Bouncing off the walls (the ceilings, the floors...)

When the weekend rolls around, the inevitable question with kids comes up, "What are we going to do today?" Today, Saturday, is an overcast and somewhat rainy day, so the question of what to do becomes severely acute, since the options of what to do decreases. We could go to the mall, or to a kid friendly museum and walk around for a few hours, but these are options which seem to be more interesting to adults. There is an option that is more kid friendly and what I like to call a phenomenon, because of how these places have sprung up nearly everywhere: indoor jump zones (see links below).

Indoor jump zones are big halls filled with inflatable jump houses, obstacle courses, and giant slides that serve as areas where frazzled parents and their hyper kids can go to when going outside and playing in a playground becomes prohibitive. Going to one of these jumpy places is kind of like a "reverse insane asylum", where kids can wear themselves out and really bounce off the walls, while parents can sit on comfy couches and talk with other parents, surf the Internet with their laptops via free Wi-Fi access, or jump with their kids to wear off some energy.

In my area outside of Atlanta, it seems like jumps zones have sprung up everywhere like wild mushrooms, and I guess that says a lot about demand for this kind of activity. During the summer, with kids out of school, these jump zones have really become a destination for parents trying to find ways to keep their kids busy.

It must really be a sign of the times we live in that we'd have to go somewhere to jump around and have fun, but the lure of these places is that they cater both to the parents and their children. My kids are still a ways away from being outside by themselves and playing, so indoor jump zones are a really great way to blow off some steam, escape the house from ensuing cabin fever, and help frazzled parents answer the "What are we going to do today?" question.

Some "indoor jumpy zones" in metro Atlanta:

Kangazoom

Pump It Up

Gorga Monkeys

Jump 4 Joeys

Monkey Joe's