What You Need in a Kid-Friendly First Aid Kit

You can pick up a ready-made first aid kit at Walmart or Target, toss it in the camper, and away you go. A store-bought kit does have the essentials, but those kits are usually a bit lacking, especially if you have kids.

Avid RVers Jason and Lisa McEwen put together their own first aid kit. Here’s a look at what they put inside:

The basics

Start with the basics that you would find in any first aid kit. That would include some bandages of varying sizes. Include some ointment too, along with a few gauze pads and alcohol wipes.

Bug spray and cortisone cream

No matter where you camp, there are bugs, right? Keep bug spray in the first aid kit and keep a tube of cortisone cream along with it.

Poison ivy soap

Include a bar of soap that’s designed to help if anyone gets into poison ivy or poison oak. We actually learned this tip from a park ranger. Someone ran into poison ivy on a trail and the ranger happened to have a bottle of water and this bar of soap with her. She was able to calm the sting.

Kids meds

Keep kids’ Tylenol and Benadryl in the kit too. From fevers to allergic reactions, these medications can help you stay prepared.

Tweezers

Keep tweezers in your kit to remove splinters. You could even toss in a small nail care kit, so you’ll have clippers and a small pair of scissors too.

Sunscreen

Keep several kinds of sunscreen on hand. It’s good to have the spray in an SPF that’s 50 or higher and a stick of sunblock that looks like deodorant. That’s easier to apply to the face.

Prescriptions

It’s also a good idea to keep a few extra days’ worth of your prescriptions inside your kit too. If you forget them at home, you’ll at least have a day or so on hand until you can get to a pharmacy.

If you’re traveling with a pet, you might want to add a few items to your first aid kit too, like medications and things like a flea and tick collar. Learn more about RVing with pets and get some tips to keep pets comfortable while you’re on the road.