5 Ways We Use Our Lay and Play Adventure Mat
Guest post by Molly Callister
Denver for Families and Exploring Through Life
Our family loves our Lay and Play Adventure Mat! We were lucky to get it during the Kickstarter campaign and it came just at the perfect time for our third son to use and love it! I thought I would share five of the ways we use ours to give you some ideas!
Playgrounds
One of my favorite and most common ways that I have used our Lay and Play Adventure Mat is when I take my kids to the park. Especially before my baby was big enough for the swings, it’s such a great way to have a safe, clean and entertaining place to put my baby down while we are playing at the playground!
Every time I take it to the park I get comments and questions about it!
Playdates
Another great, everyday use for the Lay and Play Adventure Mat is at play dates! We go to lots of play dates for my older two kids to homes that don’t have babies and therefore don’t have any baby toys! My adventure play mat lives right at our back door and I can grab it and throw it in my car whenever I know we are going somewhere that isn’t going to have baby toys!
It was also really helpful when we traveled to an AirBNB that didn’t have any baby toys. The bag fits in a carryon suitcase and was super easy to bring for our baby!
Hikes and outdoor adventures
Because we are a pretty adventurous family, I knew I needed something to bring with us for our youngest so that we could continue our favorite activities after he was born! We hike, play at the river and spend lots of time picnicking outdoors. The Lay and Play Adventure Mat clips right onto a backpack or easily into a stroller or diaper bag and is so easy to bring along.
I love that the waterproof backing is really easy to clean if it gets a little muddy while we adventure!
Hotels
One of my biggest struggles with staying at hotels with a baby is that I never know how clean the floor is, but it’s not safe to lay baby on the bed! So I used to bring a blanket for the floor but then always worried that the blanket would end up being used in the stroller or car seat!
The first time we went to a hotel with our Lay and Play Adventure Mat, a lightbulb went off in my head! I originally brought it on the trip for our hiking and playgrounds, but it was SO helpful in the hotel too!
I was able to set it up in one of the open areas of the floor and have a safe and clean spot for my 4-month-old. It made spending time at the hotel so much easier! Especially while I was helping my bigger kids bathe or change.
Airports
Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet because we haven’t flown in 2020, but I just know that the mat is going to be a game changer for airport layovers! I remember with my first baby, it was so hard to keep him off the floor and clean at airports. And post-pandemic, it feels even more important to have a clean space for babies while traveling!
Like I said earlier, the mat fits perfectly in a carry-on case or a diaper bag so it is really easy to bring along with you to the airport!
Molly is a family travel writer at Denver for Families and Exploring Through Life. She and her three boys love to be outdoors and spend their time exploring new places. Her favorite things to do are hiking, people watching and encouraging moms to fully experience adventure with their kids!
Molly is doing a neat series of features on Denver based businesses. She recently featured A to Z Adventure Gear. Check it out here to learn a bit more about us! You can follow Molly for lots of great information and tips at @denverforfamilies and @exploringthroughlife