There are very few products that I have discovered in the last few years that I wonder how I lived without it for my older kids. However, this Lay-N-Go Cinch Bag is one of them. In my 12 years as a parent, I can’t tell you how many times this product would have been so handy when my kids wanted to take some beloved and treasured toys with them when we left the house.

The Lay-N-Go Cinch Bag (44”) is a large activity mat that transforms into a backpack with the pull of a cord. It would be great to hold any number of play toys. My two-year-old son is going through a transportation stage, so our bag was often filled with trains, tracks, trucks, and Duplo blocks. As is pictured in their advertising photographs, this would be perfect for bringing Legos or other items with many and/or small pieces to places where you normally wouldn’t want to take these items due to fear of them getting lost. This is great for playdates, church, picnics, and traveling. My preschooler could bring all his favorite toys along with him, play with them on the mat, and easily clean and gather them when it was time to go.

The backpack is thick and the material is quality. It is a good size mat with plenty of room for toys and a good amount of play space when it is open. The straps on the backpack are perfect for a child, though an adult could probably wear it too, if needed. My son loved carrying his loot on his back himself, as long as we didn’t fill it with too many toys where it was too heavy for him to carry. I definitely needed to be the one to cinch it up at the end, and to release the toggle when we were laying out the mat. The cord is very long when pulled tightly, but there is a pocket on the exterior to tuck the pull cord into so that it is not a tripping hazard.

I really love this bag. It is so simple, and yet so handy. I would love to have one for each of my kids to bring their treasures along on the go. As a homeschooling family, we have lots of outings where some of my kids have to wait while a sibling or two take a lesson or a class. This is great for them to be able to play in a semi-contained area while they have to wait. Unlike a normal backpack or bag, it opens up completely so you have access to all your items without having to pull them out one by one from a bag. When the time is up, you simply pull the cord to gather up the items and it forms the little backpack. I would absolutely recommend this as a tool for the busy homeschool family.

-Product review by Audrey Tolle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June, 2018