These are the weekday pants our elementary age boys love and wear.
UPDATED for 2024.
Between the five of us, we have quite a few boys. Sure, we have more girls than boys, but we’ve been buying pants for long enough to know what’s good and worthwhile and what’s not.
We have boys who play sports and rough up their clothing, and we have boys who don’t and still rough ‘em up (then there are the boys who do play but still manage to keep their knees intact!).
If you have boys who don’t rip knees often, or you want a couple of nicer pairs (i.e. Chol Hamoed, etc.), we also have our top quality picks which are all priced around the same.
Note: All of the pants featured here are chino-style. Once boys grow up and want to be more dressed (whether it’s around their bar mitzvah time or a little later), they might prefer wearing stretch pants instead of the chinos. For those, you can see this post on Stretch Pants (only men and teens) or this one on the different types of T.O. Stretch Pants (boys and men)
Do you have more questions about which pants might be the best fit for your son? Read through our reader comments below. Over the years, our readers have offered each other very valuable info and tips regarding specific fits and additional recommendations that might work for you! While we can’t personally vouch for the recommendations, we trust our readers have great tips for each other as well.
Hi! This is so helpful, my son is starting real school and this is all new territory! I see 3 different children’s place options… Uniform Chino ($10), Uniform Stretch Skinny Chino ($13), and Uniform Stretch Skinny Perfect Chino ($15)…I ordered one of each but if you have any experience with the different styles, could you please comment?
I buy the uniform chino for older boys that don’t like too fitted. younger boys I would go with skinny
did you receive your pants yet? can you post what you found were the differences between the few options of pants?
thanks
primark has great pants for 8-10 dollars that really last
Do the children’s place and old navy pants wrinkle and need to be ironed? I have bought them years ago for my older son and was always ironing…now I need pants again for my younger son and cant see my self ironing every pair at this point…
If you place it in the dryer for just a few minutes, remove and pull them flat to finish drying you wont need to iron them.
I never iron them, just hang to dry
Agree with this! Primark pants for the win 😉
I’m using children’s place pants for a couple of years. It’s decent quality compared to the price definitely worth a try
Another vote for primark if u live not too far it’s worth a drive! They really last well
Target cat&jack pants are guaranteed for 12 months. I find that they rarely tear, but it is a great insurance policy to have.
I like the Cat and Jack pants because of the guarantee- my son has shredded several pairs but I am able to replace them for free with minimal headache.
The h&m pants fade after the first wash. I found childrens place quality a lot better but wish they would be more fitted
Love the H&M black skinny fit jeans bec the color is darker and doesn’t fade as fast as the chinos or the twill
Also, I find Primark pants are even better quality than H&M, and its only $8 !!!
Old navy makes black karate Jean’s in the big boys that are amazing quality and are super comfortable! One of my sons prefers them over tiros in the summer. When there is a 40% off coupon its worthwhile to stock up for a around $14.
https://fave.co/3lPExeO
Putting in another vote for primark Boys pants! No great range of colors for school, but at $8, their quality is fantastic and while they do fade, they last a lot longer than h and m or old navy…
My son is 4 years old and is super skinny. He’s on the tall side so I’m having trouble finding pants that don’t slip down to his knees all the time.
His waist is like a 2T (roughly), but the pants that size don’t quite make it down to his ankles :-/
Any recommendations for pants that might fit him?
it seems like the childrens place slim skinny fit now has a super skinny waist that doesnt fit my super skinny boys anymore. any other pants that have a similar fit without the too skinny waist? (we have been buying the slim skinny for years 🙁
Hi I’m so confused… I’ve tried dozens of different pants and have not found yet something that comes up high enough for my son. He needs something with a super high rise. Open to any suggestions. Thank You
Thank you for this amazing post. Are the old navy pants the widest/straightest leg? My son is normal build but says the tighter pants are “itchy”. He feels them touching his legs. I loved the T.O. pants and thought he would too but they are too tight down the leg for him. Thanks!
My son is starting Nursery now and he needs to wear real pants. He is 3 years old and still wears a toddler size. Any recommendations?
I always like to get the girl’s pantsfor my 4.5 year old since he is 2.5 years old. HM has a denim jegging in the Girls (2-8y) section. HM runs large, so the 2-3y size is like a true 3T. Or Zara skinny jeans (they have them in both the girls and boys section). They are also known to run larger.
I really love the children’s place toddler skinny stretch chinos. They have a beautiful fit and the price is great. They also go on sale to even cheaper and have cash back too.
Another great pair of pants is the target toddler boys straight black jean. Beautiful fit and amazing price. No contrast stitching and dark black.
THANKS FOR THESE RECS!
And two more recs for the little boys. 1- the children’s place ponte stretch uniform pants are a great step up from leggings for three year old boys. 2- the target toddler jeggings are another amazing option for three and four year olds.
Wow I was literally thinking who can I ask about pants for my 3 year old?!! I will check out the above recommendations but I feel like I also have to take into account that he needs pull on pants cuz he still getting used to pulling them up and down himself…. Any recommendations?
Hey I’m so glad that was helpful! Both of these pants have a snap and they’re also stretchy so I don’t think they’re hard for a kid to pull down when they have to go to the bathroom. The children’s place ponte pants are the softer, more legging like option so maybe start there!
For 3 year old try childrens place girls jeggings.
childrens place ponte strech uniform pants are in the girls section but they are regular stretch pants i only have boys and love them for the 3 yr old french toast makes them also they sell on amazon ponte knit strech pants. love the french toast even for my bigger boys they are not super slim like girls leggings but they are super comfortable and wash nicely.
I’d like to add that lillegsbaby.com has weekday pants thats super comfortable. Its $24 dollars and comes in regular and skinny fit.
for my super skinny 7 year old I still do the uniform ponte jeggings from childrens place in the slim sizes. wash beautifully! and 20 off today. I even do them for shabbos they have a nice grey, navy etc
Just bought Primark skinny Jeans. Fit is amazing but quite narrow, and wouldn’t fit a kid who is not quite slim. Thay are $9 a pair.
I had Primark pants this year and regret it every day. Looks nice, but So hard to get ankle in.
Yes. Same here. Primark pants are great quality and good price too but I need to pull it on as the ankle is too tight. (My son is pretty thin..) Anyone try different types of primark pants
Please try the LIl Legs school pants!
Its a frum cpmpany! Yes, more expensive, but – they do not fade, they do not need to be ironed and and they are fitted but very very comfortable!