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Last month I put together some mini first aid kits for kids using items that I found at the dollar store (specifically Dollar Tree). They are perfect for sticking in the kids’ various sports bags and we also put one in each of our cars.
Today I put together a fully stocked first aid kit for our car. This kit is more serious than the mini kits and holds everything from medicine to first aid supplies for injuries. We road trip A LOT and many of those road trips are to campgrounds where we stay for days at a time. I feel much better knowing that I now have a freshly stocked first aid kit when we are away from home.
I put this kit together using supplies found entirely at Dollar Tree, EXCEPT for a few of the medications. Those we picked up at Walmart and CVS. You will want to add medications specific to your family’s needs and preferences, which may require some shopping outside of the dollar store.
Note: We keep this kit in the house and add it to the car or RV before day trips or long road trips. This ensures that the liquids or other items (like adhesive bandages) that might not hold up well to extreme heat stay in good shape.
Here are the items I included in my kit (see below for a printable shopping list):
Thermometer
Triple Antibiotic Ointment
Eye Drops
Hydrogen Peroxide
Cough Drops
Ace Bandage
Gauze (assorted)
Medical Tape
Adhesive Bandages (assorted)
Disinfecting Wipes
Hand Sanitizer
Antibacterial Wipes
Bug Bite Itch Relief Stick
Latex Gloves
Tissues
Trash Bags
Heat and/or Ice Pack
Medication (assorted)
3 Small containers
1 Medium container
Print this list here.
I picked up a medium sized plastic bin (with a lid that snaps on) at the dollar store. This it the container that holds all of our supplies. I used 3 small plastic containers to hold bandages, gauze, and medication. This saved a TON of space in my kit because I eliminated many little boxes from the bandages, medicines, etc. I labeled each container (see below for the free printable images). I printed the labels out on card stock. Then I used clear contact paper (also available at the dollar store) to affix the labels to the container lids.
You’ll notice I added a “Restocked on” label. It is important to go through any first aid kits you have every 6-12 months to replace expired medication and supplies. Since I attached the labels with contact paper, I was able to use a dry erase marker to write the month and year of when I stocked this kit. Now I’ll know with just a quick glance when this kit was last stocked and I can go through it and rotate out anything that is running low or has expired.
As I already stated above – I recommend keeping this kit in your home so that it stays out of extreme temperatures. Add it to your car before you leave town on day trips or longer road trips.
Into the car it went!
Here are the free printable labels for your own kit. Open the files in a new tab and save them to your hard drive. Print them out in whatever size you need, depending on the size of your containers.
First Aid Printable
Restocked On Label
Medicine Label
Gauze Label
Bandages Label
More fun you might enjoy…
We are thinking about doing this for our 4-H club activity. Do you know how much you spent on your first aid kit?
This would be a great activity for 4-H! I’m going to ballpark that I probably spent about $25 on my kit, including the containers. That includes multiple packs of gauze and bandages, so you could easily lower the total by a few dollars if you only got one of each of those items. You could also eliminate the smaller containers and use ziploc bags…
Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this great idea! This is exactly what I was looking for and extremely detailed and helpful. I’m definitely going to make my own