As parents we know that having snacks with us at all times is a must! When traveling with toddlers or flying with toddlers, the last thing we need is toddlers who are unhappy and hungry! A selection of well-thought out toddler travel snacks will save the day!
In this post, we begin with the best travel snacks for toddlers that have always worked well for our family. Then, below we look at some specific toddler travel situations and share our favorite toddler airplane snacks, road trip snacks for toddlers, and toddler travel food at your destination.
The best advice we can give about toddler travel snacks is to keep the food familiar, keep it healthy-ish and try to keep it low in sugar (though there’s nothing wrong with a little treat!).
If your baby is starting to enjoy solid foods, read our post on managing baby food while traveling to get all our tips on packing baby food for travel. Some of these toddler travel snacks will work for babies who are experienced with solid food or for families who are doing baby-led weaning.
This post contains compensated links.
Best Toddler Snacks for Traveling
Here is a quick list of my favorite travel snacks for toddlers, which would also include the types of foods we would buy for snacks once we arrive at our destination.
Cheerios are my go-to airplane snack for toddlers. They’re familiar, low-mess, and easy to portion into a snack cup for flights, road trips, and days out. I pack a small container for takeoff and keep extra bags in my carry on for later.
- Familiar for picky eaters
- Easy to portion with snack cups
- Minimal crumbs and stickiness
- Contains oat dust if crushed
- Not allergen free for all families
For road trips and travel days, single-serve Goldfish packs are easy to hand off and help control portions. Another of my kids' favorite travel snacks, Goldfish are less messy than chips, keep toddlers happy, and are sold almost everywhere in the US.
- Individually wrapped convenience
- Kid-approved flavor
- Travel friendly size for flights
- Contains dairy and gluten
- Crumbs if the bag gets crushed
These TSA-friendly pouches are lifesavers when hunger hits at the gate. My tip is to try and keep one or two cold for a refreshing treat and pack spares in checked bags for later in the trip.
- No spoon needed for airports
- Resealable cap for later
- Shelf stable in carry on
- Can be messy if squeezed
- Counts as a liquid for airplane security
My kids LOVED Gerber Puffs! These meltable puffs are great for long family flights because they take time to eat without creating a sticky mess. I pour a handful into a snack cup to make them last longer.
- Designed to dissolve quickly
- Easy for little hands to grasp
- Multiple flavors to rotate
- Can spill without a snack cup
When I want a special airplane snack, I pack Yogis. They’re portionable, lightly sweet, and feel exciting without being sticky.
- Kid-loved treat option
- Portion into small containers
- Contains dairy
- Can crumble if squeezed
Individually wrapped fruit strips pack flat, don’t smear, and satisfy the sweet tooth. They’re ideal for layovers or quick snacks between activities.
- Individually wrapped
- Flat and packable
- No added sugar options
- Can be chewy for younger toddlers
- Sticky if held in warm hands
I like these for long flights because they’re light, naturally sweet, and don’t melt. The single-serve bags slip into any pocket of your personal item.
- Single-ingredient fruit
- Ultra light for carry ons
- Kid-friendly flavors
- Can crumble into small flakes
- Less filling than bars
Another of my kids' favorite snacks, these bite-size minis are perfect for snack cups and hotel breakfasts. They’re school-friendly in many districts and travel well in a daypack.
- Small, toddler-friendly pieces
- Variety to avoid boredom
- Can be sweet for some families
- Crumbs if crushed in bag
When I don’t have time to bake, these bars are an easy back-up for planes and car days. They fold veggies and whole grains into a soft bar toddlers actually eat.
- Soft texture for little mouths
- Veggie-forward formula
- Easy to split for smaller portions
- Can smush if sat on
These soft-baked whole wheat fig bars are my go-to chewy bar for flights and road trips. They pack flat, do not smear little hands, and the twin-pack format makes portioning easy for toddlers.
- Soft texture that is easy for toddlers
- Individually wrapped twin packs for portion control
- Vegan and non GMO with pantry friendly shelf life
- Contains gluten and wheat
- Can smush if packed under heavy items
In addition to the recommended toddler travel snacks above, here are more of my favorites:
- Fresh fruit or berries (cut grapes/blueberries/raspberries or strawberries)
- Homemade tortilla rolls (cream cheese or peanut butter)
- Cheese
- Toddler mum mums
- Avocado
- Bread
- Mini muffins (these were our favorite carrot zucchini mini muffins)
- Sliced cucumbers
- Red peppers
- Raisins
- Crackers or pretzels
- Rice cakes
- PB sandwiches (banana or jam) cut small
- Ham and cream cheese rolls
- Ham and cheese sandwiches
- Yogurt or yogurt tubes
- Banana oat bars (the Quick and Easy Fruity Bars on this page)
- Cold pasta
- Trail mix or peanuts/raisin mix
- Cooked vegetables
While we believe these all make excellent toddler travel snacks, we urge you to substitute any of our suggestions for options that your toddler loves. For example, our toddler loved cucumber. If your toddler loves grape tomatoes, substitute those in!
Toddler Travel Snacks TIPS
What About Fresh Fruit and Veggies?
Also, while some people may say to stay away from fresh fruit for toddler plane snacks, we think it makes the perfect easy healthy toddler snacks. It just takes a little more thought and preparation.
Can I Bring Nuts on a Plane?
What about nuts on as airplane snacks for toddlers? While nuts are technically allowed on airplanes, the airlines no longer hand them out. If someone is severely allergic to nuts, the cabin crew may request that no nuts be eaten on the plane. We recommend keeping nuts as travel snacks for toddlers as a backup (rather than the main component) or not for the airplane at all.
Bring Extras of Their Favorites
Finally, think about whether you want to bring extra snacks in your checked luggage to have while on your trip. You never know when you might need a stash of familiar toddler travel snacks, especially if you are traveling somewhere exotic!
As a final note, these toddler travel snacks are pretty easy to get anywhere we travel. While they might not always be exactly the same as at home, local grocery stores in most countries will have a version of these items.
Toddler Snack Containers
When traveling with a toddler, we highly recommend packing a few different toddler snack containers for travel. Our favorite toddler snack cup is the Munchkin Snack Catcher, but we also packed other containers that were more useful for packing different kinds of toddler travel food.
We’d also throw in a plastic plate, cup, fork and spoon to make meal times easier (or one of these silicone place mats).
As you’ll see in the images throughout this post, we have used a wide variety of toddler snack containers on our family vacations. After finishing this post, I encourage you to read our post on our favorite toddler snack containers for travel.
Best Toddler Airplane Snacks
Probably the easiest snacks for toddlers on planes are ready-to-eat snacks. While you may not love them for at home, they do make traveling so much easier.
All of the toddler travel snacks on our list are mostly mess-free. Obviously, some toddlers will find a way to make a mess out of any snack. If you have one of those toddlers (we do!) then just adjust your toddler plane snacks to avoid the messiest of the foods!
An example of toddler friendly snacks that I might pack for a trip are: mini muffins that contain a bunch of vegetables (I made these all the time and the whole family gobbled them up), a container of fresh fruit like cut grapes or blueberries, a toddler snack container with cheerios and a few granola bars stuffed in my bag. I might add in a few fruit pouches too depending on how long the flight was.
Snacks for toddler on airplanes should be easy to pack and remain relatively mess free. Sandwiches can work if you know you’ll be on the plane over lunch and don’t want to depend on airplane food (which my toddler would always turn his nose up at – except for the bread).
If we are being perfectly honest, toddler plane snacks like blueberries and cheerios are our favorite. We would also include other items like cut grapes or puffs in this list.
The reason they make such great snacks for toddlers on airplanes is because with the right toddler snack cup, they will take a while to eat. Making snack time an activity and eating up (pun intended) some of that time wondering how to entertain your toddler on the flight!
Best Road Trip Snacks for Toddlers
When planning your toddler road trip snacks, you have more options. It’s easier to pack a small cooler and fill it with items like yogurt and cheese. When on a road trip with a toddler, you also have the option of pulling over and having a snack outside of the car.
We don’t recommend feeding your toddler road trip snacks if you can’t fully see your toddler. If you are going to feed your toddler in the car, it’s best to give your toddler foods that dissolve and be able to trust that your toddler won’t be putting too much in their mouth.
Otherwise, it’s worth the effort for one parent to spend a little time in the back to keep an eye on little kids eating on road trips.
For road trip snacks, we like to prepare a bento box style lunch (these are great containers for this). For toddler road trip snacks, packing items like cubed cheese, carrot sticks, apple slices and even some small cut up pieces of meat work well. We might also put in a PBJ sandwich or a tortilla wrap. We also like to pack mini muffins for road trip snacks for toddlers.
None of these toddler travel snacks will make a huge mess, if your toddler can hold the snack container on their lap or on a travel tray. Food pouches are also an easy way to give your toddler a snack in the car.
Toddler Travel Food At Your Destination
If you’ve ever been concerned about a picky eater when traveling, just know that you can keep your toddler travel food fairly simple. While eating at restaurants, order something familiar to your toddler (like pizza or pasta). You can always share some of your own food if your toddler shows an interest.
As a family who’s traveled to many places with toddlers, we can say from experience that it can get challenging when you have a toddler who won’t eat anything.
When traveling with a toddler who doesn’t want to try new foods, stick to simple and familiar foods. Our absolute go-to for this was omelettes or scrambled eggs. Both are pretty easy to find and/or cook in your rental apartment.
Some easy dinner ideas for travel food for toddlers that we use often are:
- Scrambled eggs with steamed vegetables on the side
- Pasta with sausage and vegetables
- Cheese quesadillas with avocado on the side
For lunches, sandwiches were always the easiest go to if we didn’t plan on eating out. We don’t have any allergies to contend with, so peanut butter with either jam or banana was an easy choice.
If we were traveling to a country where peanut better wasn’t as easily accessible, we’d make ham and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes using a soft cheese like Laughing Cow or cream cheese was the best option to pair with ham.
14 Tips for Packing Plane Snacks for Toddlers
Here are few more tips to packing toddler travel snacks for airplanes:
1. Look into TSA Rules
From the TSA website, you can bring formula, breastmilk and juice in reasonable quantities (that’s more than the 3.4 ounce allowance) in your carry-on luggage. You will need to remove them and have them screened separately.
This goes for food pouches too. While allowed in reasonable quantities, expect that you will need to remove them to have them screened separately.
2. Pack Wipes
Pack plenty of wipes in a durable wipes container. From wiping down the tray tables to cleaning up after your toddler, you’ll be glad you packed plenty of wipes.
3. Take Extra Precautions with Fresh Fruit or Vegetables
It’s rare you can bring fresh fruit and vegetables into another country and should avoid it all together. If you pack fresh fruit, plan to eat it all or throw it out on the plane so you don’t deal with customs.
4. Keep Original Containers
Leave food in the original containers where possible. This makes it easier when going through security or customs.
5. Keep Food Organized and Together
Pack all your food together, so it’s easy to access, well organized and easy to pull out at security. I like to pack all the snacks in a large ziplock bag. This also helps to keep them from getting lost in my bag or squished at the bottom.
6. Minimize the Sugar Intake
Look for low sugar toddler snacks, especially for snacks for toddlers on airplanes. The last thing you need on a plane is a toddler who has had too much sugar! Especially if you were hoping to get your toddler to sleep on the plane.
7. Leave Extra Messy Snack Ideas Behind
Avoid those extra messy snacks! Yogurt tubes can get messy with toddlers, as can food pouches if they squeeze them when they aren’t in their mouth. Extra crumbly foods and cereal bars can leave a mess all over the seat as well. Bananas, though great toddler snacks, aren’t a favorite for plane because no matter how careful I am, they still end up getting smushed.
8. Choose Easy to Pack Toddler Snacks
Easy to pack snacks like dried fruit and cheerios will make packing that much easier. While we always liked having mini muffins, some times we just didn’t have the time to do that extra baking.
9. Spill Proof Containers are a Must
Spill proof containers not only keep food from leaking in your bag, they also allow you to give your toddler some independence (without having to be constantly picking up toddler snacks of the floor).
10. Ready-to-Eat Snacks Are Worth It
While you may prefer to give only fresh fruit and vegetables at home, prepared foods are easy to bring on the plane. Toddlers will enjoy them and you can see it as an activity to occupy your toddler, especially for snacks that take a while to eat like puffs or yogurt snacks.
11. Bring a Mix of Travel Snacks
Bring a mix of snacks. You can offer your toddler the option of a bag of grapes or Cheerios in a spill proof cup. Toddlers love to graze on food, so having a mix of snacks will help get you through the whole flight.
12. Pack Some Familiar Travel Snacks
While as adults we love to try to new foods and visit new places, toddlers like things to be familiar. That’s why we always recommend keeping bedtimes familiar to help get babies and toddlers to sleep on vacation.
The same goes for food. While you’ll likely be able to get your toddler to try some new foods on your trip, you should also have some familiar snacks and travel food.
13. Pack Extra Snacks for Toddlers
You never know when you’ll encounter flight delays. Always pack more snacks then you think you’ll need.
14. Let Your Toddler Carry Some Snacks
Toddlers love to be independent. You can always a pack a couple of easy snacks, like a granola bar or cheerios in a snack container, in your toddlers travel backpack.
Don’t miss our toddler carry on packing list (with printable)!
My Toddler Coloring Book
I’ve created a coloring book to help your toddler become a happy little traveler! My First Flight Coloring Book features 32 fun, easy-to-color illustrations, introducing young children to every step of a travel day—so they know what to expect before they even board the plane. A toddler who understands flying is much more likely to be calm, confident, and cooperative in the air. Get your copy on Amazon today!
Found this post useful? Share it with your friends!
This post was written & edited by:
Celine Brewer is the owner of Baby Can Travel. Not only does she have years of experience traveling with babies & toddlers, but she's helped millions of new parents travel with their babies and toddlers for over a decade. In addition to writing on her baby travel blog, she has shared her expertise on traveling with a baby or toddler by contributing to articles about traveling with a baby with the Washington Post, USA Today, the Lonely Planet magazine and Pregnancy & Newborn magazine.
Celine also writes about family travel on the site FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her passion about her home and travel to Banff National Park and area on their site TravelBanffCanada.com.