The Best Kids’ Backpacks, Tested by Actual Kids

When my son found out that my daughter was going to get her own tester State backpack to match her State carry-on suitcase, he immediately demanded his own. State is known for its fantastical matching patterns that extend from luggage and backpacks to lunch bags ($48). Its products are pricey, but the kid bags are not worse in quality or fewer in features than the adult bags, which I appreciate. It makes sense, considering kids are often harder on their bags than adults are on theirs.

The Kane kids backpacks come in several sizes. Now that my kids are 8 and 10 years old, they each have the largest double-pocket backpack, which has two separate compartments so that they can separate their dirty clothes or muddy shoes from delicate electronics. Its 23.6-liter capacity can fit up to a 15-inch laptop and is more than capacious enough for a Chromebook, sweatshirt, Omie lunch box, and mini Nalgene water bottle. In fact, these items don’t even use all of the space; my kids probably could’ve stuck with the medium-sized backpack for a little while longer.

On a weekend trip, my son stuffed several big books, a Nintendo Switch, and a full fleece blanket into his. There are also two water bottle pockets, a luggage pass-through so you can attach it to the adjustable handle of a matching carry-on, and a hidden AirTag pocket, so you can keep an eye on them in the airport.