When you have a party to celebrate or an event with children attending, it is a great investment to have an inflatable of some kind present to entertain them. When you purchase inflatables or hire them even, you need to consider the safety aspects to ensure everyone stays whole and happy! Here are some rules or things to think about with inflatable slides, castles and more!
Eight rules or tips
- Make sure safety inspections are done – If you are renting not buying then make sure they have liability insurance and that they carry out safety inspections on their equipment.
- Always have adult supervision – It does not take any time at all for children to get themselves into all kinds of trouble. Take it in turns for adults to supervise the inflatable to make sure nothing dangerous is attempted. You could even hire some of the older teens to do it for you if they want to earn a little money while attending the party!
- Make sure pets are kept away – These are made for people, not pets. Dogs, cats, and other animals have claws and teeth that are too sharp to go on an inflatable bungee run or whatever inflatable you have. It is not safe for them either.
- Take care in bad weather – Take care in certain weather situations. If the winds are very strong and the inflatable is very high that means it is too dangerous as it sways at the top. Rain too is a risk as it makes the inflatable too slippery and dangerous to climb. Lightening in a storm is more likely to strike at higher targets.
- Keep the kids hydrated – Make sure the children remember to get off and hydrate regularly but do not allow drinks or food on the inflatable itself. Children are very active on them so can work up a sweat and dry out quickly. Have water close by, but avoid damaging the slide with food and such. You would then have to pay cleaning fees or if you purchase inflatables sort the cleaning out yourself!
- Avoid overcrowding – It is tempting for children to just pile on the bouncy castle or inflatable bungee run but there are safety rules about how many can go on at once. Make sure they follow those rules. Let people watch but not to the point where they are leaning on the inflatable.
- Don’t let them go wild – Children tend to go a bit crazy on inflatables if there is no-one to stop them! Make sure they are playing safely and not jumping on the sides or climbing where they should not as it is a risk to them.
- Try to keep age ranges similar – Different age groups play in different ways so if you have a lot of children at different ages, it could be a good idea to have groups in the same age range go on together. That way you can stop your teens from accidentally jumping on your toddlers.
