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These Ingenious Face Masks Transform into Hair Ties and Bracelets, So Kids Don’t Lose Them

Getting your kids to wear a face mask is the first challenge. The second is ensuring it doesn’t immediately get lost. It’s a struggle that’s all too relatable for most parents, which is what makes Cubcoats’s new launch so appealing.

The company known for creating jackets and t-shirts that can be rolled up and transformed into stuffed animals is now selling kids face masks that undergo a metamorphosis of their own. Each one can be folded up into a palm-sized plushie with an elastic band along the back, so you can wear it as a wristband or as a hair tie when it’s not on your face. That little step makes it so much easier for kids on the go to keep track of, so it’s less likely to be left on the seat of a car or accidentally tossed out with the rest of lunch in the school cafeteria (a struggle any parent of a kid with a retainer knows quite well).

CUBCOATS

Designed for ages four and up, the masks are sold in three packs for $25, and each one resembles a different character from the Cubcoats line: There’s Pimm the Puppy, Kali the Kitty and Flynn the Fox. The wristband doesn’t just resemble the character; the mask itself is printed to match the snout of the puppy, kitten and fox, so they can be worn with the line’s matching jackets as a complete costume (or everyday wear, because it’s 2020 and any day you change out of pajamas is a little victory).

We tried Cubcoats’s original masks—which don’t transform into wristbands but are otherwise very similar—and kids loved that the elastic loops didn’t pinch their ears. Parents liked that their kids actually looked forward to wearing them, though we wish they offered sizes for 2- and 3-year-olds. Fingers crossed a toddler line—since the CDC recommends anyone over the age of 2 wears a mask—is in the works soon.

BUY IT ($25)


candace davison bio

VP of editorial content

  • Oversees home, food and commerce articles
  • Author of two cookbooks and has contributed recipes to three others
  • Named one of 2023's Outstanding Young Alumni at the University of South Florida, where she studied mass communications and business