History

• John Scurlock, of the Space Walk company, is credited with inventing the first inflatable trampoline in 1959. He had been trying to invent an inflatable cover for tennis courts, and when they were inflated, the people working for him kept bouncing on the covers, giving him the idea for the inflatable bounce house. His first bouncing structures resembled air mattresses, adding walls a few years afterward.
  
  

Function

• Bounce houses are used at parties, events, church functions, pumpkin patches and school carnivals to entertain young children and keep them active, much like an inflatable playground. Some bounce houses are inflatable boxes that are basically a trampoline enclosed in netted walls. The more upscale bounce houses have slides, climbing walls, basketball hoops, punching bags and obstacle courses.
  
  

Types

• Bounce houses are made of thick nylon, and stay inflated by the use of a two-horsepower fan hooked up to a generator or other power source. The basic bounce house has four columns connected by mesh netting walls that is safe for kids to bounce against, keeping them contained within the bounce house and visible for parents to supervise. The bigger the event, the bigger the bounce house that may be rented. Some bounce houses aren't houses at all, but actually huge inflatable slides, climbing hills and obstacle courses.
  Other bounce houses are smaller and made of polyester, and can be bought for home use and inflated with a portable pump that comes with the unit. A more expensive home bounce house includes a blower that keeps a continual flow of air pumping through the house, and vented through small holes in the creases of the fabric.
  
  

Size

• The typical bounce house is a 20-by-20 foot square, averaging 10 feet in height. Smaller and larger houses are available as well, and many variations from the average square. The obstacle course bounce house can be 40 feet in length and 10 feet wide, while a preschool bounce house can be rented that is 10 by 10 feet.
  
  

Benefits

• There are many benefits of renting a bounce house for a party. The bounce house provides the children with a safe and exciting outdoor activity that keeps them exercised and entertained. The bounce house is fun for toddlers to teenagers, and it is a party activity that requires no planning or adult interaction (only supervision). Having a bounce house set up for the duration of a party insures that children will have an activity they can return to multiple times, keeping them busy for hours.
  
  

Considerations

• When renting a bouncy house for an event at a park, party throwers must be aware of park fees on top of the rental of the bouncy house. There is usually a park permit that is required to set up a bouncy house for a birthday party at a public park, and there may be a limit on size, location and the number of hours you can use your bounce house. When you rent the bouncy house, you will have to sign a waiver of liability from the bounce house rental company in case anyone at your party is injured while using the device.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Although a bounce house is huge, exciting, brightly colored and attractive to even the smallest child, parent creativity may be at its lowest when a bouncy house is used at a party. Usually parents use the bounce house as entertainment instead of coming up with their own unique games or creating a more intimate, traditional adult/child interaction. A bounce house that is an addition to a party that also includes parent and child integrated games may create a more lasting social bond amongst guests than a bouncy house that is the sole entertainment of the party.