Trampolines

Trampolines are very popular bouncy toys, especially when it is nice outside.  However, not every family can afford a trampoline and many times there is not a family with a trampoline within a good distance for children to play.

Thankfully, there are other outdoor toys that are very bouncy as well.

First, if it is a trampoline that is really wanted, a child may be pleased if a mini trampoline is bought.  This will not provide all the fun of a full size trampoline, but the child can easily have fun bouncing on the trampoline and trying different things with it.  It also means that it is portable which may suit the child’s needs much better than a huge stationary trampoline.

If the child is old enough to balance and likes to bounce, the toy of choice might be the pogo stick.  The pogo stick is a simple toy.  It is a bar with handles at one end and foot pads on the other.  There is a spring under the foot pads so it will support the pole and the user when it hits the ground.

There have also been improvements to the pogo stick and these are valid options for bouncy toys.  First, there is the Vurtego, which uses an air spring system rather than the traditional spring.  Then there is also the Flybar.  Rather than using a spring, it uses twelve (12) elastic bands.

Another bouncy toy that may appease children is the pogo ball.  This is a rubber ball that is locked into a sturdy plastic platform.  The user then stands on the platform, holding the ball between the feet, and bounces with the ball.  This toys is also known as the lolo ball, the springball, and the disc o.

Yet another bouncy toy that may be a good option instead of a trampoline are moon shoes.  The shoes are marketed as mini trampolines for the feet, and that is basically what they are.  The shoe tops are placed on top of a casing where material is stretched over a free flowing inner web of stretched bands.  This gives the same type of rebound as a trampoline, but it is made for the feet.

Then there are the sit on bouncy balls.  While these may not provide the same type of fun as trampolines or the other bouncy toys, they are much safer for younger children and can still be a lot of fun.  These balls tend to be huge for the person using the ball and have a rubber hook on one side that can be held.  This way the user can sit on the ball and has support so it can be bounced along in any type of path where the user wants to go.  Sometimes these balls even have covers to look like different animals or television characters.

Of course, for young children (or at least those young at heart and not over the weight limit), there are the bouncy horses.  Rather than a rocking horse, these horses are suspended on metal frames and have springs that keep them in place.  Users can then ride the bouncy horse.  Large and small versions are made, so the horses can be kept either inside or outside.  These are similar to the bouncy riders found on playgrounds, but they tend to give more of a bouncy feeling.