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Boston Museum Donation Charity Blastzone

Boston Children’s Museum Auction

We’re happy to support the upcoming Boston Children’s Museum’s annual “Wonder Ball,” which takes place on November 14th, with a donation of a Magic Castle Bounce House for auction.

The Wonder Ball is their biggest fundraiser of the year and the auction is critical to their ability to continue to provide innovative exhibits and programs to children throughout the Commonwealth.

Check out their article on the power of play.  We agree, and of course Inflatable Bouncers and Water Parks are great physical play devices, encouraging motor development, helping kids develop the ability to control their body’s movements, locomotion, and complex sport skills, as well as social interaction and more.

Remember:

Boston Museum Donation Charity Blastzone

Bounce House Safety: Evenly Matched Players

As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, we are exploring deeper into the general rules of using Bounce Houses and Inflatable Water Parks safely. During this series we explore the “how’s” and “why’s” of the various aspects of safe inflatable use, such as anchoring, evenly matching players, sliding independently and more.   First up…


 

 Evenly Matching Players

Bounce House Safety Kids

 

Mom wants to go in the Bounce House with the son. Brother wants to bring his sister. Your Nephew wants to bring  your dog in. You get the idea…  While each of these scenarios may sound fun, it is important that players in a Bounce House or other Inflatable Play Structure are evenly matched in size, age, development, and skillset.

Bounce Houses are inherently safe products, when used properly – they are giant bags of air (insert your own husband joke). Your lawn is a harder surface than your Bounce House, but the lawn doesn’t encourage kids to wrestle and jump directly on top of each other quite as much as the Bounce House may.

Consider the following physical development milestones for kids (we’ll use boys)

  • 1 Year (22Lbs): Crawl and walk with assistance.
  • 2 Years (28Lbs): Walk and Dance
  • 3 Years (34Lbs): Run forward and Jump in place
  • 4 Years (39Lbs): Run in circles, Ride a tricycle.
  • 5 Years (45Lbs): Jump on one foot, do somersaults.

So within one family or one playgroup, you can easily have kids who are capable of doing somersaults, and kids who can barely walk. That Bounce House can have Kids in with weight differences of 40Lbs or more within the common age-rage of 3-10, some doing somersaults, and some struggling to stay upright. Inside an enclosed bouncing environment, you potentially could have a much larger child jumping and possibly landing on a much smaller child who is unable to stand unassisted in that type of environment.

Don’t fret yet.

There are plenty of ways to keep kids safe in the Bounce House, simply by matching them properly and making sure they are playing nicely.

Evenly Matched Bounce House Players Safety

 

While following the minimum age requirements of 3-Years definitely helps, it is still critical to monitor behavior, and keep kids playing with appropriately matched players. Some Inflatable Combos, like the Blast Zone Sidekick Castle, may have an isolated ball pit area for younger kids, with a Bounce House area for larger, more advanced kids. However, in many instances, it is simply up to the parents/adults to monitor play and keep kids appropriately isolated to avoid contact injury.

A local church has tried a couple approaches with their Blast Zone Bounce House. The first was to find age-appropriate activities for different age groups at an event. In this case, the smaller kids had other activities available. This worked OK, but it is natural for the smaller kids to want to play with the bigger kids, so this is not the ideal situation.

Second, during class-based activities, kids were separated into different groups based on age, which allowed kids to play with other more evenly matched players. This was ideal, as the matching was more official and done automatically.

In family scenarios, it really comes down to common sense parenting:

  • Evenly Match Sizes
  • Evenly Match Skillets
  • Try to keep mismatched players physically separated
  • When Possible, look at Bounce Houses with separate areas for different activities
  • Don’t let bigger kids roughhouse with smaller kids
  • Don’t let people slide together as a unit
  • If you are bouncing with your kids, be very careful not to fall on top of them.

Blow up the Bounce House, Keep kids evenly matched, monitor play habits, and HAVE FUN!

Magic Castle Bounce House Giveaway

Magic Castle Bounce House Giveaway

To celebrate moving our Blast Zone Blog onsite, we will be giving away the top-selling Magic Castle Bounce House to 1 lucky winner!

You may enter daily, and earn extra entries by:
Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+
Every time a friend enters from your link, you will gain 3 bonus entries!

You can enter below or visit the Giveaway App hosted on our Facebook page here:
Magic Castle Bounce House Giveaway from Blast Zone

Be sure to follow Blast Zone on our Blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Not only will be be posting helpful articles and industry news, we will be hosting giveaways on a regular basis throughout 2015!

blastzone-bounce-house-indoors

Using Blast Zone Inflatables Indoors

Using Blast Zone Inflatables Indoors

Kids don’t always have to go outside to burn off energy or have some inflatable fun. If weather or other factors don’t permit, prepare for a bouncing good time inside. You can keep the kids off the furniture, and keep them jumping on the Blast Zone Inflatable by following these tips to use your inflatables safely indoors.

Anchoring

Blast Zone inflatables must always be anchored for safety purposes. Indoors, use the optional sand bags in place of ground stakes. These sand bags simply fill with play sand and tie onto the same loops where ground stakes would be used indoors. Each set of sand bags includes 8 bags. You’ll need to provide the sand yourself.

Blast Zone takes anchoring very seriously.  These anchors will keep your indoor inflatable in one place, so kids stay safe, and will also keep the underside of the inflatable from rubbing against the floor.  Sand bag anchors can also be used outdoors, as a standalone anchoring system, or even as a supplemental anchoring system in conjunction with the ground stakes, especially if you have loose soil.

Soft Surfaces

Your inflatable must have a nice, soft surface underneath. A carpet with a nice pad should do the trick.

Perimeter Clearance

Each side of your Blast Zone Inflatable should have approximately 6 feet of clearance, so plan space accordingly, and choose an inflatable that will fit your space. Also keep in mind that Blast Zone Inflatables have an inflation tube on the back that attaches to the blower, so allow 6 feet for this component (The inflation tube, and blower connected together). Blowers must not be placed in location where debris could be sucked into the motor from household items such as fireplaces, cat boxes, etc. The blower needs to be pumping air, not soot into the inside of your inflatable!

Clear Height

Make sure to choose an Inflatable Bouncer or Inflatable Combo for indoor use that will clear your ceiling! Many Blast Zone Bounce Houses and Bounce Combos are designed to clear standard ceilings, while still providing safe netting enclosure heights.

Water Slides

Your kids probably think it’s a great idea, but no, don’t use your waterslide inside! Come on now!

So when things get cold, or your kids just want to play inside, have fun bouncing safely by following these simple guidelines!

  • Use Approved Sand Bags Anchors to properly anchor your inflatable indoors.
  • Always set up your Blast Zone Bouncer on a soft surface when using it indoors.
  • Allow 6 feet of clearance between the perimeter of the inflatable and any obstructions.
  • Make sure the top of your inflatable bouncer or combo will clear the ceiling.
  • Save the garden hose for the garden.

Purchasing Inflatables for Church

Purchasing inflatables for churches 

There are many instances in which a congregation might consider renting an inflatable.  Because there are so many possibilities for use,  purchasing a commercial grade inflatable instead of continuously renting can be a great investment for churches. Typically, inflatables purchased by churches are used for Church events (such as picnics, festivals, and holiday celebrations), youth groups, Bible study, summer camps, and day care services. Some Churches may also make the inflatables available to be borrowed by congregants for their own parties.

Because of the vast range of uses, the ideal Inflatables for Churches are the commercial-grade variety. With heavy duty commercial-grade materials, products designed to be used frequently, and longer warranties, commercial inflatables ensure an inflatable that will last. Commercial-grade inflatables not only provide fun for Church events, they also provide entertainment and exercise for children while parents focus on other responsibilities. Also, because commercial inflatables have much higher weight capacities than their home-use counterparts, even parents can hop in and bounce around with their kids.

Many Churches are like extended families, and with a commercial-grade inflatable from Blast Zone, the family that prays together can also play together!