Best Backpacks for Daycare
The Itzy Ritzy Itzy Bitzy Bag carries the youngest age rating in this table, sized from 18 months at 12 inches tall with two side pockets that fit a sippy cup, for $44.99. For a three- to five-year-old heading toward kindergarten, the Simple Modern Fletcher Kids' Backpack adds a chest strap, a name tag and two expandable bottle sleeves for $49.99.
Height is the number to watch. Three packs stand under 13 inches, the height that suits a toddler, while most of the rest are 14 inches or taller and are sized for ages three or four and up. Price does not track that split: the $88 STATE Bags Kane Kids Mini is sized for ages 2 to 4, and the $27 JanSport Half Pint is the shortest bag here.
Our picks
- Starting in the infant or young toddler room: Itzy Ritzy Itzy Bitzy Bag Toddler Backpack. Sized from 18 months at 12 inches tall, with straps that extend to 23 inches as the child grows.
- Sending a packed lunch or snack: Wildkin 12 Inch Kids Backpack. $29.99 with an insulated front compartment described as easy to clean and food safe.
- One bag from preschool into kindergarten: Simple Modern Fletcher Kids' Backpack (12L). Sized for ages 3 to 5, with a padded tablet sleeve, chest strap and name tag at 14.4 inches tall.
- The plainest, cheapest option: JanSport Half Pint Mini Backpack. $27 for an 11.2-inch mini pack with a lifetime warranty, though with no side pocket the bottle rides inside.
- Keeping lunch from getting squashed: Bentgo Kids Backpack. A built-in loop carries the lunch bag on the outside, and the water-resistant fabric wipes clean.
At a glance
| Option | Price | Recommended Age | Height | Fabric | Water Bottle Pockets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $88source | 2–4source | 13.78source | Recycled polyestersource | Twosource | |
| $44.99source | 1.5+source | 12source | Cotton canvassource | Twosource | |
| $29.99source | 2–3source | 12.5source | Polyestersource | Onesource | |
| $49.99source | 3–5source | 14.4source | Polyestersource | Twosource | |
| $36.3source | 3–6source | 14source | Polyestersource | Twosource | |
| $45source | 3–7source | 15.35source | Recycled polyestersource | Onesource | |
| $27source | 11.2source | Recycled polyestersource | |||
| $68source | 14.75source | Nylonsource | Twosource | ||
| $29.99source | 4+source | 14.25source | Nylon blendsource | ||
| $39.95source | 4+source | Nylonsource | Onesource |
Toddler-sized or preschool-sized
The three packs under 13 inches are the JanSport Half Pint (11.2), the Itzy Bitzy Bag (12) and the Wildkin 12 Inch Kids Backpack (12.5), and the Wildkin is cut for ages 2 to 3, so a four-year-old will outgrow it. The STATE Kane Kids Mini, at 13.78 inches, is the in-between size, built to hold a change of clothes and a lunch without swallowing a two-year-old.
Everything else is for an older child. The Stephen Joseph Sidekick (14 inches) runs from age 3 to 6, the Bentgo Kids Backpack and the L.L.Bean Junior Original Book Pack start at 4, and the Herschel Heritage Kids, at 15.35 inches and 20 litres the roomiest here, stretches from 3 to 7. The BEIS Kids Backpack gives no age at all, but at 14.75 inches it is too much bag for most two-year-olds.
Wiping off the daily mess
Where these makers give care instructions, they point to a cloth rather than the washing machine. STATE and Itzy Ritzy both say to spot clean with a damp cloth, and Simple Modern states outright that the Fletcher must not be machine washed. Herschel prints no care instruction but lines the front, bottom and side panels with a wipeable liner. If spills are the worry, the Bentgo and the L.L.Bean are the two described as water resistant or weatherproof.
Where the water bottle goes
Five packs have two outside bottle pockets: the STATE (taking bottles up to 2.7 inches across), the Itzy Bitzy Bag, the Fletcher, the Sidekick and the BEIS. The Wildkin, Herschel and L.L.Bean have one. The Half Pint has none, which is the main thing its $27 price leaves out.
The options in detail
STATE Bags Kane Kids Mini Backpack
STATE's smallest Kane is built for the nursery and pre-K years, sized to hold a change of clothes and a lunch without swallowing a two-year-old. The shell and the lining are both recycled polyester, and two elastic side pockets take bottles up to 2.7 inches across. It is by some distance the most expensive pack in this comparison, and STATE only asks you to spot clean it with a damp cloth, so a daycare stain is a scrub rather than a wash cycle.
Itzy Ritzy Itzy Bitzy Bag Toddler Backpack
The Itzy Bitzy Bag starts younger than almost anything else here, which is what makes it a genuine infant-room-to-preschool pack rather than a preschool one. The cotton canvas exterior gives it a softer, less sporty look than the polyester packs, and the side pockets are sized for sippy cups as well as water bottles. Straps extend to 23 inches so it keeps fitting as a toddler grows. Itzy Ritzy asks for spot cleaning with a damp cloth.
Wildkin 12 Inch Kids Backpack
Wildkin's smallest size is the cheapest way into a real preschool backpack, and the design difference that matters most at daycare is the insulated front compartment, which Wildkin describes as easy to clean and food safe for a lunch or a snack. It is cut for the youngest end of the range, so a four-year-old will outgrow it. The patterns are loud and coordinate with Wildkin nap mats and lunch bags, which is either the appeal or the problem depending on your taste.
Simple Modern Fletcher Kids' Backpack (12L)
The Fletcher is the most school-ready pack in this group at the preschool size, with a chest strap, a name tag, a padded tablet sleeve and two expandable bottle sleeves. Simple Modern aims it squarely at three to five year olds, so it covers the last daycare year and then keeps going into kindergarten. Simple Modern is unusually explicit that it must not go in the washing machine: wipe it with water and let it air dry.
Stephen Joseph Sidekick Backpack
The Sidekick is the classic appliqued character backpack, and Stephen Joseph discounts it heavily and often, which makes it the value pick for a child who wants one specific animal on their bag. It has two mesh side pockets for bottles, cushioned adjustable straps, and the option to add initials or a name. At roughly four inches deep it is the shallowest pack here, so a bulky nap blanket is a squeeze.
Herschel Heritage Kids Backpack
The Heritage Kids is the grown-up looking option, and at 20 litres it is the roomiest pack in this comparison, which is why it stretches from preschool into early grade school. The details that earn their keep at daycare are a removable sternum strap, an external name label and a wipeable liner on the front, bottom and side panels. Herschel prints no care instruction on the product page, so cleaning it is a wipe-down rather than a known wash cycle.
JanSport Half Pint Mini Backpack
The Half Pint is not sold as a kids' backpack at all, which is exactly why parents keep buying it for daycare: a plain, cheap, seven-ounce mini pack with JanSport's lifetime warranty behind it. There is one main compartment and a front utility pocket, and nothing else to break. The catch is that JanSport publishes no age guidance for it and the Half Pint has no side pockets, so a water bottle has to travel inside with everything else.
BEIS The Kids Backpack
BEIS built this one for travel, with a trolley sleeve, a removable front fanny pack, a safety whistle on the strap and a name tag inside, and it doubles as a roomy daycare bag at 12 litres. The nylon body reads more like adult luggage than a character backpack, which suits a child who has decided they are past cartoons. BEIS gives it no age rating, and at nearly 15 inches tall it is too much bag for most two-year-olds.
Bentgo Kids Backpack
Bentgo makes children's lunch boxes first, and the backpack is designed around one: a sturdy built-in loop carries a lunch bag on the outside so it does not crush what is packed inside. The fabric is water resistant and wipes clean after spills, and there is a chest strap and a padded interior sleeve. Bentgo aims it at ages four and up, so it is a late-daycare or kindergarten pack rather than a toddler one.
L.L.Bean Junior Original Book Pack, 17L
L.L.Bean's Junior Original is the plain, durable, warranty-backed choice: weatherproof nylon in a 17 litre size that will outlast the last daycare year and carry on through elementary school. It has a water bottle pocket and the same construction as the adult Original Book Pack that has been sold for decades. L.L.Bean designs it for ages four and up, so it is the wrong shape for a toddler room but a sensible buy if you want one bag to last.
How we researched this
The table sets ten backpacks side by side on what a daycare morning asks of one: whether it fits a small back, how tall it stands, what the fabric is, and where a bottle rides. Heights come from each maker's stated dimensions, and the L.L.Bean's height cell is empty; that pack is described by its 17 litre size. Recommended ages are the makers' own; JanSport and BEIS give none, and the Bentgo's bottle-pocket cell is blank.
Prices are the regular list price for one backpack, not a sale price. That matters most for the Stephen Joseph Sidekick, which the maker discounts heavily and often, so it regularly sells for less than its $36.30. The age ranges are the makers' own guidance, so compare the pack's height with your child's back as well as the label.