With an increase in trampoline sales over the past few years it is not surprising that more and more children are hoping for a trampoline this spring. As with most things, activities children enjoy normally come with a few hazards, and trampoline safety is no stranger to cautious parents. Garden trampolines in particular have been subject to criticism in the past, with some parents claiming that they are unsafe.
Garden trampoline accidents and injuries can be easily avoided, providing you take the correct precautions. This article aims to provide cautious parents with a comprehensive guide on how to prevent garden trampoline accidents happening.
After all, trampolining is extremely fun and a great form of exercise that should be experienced by children.
If you, like many other parents, want to know how to keep your child safe on a trampoline, please use these tips to ensure protection and safety.
Purchase A Recommended Product
Trampolines are becoming increasingly popular within the children’s toy market and consequently you will find a plethora of trampoline retailers, all claiming to be the best quality, best price or the best value. So how do you choose the right one? When looking for a trampoline, make sure you are looking at the quality of the product itself, not its appealing price tag. For the best quality trampolines, you will need to spend a bit more, but you cannot put a price on your child’s safety.
Look for products that come with safety equipment such as ladders, safety enclosures and trampoline padding. Many retailers now offer packages that include trampolines and trampoline safety enclosures, which will save you a lot of hassle of finding matching sizes and perhaps a few pennies too. Another good tip is to browse through review sites. These will give you excellent and, most importantly honest opinions about products that are good/bad, value of money etc.
Keep The Trampoline Up To Scratch
Often trampolines are left up in the garden through long, cold and wet winters and get damaged or ruined. During winter and windy days, use anchor kits to prevent your trampoline from blowing away and causing damage to your property…and someone else’s. Dropping the safety net after use will also stop the wind catching it.
Be sure to check your trampoline thoroughly before each use, checking for any rips, tears or other problems and fix them before using. There is usually a simple and quick fix for these problems, for example fix squeaky springs by adding petroleum jelly to the spring holes and surface rust on the springs can be treated with WD40.
You might also want to purchase a protective weather cover for your trampoline, to stop rain, leaves and debris from staining the mat. A protective cover will also prevent ash from any bonfires or barbeques burning holes in the mat.
Maintaining the trampoline will not only keep your child safe but will help lengthen the lifespan of the trampoline and its accessories.
Get The Right Size And Shape
Round trampolines tend to be the safest shape. Rectangular trampolines are commonly used for athletic purposes as they tend to give a higher bounce.
If you have a little one who is younger than 5 years old, they will be much safer using a small trampoline (about 55in). These are designed for indoor use as you can keep a firmer eye on them. They also come with a bar so your little one can hold onto something while bouncing.
Create Rules
‘Rules,’ probably the least-liked word amongst children, but guidelines need to put in place purely for their safety. When setting the rules, explain to them the dangers. Get them to understand the risks that might occur while playing on their trampoline. The more aware they are, the less likely they will sustain an injury.
Rules could include the following:
- No somersaults or acrobatic movements
- Bounce in the middle of the trampoline
- Do not go on the trampoline if is slippery or wet
- No more than 1 child bouncing at a time
- Do not go underneath the trampoline
- Do not jump off the trampoline
Supervision
Parents must be observant and supervise their children at all times. Children like their own independence and may not appreciate you watching over them, therefore instead of appearing like you are supervising them, why not get involved and create fun games for them to play using their trampoline. The following games are popular amongst children:
- Simon Says – You can shout out instructions for the jumper to perform (nothing too risky though)
- Follow me – One child makes a move and the other children have to follow until one of them forgets the pattern and is removed from the game, then the next person creates a new routine
- Ring around the Rosy – ‘Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!’ And they love falling down!
Accessorize
There are hundreds of products out there that will help make your trampoline safer. Trampoline safety enclosures are probably the most common trampoline safety accessory. Enclosures mean that children will not be able to bounce off the trampoline, or jump off it. Other safety accessories include:
- Trampoline skirts – which prevent small children or pets crawling under the trampoline and getting injured
- Trampoline spring padding – this sits on top of the trampoline springs, preventing injury by falling on the springs
Andy says
Thanks
BlissPlan says
You’re most welcome. :-)
Trampoliners says
Thanks for this valuable input. Actually most of the people don’t know that how to keep their children safe during playing in trampoline and that’s why this kind of discussion really makes them benefited and I appreciate you for this write up. :)