help keep a positive attitude.

So let’s take a look at my favorite options and narrow down the best road trip snacks for your kids.

(And don’t forget, my girls aren’t babies or toddlers anymore so some of these snacks will need to be bite-sized or not given to your youngest ones)

Best Protein Snacks

With a sugary road trip snack, your kid might ask for another snack 10 minutes later. Protein snacks help them feel full for longer. 

Nuts and dairy are great sources of protein for kids!

1. Kate’s Real Food Energy Bars 

We love Kate’s Bars, and I’m not just saying that as an ambassador of the brand.

I don’t normally like protein bars. Many are pasty and taste like protein powder. 

My husband loves tons of protein bars- he’s not a picky eater like I am. Our girls have been hit-or-miss with protein bars, but most of Kate’s Real Food flavors are approved on their list.

The bars are organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, soy-free, and made with honey. There are 2 servings per regular-size bar, or single-serving mini bars to help refuel, reenergize, and curb that appetite.

There are so many flavors with either peanut butter or almond butter. My favorites are lemon and coconut, mango and coconut, and peanut butter milk chocolate.

We take them in the car as road trip snacks, on planes, on hikes, for camping- you name it! The minis are a perfect size for our kids’ lunches.

2. Non-Perishable Yogurt Pouches

Sometimes your kid isn’t in the mood for a new flavor or chewing a granola bar, so it’s great to go back to a classic: yogurt.

It’s easy to eat with kid-friendly flavors like blueberry and strawberry. We get the GoGo Squeeze Yogurtz pouches because they are shelf-stable. They have 4 grams of protein plus calcium and vitamin D.

You can stick them in the cooler if you want, but they don’t need to be refrigerated. Store them in the cupboard, pack them in your road trip snack bag, and hit the road!

3. String Cheese

This travel snack can be a bit difficult. Some people say string cheese can last up to 2 hours without refrigeration while others say 2 weeks since it’s individually wrapped.

For me, I don’t like strong cheese that’s room temperature. For my girls, one likes string cheese and the other wants nothing to do with it.

If you know your kid likes string cheese, it’s one of the best road trip snacks you can pack. I would just stick it in the cooler and transfer it to the hotel fridge, but that’s up to you and your preferences.

4. Nuts & Trail Mix

Nuts or nut-based trail mix fits easily into travel-size containers. If your kid loves peanuts or almonds, those are great nuts to snack on for an extra protein boost. 

Keep in mind: if your kid is too young to chew nuts or hasn’t tried them yet, don’t pack them. They can be a choking hazard for babies and toddlers or a possible allergy.

My girls don’t like most nuts, but they go crazy over pistachios. 

It’s cheaper to buy pistachios already shelled, but I recommend splurging on pre-shelled pistachios or taking the shells off before your trip. They get very messy.

Stay away from trail mix with chocolate added if it’s going to be a warm-weather road trip because chocolate melts. 

Extra Tip: Always have wet wiped in the car for messy snacks, carsick kids, or any other clean-up necessities.

5. Peanut Butter or Hummus

Peanut butter or hummus is a perfect road trip snack for kids. 

Eat it with a spoon or dip vegetables in it. Carrot sticks, celery, or slices of bell pepper go great with hummus or peanut butter.

We forgot spoons for the travel peanut butter packets, but we had carrots. 

Our girls thought it was so funny to use the carrots as a spoon, and they ended up loving the taste of peanut butter with carrots! Now it’s a road trip staple, and perfect for eating in the car.

The Dollar Tree has small cups of peanut butter or you can use these travel-size peanut butter squeeze packs.

Best Energy Snacks for Kids

If you’re on a long trip, you want your kids to sleep in the car, but you also want them to have energy for your adventures. 

These snacks are great for on-the-go pick-me-ups, minimizing the “I’m hungry” whining between meals. 

Fruits, vegetables, and honey are healthy sources of carbs that give your kid energy.

6. Honey Stingers Waffles 

Honey Stingers Waffles are made with real honey. They are sweet and delicious and our girls can’t get enough of them.

On a snow hike one year, we stopped to snack on a few mini Honey Stinger waffles. The snack gave us all the extra boost we needed to dig us out of a tired, grumpy mood.

The best road trips are full of active adventures. It’s great to have a snack like these for on-the-go fun.

7. Carrots 

Carrots are the best healthy snack for road trips with kids since they are a vegetable that doesn’t have to be refrigerated.

As long as your kids are old enough to eat carrots, I recommend always bringing some with you for a travel snack.

They go great with peanut butter and help balance out other snack options.

8. Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are another great option if you’re in the car. Cut them into long strips and keep them fresh in a car cooler.

Dip the bell peppers into hummus or peanut butter to add some extra protein to your kid’s snack.

Picky eater on your hands? Try the different colors of bell peppers. 

They taste slightly different and it can be made into a game to guess what color your kid is eating.

Fun fact: the reds, oranges, and yellows have the most vitamins.

9. Cuties

Cuties are one of our favorite road trip snacks for kids because they take longer to eat.

You can give your kid one slice at a time to help make it seem like it’s more than one snack.

We use this trick all the time on the road but also while waiting in line at Disneyland.

10. Grapes

Grapes are a road trip food you need to be careful with. It’s best to cut the grapes lengthwise unless you’re sure your kid can handle chewing whole grapes well.

That being said, they are refreshing whether they’ve been in a cooler or not. Grapes are easy to pack and travel with.

Just like the bell peppers, you can get different colors of grapes to mix things up and make snack time on a road trip more exciting.

11. Apples 

Apples travel well and are refreshing, crunchy, and healthy road trip snacks.

If your kid is better at eating slices than the whole apple, then pre-cut them. Add a bit of lemon juice to help the apple slices not brown as quickly.

At ages 7 and 4, our girls love eating the whole apple. It’s a great snack for the care, especially after one of our family hikes.

Best Behavior Reward Snacks for Kids

I have a major sweet tooth my daughters inherited, but I know too much sugar makes them CRANKY. Do yourself a favor and use the candy sparingly so it’s more meaningful and you avoid that sugar-crash attitude.

Also, avoid chocolate. It melts into one big chocolate mess.

12. Skittles or Jelly Beans 

Since candies like Skittles and Jelly Beans have multiple pieces per package, it’s easy to make it a longer-lasting snack.

We try to give candy as an occasional treat instead of a general snack. If your kid is being well-behaved in the car, it’s a fun snack to reward them with.

Predetermine how much candy you’re good with your kids eating on your road trip and think through the timing of when they can eat it.

13. Fruit Snacks

Fruit snacks are a favorite in our house, and also good travel snacks for kids to share or stretch out over time.

They fall into the extra treat category for us since most brands have added sugar and fruit flavoring.

Because our girls don’t eat fruit snacks all the time, they get extra excited when we bring them as a snack on road trips.

Other Snack Ideas

14. Cheerios 

Cheerios go everywhere with us. The regular cheerios are low in fat and are made from whole grains.

It’s the perfect road trip snack for kids because it can work as breakfast on the go or a bite between meals. 

The only problem is they aren’t exactly mess-free snacks. We gave the baby car seat to my sister when our daughter upgraded to a booster seat. When taking it out of our car we found a bucket full of Cheerios!

15. Raisins

One girl likes raisins, one doesn’t. They sure are a convenient travel-size snack for kids though. 

Any dried fruit is a yummy option for younger and older kids, just make sure your little kids are good at chewing them before using them as a car snack.

You can get a whole jar to refill a travel container, or just buy the tiny snack-size boxes.

16. Fruit Pouches

We try to buy fruit pouches that also have vegetables in them. Our girls love them and the pouches are perfect for on-the-go adventures and in the car!

Most brands don’t have to be refrigerated, but it’s good to stick them in your cooler on warm-weather road trips. This makes it more refreshing, plus fruit pouches are great for kids and toddlers!

17. Crackers

There are so many crackers to choose from! We rotate through Goldfish crackers, wheat thins, peanut butter crackers, Triskets, and Ritz crackers. 

You can also get crackers specifically for your baby or toddler. We used to love these teething crackers when our girls were younger.

They are a good car snack for kids but do leave a lot of crumbs behind. Just be ready for that!

Road Trip Drinks for Kids

Water

Water is so important to bring everywhere for everyone.

You might think not drinking as much when you’re stuck in a car for hours will help prevent extra pit stops, but 1) that’s not good for you, and 2) you’re still going to have to make extra pit stops. Might as well stay hydrated.

We have tips on how to encourage kids to drink more water while hiking, but a cool water bottle is the best tip for family road trips.

Electrolytes

Kids don’t need anything other than water for hydration, but after a long day of tough hiking or extra running around, we like to give our girls some electrolyte drinks. 

If you’re not sure what might be okay for your kid to drink, just stick with water and ask your pediatrician for recommendations if you think your family adventures will leave them needing to replenish their electrolytes.

The best electrolyte mix we’ve found is Ultima. If we’re splurging we might get the girls some Gatorade, but Ultima has zero sugar and is our preferred option. Ultima has so many flavors and we all love the taste.

This is coming from someone who usually hates electrolyte powder mixes. Ultima is delicious and has zero sugar with zero carbs.

Road Trip Snack Storage

Reusable zip bags or travel containers are our go-to snack to pack on road trips.

Our favorite is a stackable snack tower we got at Costco. It’s a great way to keep the snacks organized and have a little dish for them to eat out of.

Always have a snack bag and water bottles for the car ride separate from your trip’s food. This way you know what you can eat now without digging into the snacks for your vacation too early.

Plus, it’s a good opportunity to make the road trip snacks for your kids stand out and have something special on the long car ride.

Road Trip Snacks for Kids Summary

What are the best road trip snacks for kids?

Snacks that have a good source of protein like Kate’s Real Food mini energy bars or non-perishable yogurt pouches are great for kids on long car rides. It might be a few hours until the next meal, so the protein will help curb their hunger.

Sometimes an energy booster is needed. Fruit and veggies are easy road trip snacks. There’s only so much napping a kid can do in the car, so a treat with carbs will keep kids happy.

Cheerios are always my go-to snack for road trips or any trip and are good at any time. 

Fruit snacks work great for rewarding good behavior. We try to avoid too much sugar so it’s appreciated when they do get a goody, and there’s less chance of a cranky sugar crash or upset tummy.

What snacks will you pack for your next road trip?