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Travel Friendly Tool for Tots

Keeping Parents Happy

"Are we there yet" is an all too familiar complaint heard during family travel.  Other common issues include parents leaning over into the back seat to pick up toys their kids drop on the floor, or having to pull over on car rides to clean up a mess in the back seat.  Traveling parents now have a solution to these problems with the Travel&Play™, a travel tray, from The Travel Play Company.

After years of listening to her own daughter complain and whine on vacations, and years of picking up toys and food off the back seat while driving, Gali Rotstein, President of The Travel Play Company, created the Travel & Play.  This new product is literally a tray with raised sides that sits flat on a child's lap.  It stays around the waist with a hook and loop, Velcro-like strap and does not interfere with seatbelt use.  The beauty of the product is in its convenience - it is light-weight and folds up so it can be thrown into the car at a moments notice or carried in a backpack; once opened, it can hold a variety of small toys so boredom is reduced as children switch from one toy to another and it can be used with most forms of transportation.  While the Travel&Play can't reduce the time it takes to get to a destination, it can make the trip much more pleasant for all members of the family.

"I couldn't find anything in the market that prevented my daughter's toys from falling on the floor of the car and airplane when we traveled," explains Ms. Rotstein.  "Traveling with my daughter was becoming more stressful, so, I had to design something to make life easier on the road - a self-contained play surface with sides - and it works!"

What is the Travel&Play?

Covered in easy-to-clean nylon, the Travel&Play is a 19"x16"sturdy travel play surface with 3 1/2" high sides.  It provides children with a self-contained playing and eating area capable of keeping favorite toys and food close at hand, and off the floor.  The tray's surface is large enough to accommodate a coloring book, small dolls, toy cars, and paper.  In addition, a clear plastic sheet is included that provides a canvas for dry erase marker artwork.

Black elastic straps and a pouch on the sidewalls provide a safe and secure storage area for crayons, cards, markers and other supplies, as well as a place to securely store juice boxes, mini cereal boxes and snacks.  The product is designed to work in conjunction with shoulder and lap belts in cars and with standard airline seat belts, so kids stay safely in their seats while playing with their favorite toys.

Mealtime on the Plane, On the Train, or In the Car Mealtime is a lot less stressful with the Travel&Play.  When meals are served in the air, there is no need to put away the toys, a stressful time as parents struggle to put away playthings.  Instead, moms and dads can just lower the airline seat-back tray over the Travel&Play™ and leave toys in place.

When the meal is finished, the tray is lifted and the child resumes his or her play. Another stressful situation avoided.  In addition, the Travel & Play can be used as an actual meal tray on airplanes, trains and in the car.

Additional Benefits

The Travel&Play also provides added safety in the car.  A driver who divides his or her focus between controlling the vehicle and picking up toys off the floor, or cleaning up spilled ice cream, is a potential hazard on the road.  In fact, new laws may soon require traffic police to indicate any factors inside the vehicle that may have contributed to an accident - and those include distractions from children and reaching for items in the back seat.  The Travel&Play allows drivers to focus on driving the car safely, and letting the kids play happily on their own.

Parents can find a variety of uses for the Travel&Play at home.  The tray can be used to keep blocks, beads and crayons from scattering all over the floor. Toys can remain in the tray overnight thus saving on evening clean-up time and it can provide an alternative snack location for temperamental toddlers.

Surfaces in the home or car remain clean as future artists' paint is contained on a protected washable flat surface.

The Travel&Play can mean the end of travel complaints from children and less stress on the road for parents.

Just throw it in the car or stuff it in the backpack and never hear "I dropped my crayons," or "I just spilled my drink in my lap," on the road again.

Retailing for $22.95, the Travel&Play can be purchased online by logging onto www.travelplayco.com.

For more information on the Travel&Play, other innovative products and travel tips from The Travel Play Company, please visit the web site at www.travelplayco.com or write to The Travel Play Company, 16347 Royal Hills Drive, Encino, CA  91436.

Edited by Dave Shultz

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