I was scared. Planning a party for toddlers was outside my comfort zone and visions of screaming kids all hopped-up on cake and ice cream flashed before my eyes.
My party had one other complicating factor. My daughter’s birthday is in January, which means the weather is too cold to just turn the kids loose in the yard to run off their extra energy. I needed something to keep them entertained and wear them out at the same time.
The solution I found was an inflatable ball pit/bouncer. A quick trip to the local athletic equipment store uncovered an affordable castle-shaped bounce house that would fit in the living room for the party. The bouncer came with 25 balls and I added an additional 200 plastic balls to keep things interesting.
The kids jumped themselves stupid during the party.
One critical consideration when purchasing an inflatable bounce house is to check your inflation options before purchasing the bouncer. Our solution had over 5 separate inflation points and we only had a simple hand pump that would work properly for inflating the bouncer. I nearly passed out working the pump and the inflation took hours.
Make sure you have a vacuum or powered pump to speed up the inflation process.
The bouncy ball-pit worked well for our party, but it did require a little extra planning. Toddlers go a little crazy (specially the boys) once they get into the bouncer. To many kids inside is an accident waiting to happen. So limit the number inside at any time and have plenty of other lower energy diversions available for the toddlers who are waiting for their turn or just getting out.
If the weather permits, you can place the bouncer outside for warm weather parties too. But, for us with our winter babies, this was the best fifty dollars we had spent in a long time.
