7 Best Backpacks for Kids of All Ages

A backpack might seem like a simple back-to-school purchase, but it’s one of the few items your child will use every single day. It carries everything from notebooks and laptops to lunchboxes, water bottles, sports gear, and the mysterious collection of crumpled permission slips that somehow never make it out of the front pocket. (If you know, you know!) The right backpack can help your child stay organized, comfortable, and confident throughout the school year. The wrong one? It can become an overstuffed catch-all that’s uncomfortable to carry and impossible to keep organized, which could impact your student’s focus when they need it most.

Word to the wise: Choosing a good backpack isn’t about chasing the latest trend (though your kid might disagree), or even about obsessing over a magic weight limit. Instead, experts say it comes down to finding one that fits your child’s body, matches how they’ll actually use it, and encourages good packing habits. “Parents should focus less on style and more on fit and function,” says Daniel Kline, DPT, SCS, a physical therapist and Upper Extremity Fellowship director at ATI Physical Therapy in Greenville, South Carolina. A properly fitted backpack, he explains, should sit close to the body, distribute weight evenly, and allow children to maintain good posture while they’re walking.

Need some more steering? Here are our best picks, based on what experts told us to look for.

• Best lightweight pack: MZ Wallace Metro Backpack
• Best backpack with wheels: Kipling New Zea Printed 15-Inch Laptop Rolling Backpack
• Best for college students who visit home: Kulkea Käydä Travel Backpack
• Best for athletes: Franklin Flex Pickleball Bag
• Best for big kids who carry laptops: July Everyday Backpack
• Most durable: Simple Modern Kids Backpack
• Best for little kids: Pottery Barn Kids Mackenzie Backpack

During our product testing, some backpacks didn’t quite earn one of our top superlatives but still deserve a shout-out. Here are a couple honorable mentions we still want you to know about.

Sea Bags Vintage Crew Backpack This backpack stood out for its craftsmanship and sustainability. Handmade in Maine from recycled sailcloth, the bag’s nautical-inspired look feels more artisanal than mass-produced. Bonaccorso likes the concept behind the bag. “I like that this is made from a recycled sail. It makes you feel like you’re doing something good for the environment, but also it’s an awesome conversation piece,” she says. “You can even see little marks in the sail that I guess they couldn’t get out, proving that it was used, which makes it even cooler.” Ultimately, though, it didn’t make our final list because it offers fewer organizational features than many of our top picks, with just a single exterior pocket and one main interior compartment. If you’re looking for a simple, eco-conscious backpack with plenty of personality — and don’t need lots of dedicated storage pockets — it’s still a stylish, well-made choice.

Fjällräven Kanken Mini Backpack “We got this backpack when my son first started a part-time daycare at 2.5,” says Bonaccorso. “It’s definitely toddler-sized — it’s big enough to fit his lunch box and an art project or two, but that’s about it.” The side pockets don’t fit any standard-size water bottle, but the small front pocket lends a bit of organization. It’s available in tons of colors, from bright jewel tones to pastels to neutrals. Ultimately, this backpack is a bit too tiny. But if you’ve got a little one who doesn’t tote too much back and forth, it might be just perfect, and it sure is adorable.

Finding the best backpack isn’t just about picking the trendiest design or the one with the most pockets (though those are important factors to most kids). Because kids wear backpacks almost every day (and often carry heavy books, laptops, sports equipment, and lunch), we wanted to identify options that are comfortable, durable, and designed to support healthy carrying habits.

To guide our recommendations, we interviewed two experts: Daniel Kline, DPT, SCS, a physical therapist and Upper Extremity Fellowship director at ATI Physical Therapy in Greenville, South Carolina, and Eric Novack, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with OrthoArizona in Deer Valley, Arizona. They shared what parents should prioritize when shopping for a backpack, including proper fit, weight distribution, padded shoulder straps, multiple compartments, and features like sternum straps that can improve comfort for heavier loads.

Our editorial team also researched dozens of backpacks before narrowing the field to the models that best matched those expert recommendations. Six Everyday Health editors and contributors — including parents who regularly shop for school backpacks — tested a wide range of bags in real-world settings, evaluating each one for comfort, fit, storage and organization, durability, ease of carrying, overall design, and value. Testers used the backpacks for activities including school, commuting, travel, sports, work, and everyday errands to understand how they performed over time and with different types of loads.

After comparing our hands-on experiences with the guidance from our experts, we selected the backpacks that excelled in specific categories, whether that meant offering exceptional comfort for younger children, smart organization for older students, lightweight construction, durability, or versatility for travel and extracurricular activities.

Parents often focus on the fun stuff first: colors, patterns, favorite characters, or whatever backpack is currently trending at school. I’ve bought a Barbie backpack for my 6-year-old and regretted it because it tore apart after two months. But there’s nothing wrong with wanting a backpack your child loves. In fact, Novack says that’s actually an important consideration. “If he or she does not like it, the likelihood of correct usage — or use at all — will drop considerably,” he says. But after your child picks a style they’ll actually be excited to wear, it’s time to think about fit, function, and durability.

• Fit One of the biggest mistakes parents make is buying a backpack with the mindset that their child will “grow into it.” Bigger isn’t better here. A backpack that’s too large for your child’s frame (or hangs too low) can place the load farther from the body, making it harder to distribute weight comfortably. Kline recommends choosing a backpack that’s no wider than your child’s shoulders and doesn’t extend more than a few inches below their waist. Novack agrees, adding that the backpack shouldn’t fall below the top of the pelvis.
• Comfort Wide, padded shoulder straps are the minimum, according to both our experts. Adjustable straps help keep the backpack snug against the body, instead of swinging with every step. If your child walks a long distance to school or routinely carries heavier items like textbooks, a laptop, or sports equipment, a sternum strap or hip belt can improve comfort by shifting some of the load away from the shoulders.

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• Organization Perhaps just as important as the backpack itself is how it’s packed. Place heavier items (such as textbooks and binders) closest to the back panel, and lighter items farther away. Not only does this help the backpack feel lighter — it also keeps your child’s center of gravity closer to their body, making the load easier to manage throughout the day.

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  A backpack with multiple compartments can make it easier to organize supplies and distribute weight more evenly.

Ironically, one of the biggest mistakes happens before the backpack is even packed — buying one that’s simply too big. Some parents want their kids to “grow into their backpacks,” but let’s be real, you will probably replace their bag after a year or two. How much growing will happen before then? Plus, it might invite children to fill every available inch with things they probably don’t need. “A larger backpack often encourages children to carry unnecessary items,” says Kline. That’s why experts recommend choosing a backpack based on your child’s torso, not their grade level or how much they’ll grow over the next few years.

Rather than focusing on a strict percentage, experts recommend paying closer attention to how your child feels while carrying their backpack, whether it fits properly, and whether they’re carrying unnecessary items. “A smaller child or one with underlying musculoskeletal concerns may tolerate less weight, while an older, stronger adolescent may comfortably carry slightly more. Parents should pay attention not only to the weight of the backpack but also to how their child moves while carrying it,” says Kline. “If a child consistently experiences discomfort, it’s a sign that the backpack’s weight, fit, or packing strategy should be reevaluated. Heavy or poorly fitted backpacks can contribute to muscle fatigue, neck pain, shoulder discomfort, and low back pain. Carrying excessive weight changes posture and often causes children to lean forward or elevate one shoulder to compensate.”