BOUNCY CASTLE HIRE - 10 TIPS ON HIRING A BOUNCY CASTLE

This article contains ten practical tips on hiring a bouncy castle, which I hope will help you through your bouncy castle hire. You should then have one less thing to worry about as you plan the event at which your bouncy castle is to appear.

1. Location: work out where you are going to put the bouncy castle before you start making enquiries with bouncy castle hire companies. Bouncy castle hire companies may have specific advice for you depending on the location you choose. Back gardens are of course the favourite location for bouncy castles, but the weather may compromise your plans. Your bouncy castle should come with a rain cover to allow use outdoors in the rain, but if rain is assured, consider indoor venues such as community centres, function rooms or other indoor spaces large enough to accommodate a bouncy castle.

2. Number of bouncy castle users: bouncy castles are available in a variety of sizes and you’ll need to hire one big enough to accommodate a fair sized group of bouncy castle users at one time. Work out how many people will be using the castle and then let the hire company know. There are strict load limits depending on the size of bouncy castle - which your hire company should be able to quote you from the relevant bouncy castle manual. The most popular size castle with hirers is the 12 ft x 12 ft (3.6 meter x 3.6 meter) bouncy castle, which will probably be all you will need, but it’s best to check.

3. Making your booking: don’t leave your booking to the last minute. Try to make it as early as possible - at the latest in the middle of the week if you are planning a weekend hire. The reason I say this is that the best, most interesting bouncy castles or boats, trains, houses, slides, moonwalks or circus rings (there are so many interesting variations of inflatable) will get booked up early, and you may be left with a less interesting bouncy castle.

4. Prices: do haggle over prices. Bouncy castle hire businesses are often open to negotiation on a hire by hire basis - especially if you hire bouncy castle extras like slides and bouncy ball ponds.

5. Setting up the castle: the bouncy castle hire company will set up the castle, which should not take more than half an hour. Make sure you allow sufficient time for the set up before the bouncy castle is needed for use.

6. Accessories: when booking a bouncy castle, enquire about extras such as slides and bouncy ball ponds (for toddlers). These extras are available at little extra cost and can make a real difference to the enjoyment factor generated by your bouncy castle.

7. Construction: the material from which the bouncy castle is made should be soft, flexible, fire resistant and very strong. The structure when inflated should not deform under load. If it does, then don’t let anyone use it and demand a refund/don’t pay the bouncy castle hire company.

8. Stability: check that the bouncy castle is sufficiently anchored. The bigger the bouncy castle, the greater the number of anchorage points required to anchor it. If in doubt, consult the manual -which the hire company should let you have reference to.

9. Height of the castle walls: the walls of the bouncy castle should be of adequate height to prevent bouncy castle users climbing over and possibly falling to the ground below. Many bouncy castles are enclosed to prevent this, and you may feel that this is the sort of bouncy castle you wish to hire.

10. Supervision: make sure there is an adult available to supervise people using the bouncy castle, and that there are no hazard in the immediate vicinity