X Things You Need When Travelling With Kids

Towing your home around the country with kids on board changes everything. You need to keep them entertained across thousand-kilometre driving days, keep the peace in a space smaller than most bedrooms, and manage schooling, sleep, and screen time all at once. The gear you pack makes the difference between a smooth big lap and a stressful one.

Here are the things families actually need when travelling long-term with kids, based on what works on the road rather than what looks good in a catalogue.

1. Screens and offline entertainment

Anyone who tells you to travel screen-free with kids for a year hasn’t done it. On long driving legs across the Nullarbor or up the Stuart Highway, screens are the single best tool you have. The key is loading them up before you leave mobile coverage, because you’ll spend plenty of days with no signal at all.

Download movies, shows, and audiobooks onto tablets while you have decent internet. A cheap tablet each avoids the endless “it’s my turn” arguments. Pair them with kids’ headphones so the front seat stays sane, and pack a decent power bank so a flat battery doesn’t ruin a six-hour drive.

Balance screens with old-school options. Card games, travel-sized board games, sticker books, and colouring keep hands busy at camp when you’d rather they weren’t glued to a device. Magnetic games are worth the extra dollars because pieces don’t scatter across the van floor at the first corrugation.

2. A workable schooling setup

If your kids are school-aged, distance education or homeschooling comes on the trip with you. You need a dedicated spot to work, a way to store books and materials, and enough internet to submit work and join the occasional online lesson.

A folding table and a couple of camp chairs create a schooling station outside when the weather’s good. Inside, the van’s dinette usually doubles as the classroom. Keep each child’s workbooks in a labelled zip folder or storage tub so mornings don’t start with a hunt for the maths book.

Internet is the sticking point. A phone plan with a generous data allowance and a signal booster will cover most schooling needs, but if you’re relying on daily uploads, look into a dedicated data setup so schoolwork doesn’t eat your entertainment data.

3. Sleeping arrangements that hold up

Everyone sleeps better when the beds are sorted. Bunk vans are the obvious choice for families, but plenty of people make it work with a rooftop tent, a swag for older kids, or a fold-out setup in the annexe.

Whatever the configuration, invest in decent bedding. Kids feel the cold more than adults, and a night in the Flinders Ranges in July drops to near zero. Warm sleeping bags rated to at least 0°C, a spare blanket each, and a small nightlight go a long way. Blackout options matter too, because caravan park lights and early sunrises will have little ones up at 5am otherwise.

4. Outdoor and downtime gear

Kids need to burn energy after a day in the car. The families who cope best are the ones who can turn any camp into a playground. Scooters and bikes are the top pick here, because most caravan parks and free camps have space for kids to ride, and it wears them out before dinner.

Round it out with a footy or soccer ball, a bucket and spade for beach camps, a kite, and fishing rods if you’re heading up the coast. A cheap inflatable pool is a lifesaver through the top end in the dry season when it hits 35°C by mid-morning.

5. Storage and organisation

Space is the enemy in a van full of kids. Every toy, book, and shoe has to have a home or the whole place turns to chaos within a week. Collapsible storage tubs, hanging shoe organisers on cupboard doors, and mesh bags for toys keep things findable.

Give each child their own tub or drawer for clothes and personal bits. It teaches them to manage their own gear and stops the endless “where’s my jumper” question. Label everything, because two kids’ identical drink bottles will otherwise cause daily disputes.

6. Safety and first aid

You’ll be a long way from a hospital more often than not, so a proper first aid kit is non-negotiable. Stock it for kids specifically: children’s paracetamol and ibuprofen, a thermometer, plenty of bandaids, antiseptic, rehydration sachets, and any prescription medication with enough supply to cover remote stretches.

Sun protection is a daily need. High-SPF sunscreen, broad-brimmed hats, rashies, and insect repellent should live somewhere easy to grab. Australian sun is brutal, and a sunburnt toddler makes for a miserable few days.

7. Food, snacks, and mealtime kit

Hungry kids are grumpy kids, and grumpy kids in a moving vehicle are a special kind of hard. Keep a stash of non-perishable snacks within reach of the back seat: muesli bars, dried fruit, crackers, and refillable drink bottles.

For meals, unbreakable plates and cups matter. Kids drop things, and glass or ceramic won’t survive the corrugations anyway. A set of stackable melamine or enamel dishes handles daily use and packs down small. A thermos flask for warm drinks and a small cooler for snacks on driving days both earn their keep.

8. Keeping the peace on driving days

Long days behind the wheel are where families come unstuck. Break up the drive with regular stops, ideally at playgrounds, beaches, or roadhouses where kids can run around. Aim for a stop every couple of hours rather than pushing through.

Keep an activity bag packed and rotate what’s in it so things stay fresh. Sticker books, a magna doodle, small figurines, and a few surprise items you bring out only on the biggest driving days give you something to reach for when the whining starts. Travel games like “spot the roadtrain” or the number plate game cost nothing and pass the time.