When my oldest was three I learned she was not only capable of helping me pack – she wanted to! Now, little helpers at times, make tasks take a bit longer and when packing for a family of five, adding to the process is not the goal. Packing lists I found online were often cuter than they were helpful, so in an attempt to help you involve your kids in the excitement of getting ready for a trip – I have put together a SIMPLE packing list.

Mine is laminated and I fill in the “How Many?” column with a whiteboard maker for each trip. My kids then know where exactly to lay out the items in our hallway upstairs, each item in order according to the list, my eldest has the top row, and so on. This did take some training but now with a 6, 4 and 2 year old, I can send them up with their packing list on a clip board, a whiteboard marker in hand and they will lay out all items in order and mark off each item as the go.

How to have your Young Kids ACTUALLY HELP PACKING!

Fill in blue boxes with kid’s names
Update “How Many?”
Show your kid’s exactly where you would like them to layout their items
Explain how to mark off items and to just leave blank if the cannot find the item (hopefully saving yourself a few unnecessary questions)
Get back to your own packing!

kids-packing-list Download