Imagine a child product useful from babyhood through elementary school and even beyond. Imagine it’s portable and super easy to set up or take down. Imagine it as a bed, a playard, a tent, a shelter on a sunny day, and a peek-a-boo wall. Useful indoors and outdoors; at the beach and the park and the Saturday soccer game. Now stop imagining and read on, because it’s reality: the Graco Pack ‘n Play Playard Sport is all these things and more!
More lightweight and easier to set up than a traditional Pack ‘n Play, the Graco Playard Sport is my new favorite baby product. It’s like a playard with a tent ceiling. Our toddler was so excited about his “new tent” that he slept in it the first night. Then he and baby E spent most of the next day playing in and around it. They LOVE playing peek-a-boo and touching each other’s hands at the mesh walls.
The whole Graco Playard Sport is tall enough that Micah can easily stand in it and peek his head over the top when he wants to, but short enough that I can easily carry it in it’s folded form. The door is short enough and small enough that even baby can easily crawl through it.
Graco Playard Sport: Dome Tent
The tent cover is easy to put on by inserting in two corners and velcroing at the other 4 corners. Or leave one side up and wrap it in itself to keep 1/3rd of the roof open. I love the cover because it provides shade outside and helps keep my toddler from trying to climb over the walls. It also has a uV50 protective lining to help keep it cool and safe inside. When the cover isn’t in use, it’s easy to fold it backwards in thirds and tuck it into a pocket on the side of the playard. Love this pack-ability of the Graco Playard Sport!
Graco Playard Sport: Set-up
Speaking of pack-ability, the whole Graco Playard Sport is easy to unpack and pack. Just slide it out of it’s carrying case and give it a little shake to open it partially. Then there are two latch handles on opposite sides: simply pull them up to latch the clip downward to hold the sport playard open. The motion of the latch handles is similar to latching a toolbox closed, so it’s easy and familiar. Then the dome roof is easy to put on our leave off depend on what we need.
Graco Playard Sport: Take-down
Take down of the Graco Playard Sport is even easier. The handle latches have a red button release in the center, simply push and re-open the handle. Then grab the little pull at the center of the playard and pull upwards. The whole thing will fold itself together most the way and you can use the legs or wrap your arms around it to squeeze it together enough to easily slide the carrying bag over and on.
Graco Playard Sport: Security
When I think about our potential uses of any playard, I think about how easily a child can get out of it. Graco addressed every mom’s desire to have an enclosed-so-only-an-adult-can-let-me-out space. The door can be open so even a baby can easily crawl out (And yes, I crawled in without much difficulty). It can be clipped open so a toddler can’t accidently zip himself in (it’s hard to open from the inside). Or the door can zip closed and be secured with the clip that has a center catch so it actually takes an older child or an adult to open it. Which means my baby and toddler can be basically trapped safely inside.
Graco Playard Sport: Other Perks
The floor of the Graco Playard Sport is like a tarp. This way it’s water-resistant and thick enough to use on rocky surfaces.
There are BIG pockets on the outside of the playard as well as on the outside of the carrying case. Plus the carrying case has an adjustable handle!
The whole thing, all packed up, weighs 12 pounds. My baby weighs more than that! Even a super basic traditional pack ‘n play weighs 20 pounds. I was really impressed the first time I lifted this sport playard!
The absolute only bad thing I can think of is that the folded dome cover is a bit hard to fit into the pocket designed for it. I wish the pocket opening were just an inch bigger. It fits, but it takes some effort.
Graco Playard Sport Review
Overall, I’m super impressed. We will be moving eventually and I’m really excited to use this as Micah’s bedroom for hotels and grandma’s house. it’s also super useful for playtime outside, at home or out-and-about, when shade is so incredibly necessary. The Graco Playard Sport is ready for all our adventures! Even in the AZ heat, I crawled in to play with Micah for a bit and it was MUCH cooler inside than out. I LOVE the Graco Playard Sport. It’s fantastic for mom and child, incredibly portable, and so multi-functional.
Check out the Graco Playard Sport and Graco online as well as on Facebook and Twitter! And check out the @GoWithGraco Sweepstakes to win a vacation or awesome Graco products! Just fill out the form online, follow Graco on Pinterest, and pin your own vacation inspirations!
Graco Playard Sport Giveaway!
How to Enter: Leave a comment about traveling with children. Then fill out the Rafflecopter form and complete other options for more entries!
Rules: You do not have to be a blogger to enter/win. An email address is required to enter. Thoughtful comments required for comment entries. Entering this contest allows us the permission to use your email address for our Newsletter which may be unsubscribed to at any time and subscribing is not a requirement for winning. The winner will be chosen randomly through Rafflecopter and contacted via the email registered in Rafflecopter. All of the winners’ entries will be verified. A reply to the winning email is required within 48 hours before a new winner is chosen. One person/email per household. US only.
This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on September 13th, 2015. Good luck!
Graco sent me my Playard Sport to review and use for this and future posts. Opinions are 100% mine and not influenced by compensation.
I have 5 kids so need to pack about the entire house when traveling. Also need to bring plenty of snacks and water for the trip or else we are stopping many times. Entertain them as well, bring things for them to do while riding
Their Ready2Grow™ Classic Connect™ LX Stroller is also great
i sometimes travel with my grandchildren and that means lots of extra equipment,,i would love to use this when traveling
Traveling with kids means you have to pack extras of most things.
Clothes get stained and toys disappear.
I am very fortunate my kids love to travel and I make sure to have plenty for them to do all though with a baby you feel like you take the whole house!
My son can’t travel on an airplane, which means that we take lots of road trips to visit family. This would be awesome for the hotel stays.
I really love the DuoDiner® LX Highchair. It’s practical and colorful!!
I don’t know if it is a matter of being lucky or unlucky but I have not really had much of an experience with traveling with children. My oldest son is 14 and he gets car sick so we tend not to travel much. The other kids don’t seem to mind sticking to short trips!
This looks so compact and with it being lightweight too, it would be perfect to take when traveling; plus it can be used to play in too! We love taking long road trips and seeing the US but hate all the stuff that we have to take along!
I also like the AFFIX™ Youth Booster Seat with Latch System
It can be fun and challenging at times.
When travelling with kids, always bring a change of clothes and more wipes than you ever think you’ll need. You can use wipes for so many things!!
traveling with children requires a lot of patience. but its worth it.
We travel with my two kids all the time, making precious memories
I like the Argos™ 80 Elite 3-in-1 Car Seat
We travel a lot with our children, we always plan ahead and make sure we have enough snacks/toys for the journey.
We have yet to travel with the twins yet but we will be going to Disney in December and Alaska next month.
we have yet to take a big trip. Our 3 hour trip was a disaster!
We have a newborn, I have been searching for ways to get her outside and still keep her protected from the sun, bugs, and from getting too far from us while still enjoying fresh air and time with mom and dad. We love to camp and having a fun safe place for her to play while we camp or even while we hang out in the back yard or at Grandmas (with 4 doggies!) is going to be necessary here VERY soon! Hope to get to try this wonderful piece of baby gear out!
Traveling with kids you should:
Have patience
Get car checked
Get seats checked to make sure they ate installed properly
Have things to occupy kids time
Have fun!
I always have snacks and things to do in the car while we are traveling
I like the True Focus™ Digital Video Monitor
I’ve always enjoyed travelling, and that hasn’t stopped since I’ve had kids. I just try to keep a regular sleep, eat, and rest time routine. You have to e more flexible, but it is certainly doable.
Expect the unexpected and roll with the punches
I have three kids (4, 6, 7, and one on the way). As much as we like to travel, traveling has become very difficult. Packing, alone, is overwhelming. This pack and play would be fantastic to have because, no only can a baby sleep in it, but I think they would enjoy using it while awake.
it is important to have snacks when travee
A good Pack N Play is essential!
When traveling with children; take things that baby is used to for comfort and ease. Take it slow and don’t expect it to be like traveling without children. Reasonable expectations!
this would be great to take camping!
It is a very good idea to take a video player and their favorite movies.
I make sure to keep a lot of snacks, books, and games on hand to keep them from getting tired/hungry and cranky.
It always take more time, space, and energy traveling with kids, but it is so much fun! I also make sure to bring something comforting from home.
Always take toys/gadgets that will keep them entertained during long travels!
The best invention ever for travelling with kids is the dual DVD player. My son has 2 kids under 3 1/2 years old. Godsend!
Always pack extra clothes drink and snacks. Also have activitys for them to do.
There’s nothing worse than having a kid who gets carsick. At least he grew out of it!
Traveling with kids is challenging, time consuming and tiring. But, it can be a very rewarding experience!
items like this make it so much easier
When we travel with our grandsons we always have lots of snacks for them & activities that they can do in the car.
I like the Graco Glider Swing
Traveling with children requires organization, patience and a lot of love!
We haven’t done much traveling with our little one yet but our vacation is coming up and we will be outside for most of it! This play yard would be great as she’s just now in the beginning stages of mobility.
When Traveling With Children I Always Pack Extra Snacks And Drinks, Games, Books, Toys.
I try to be prepared for anything and everything. Car fun includes, coloring, songs and tablets. We like to go to the beach a lot, so I have a bag for towels and beach toys, a bag for food and then a bag for clean up.
I always take them at naptime so its easier for them
We love traveling together, but it definitely messes with my kids sleep schedule! I never know how they’ll sleep. Luckily my 5 month old seems a little more laid back then my first two were so hopefully he’ll be a little easier when we travel!
When traveling with little ones I’ve learned that schedules need to be VERY flexible. Because everything is most likely not going to go exactly as planned. Also, lots of snack and wet wipes are a must!
I really like the DuoDiner® LX Highchair!
Traveling with nurslings is a joy.
Love travelling with kids, especially if I can get a place with real beds!
I think that traveling with the kids builds great family memories. I would say that it is important to have enough stops for the kids and to have healthy snacks for them to eat.
I also like the True Focus™ Digital Video Monitor
My favorite product is the DuoDiner LX Highchair
Thank You for the great giveaway
We traveled with grandchildren this summer. The 5 years old was kept busy by his dad’s ipad but the 1 year old twins were another issue. They had rear facing car seats so their mom sat in the 3rd row to entertain them and feel them. We drove 12-14 hours. We survived but they are in no hurry to do it again. We had our oldest son’s wedding which was a blast and worth every minute of travel.
I like the Pack ‘n Play® Playard with Twins Bassinet since we have twin grandchildren
Traveling with kids means we bring a lot of stuffs but it is so much fun!
You have to bring so much more stuff when traveling with kids!
Definitely have lots of snacks and games for them.
Traveling with children can be very stressful and hectic. If you come prepared with toys, snacks, extra clothes for babies that should help.
We make sure we have snacks and drinks in a cooler. We also pack new coloring books, crayons, and new movies to keep them occupied (just make sure to have extra batteries for the headphones.)
It’s not easy. Make checklists and finding the right travel gear is a must. Then finding a way to puzzle it all in the car. My brain is stressed thinking about it lol
Always need something to keep them occupied while travelling.
My kids gear takes up a vehicle all on its own.
I always had a good experience traveling with my children. I made sure they stayed busy.
My best tip is be prepared extra clothes snacks favorite blanket/toy
One of my favorite products is their Swivi Seat™ 3-in-1 Booster
Pack plenty of activities & snacks. They will be bored.
I’ve not taken my kids on a camping trip yet (they are 7, 5 and 3), but I have taken them to hotels. I think my best tip is to pack plenty of extra clothes and snacks to keep them clean and happy. Other than that, I haven’t traveled with them enough to have any awesome tips! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
When my daughter was younger we didn’t travel as much, now that she is older we love traveling. I know we would have traveled more with products like this one.
I would like to try out their Blossom 4 in 1 high chair!
We always schedule alot of pit stops and extra time when we travel with the kids.
We have to bring so much more stuff when we travel with our kids! It’s like we’re going on a week vacation and it’s only a few hours!
I love the Glider Premier Gliding Swing!
My favorite product is the Glider Elite™ Gliding Swing. It works so well!
Oh, the joys of traveling with children….luckily, mine enjoy the Leapster products to keep them busy
My daughter always brings a play yard when they are staying for a while, she has to bring a ton of stuff, a walker, a swing, a stroller…
While I have not traveled with my small grandkids yet I do know when I traveled back in the early 90’s with my 2 girls it was a nightmare with trying to keep up with what all I needed for the trips.
I have 2 girls under 2 so I’ve had to learn to travel with children quickly & unfortunately the hard way. With one child, I could plan around her meal & nap times fairly easily, but with a toddler & a 4-week-old, it is a bit more complicated. I don’t bother planning around schedules, I’ve just learned to go with the flow & plan for everything. I bring the usual extra diapers & wipes, snacks & toys, change of clothes not only for the girls but for me (that one was learned the hard way!). Mainly, I had to get over being able to listen to my own music & accept the fact that I would probably never be on time to anything ever again. But, it is so much fun to be out with my girls 🙂
Traveling with kids can be so stressful if you haven’t planned and packed well!!! Pack n plays make it easy 🙂
The Ready2Grow™ Classic Connect™ LX Stroller
It seems with kids you are never done packing for a trip. But keeping it simple helps.
Oh the Joy of traveling with children, trying to keep them entertained an busy with all the questions….. we have always traveled a lot… having snacks, toys, and pillow and blanket are always a must have when traveling with kids.
Relay™ Click Connect™ Stroller
MSRP $329.99
Model #1934842
Pattern: Fern™
is my favorite product.
We usually go to the beach in the summer with the kids this would be great
We always have a kid’s checklist when we travel. We double and triple check it!