Why Do Kids Love Jumping Castles?
It is no surprise to many of us adults, both parents and non-parents, that kids, just love jumping
castles. These inflatable structures attract children like ducks are drawn to water. A kid can spot a
bouncy castle from a long way away. I don’t know if it is the bright colour or something in their DNA,
but they just spot them straight away. The look on their faces immediately brightens and they are
focused in an entirely new manner. Impending excitement is in the air and their noses twitch in
anticipation. I have, in all my years, never seen a child indifferent to the charms of a crowded
jumping castle, which is alive with laughing children.
Colourful Jumping Castles Stand Out
How do I get on and how do I get to it? These questions are paramount in their minds, as we
approach the party or event. It may be a fair or a festival of some kind, or it may be a shopping
centre extravaganza, whatever, the colourful jumping castle stands out like a beacon of pleasure. A
lighthouse flashing warnings of bouncing good times directly ahead. My children are squirming in
their car seats, impatient to get out and get on. Every other part of the party fades into the
background before the bulgy, bouncy castle.
A Kid Can Jump & Fall in Harmless Fun
There is something about being able to throw your body around in pure glee, without the harsh
consequences of gravity and solid surfaces. A kid can jump amd fall in harmless fun, again and again.
He or she can take in huge gulps of air and scream in ecstasy, as their form is flung back from the
forgiving walls. It is like all the strictures and rules of ordinary reality are rolled back for these
moments of bliss. Kids are free from the boring physics, which underpin our everyday lives, for those
minutes and hours they inhabit their jumping castle.
Children Spend More Time on Computers
As human beings in the 21C, we live in an increasingly digitalised world. This means that our children
spend more time on computers and looking into screens, than they do having physical fun.
Technology is a blessing and a curse, in many ways, sure it saves us time on so many applications,
but it also demands an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. Sitting down, typing and staring into countless
screens is not a healthy occupation for children or adults. Getting outside and having some real fun
is. Using their bodies to bounce around and laugh is, also, a better thing to do with their time.
Childhood is Supposed to Be a Time of Innocence
It is easy to forget that childhood is supposed to be a time of innocence. Our kids are growing up so
fast these days and I do not know if that is being led by all this super-fast technology. Children are on
social media platforms dealing with cyber bullies and increased peer group pressure. Every child has
a mobile phone from an early age. The world is a far more complex place than it used to be before
all this innovation.
Put Some Bounce Back into the Lives of Children
Perhaps, it is time to put some bounce back into the lives of children? Time to enjoy some simple
physical pleasures again. Families have a responsibility to ensure that recreational time is good for
young bodies and minds. It is too easy to switch on the TV, let them play computer games on their
devices for hours on end, and before you know it the day is over, and it is time for pizza. Where has
the time gone and the opportunity to engage with the physical world? Have those kids burnt up any
kilojoules, before the carbohydrate rich dinner and sugary drinks hit them? Bouncing is good
exercise for human beings of all ages. A jumping castle may not be the panacea for the modern age,
but it surely deserves a place in the lives of children and families for all those right reasons.
Playful Grown Ups Love To Bounce!
Scientific studies into adult playfulness have found multiple positive therapeutic benefits: (https:/
The Importance of Fun & Play for Human Beings
Ash Jumping Castles know all about the importance of fun and play for human beings. It is well known how vital play is to the development of children, as it is how kids learn new skills and socialisation. Adult play, however, has been neglected in terms of understanding its importance to health, wellbeing and creativity. They see, first hand, the positive effects of play and putting the bounce back into the lives of adults and children. Their inflatable castle and super hero suit hire business puts wide smiles on the faces of participants seven days a week.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
We have all heard that expression: “Laughter is the best medicine!” The recent findings by universities across the globe confirms the fundamental basis of this statement.
“Playful adults have the ability to transform everyday situations, even stressful ones, into something entertaining”, according to Professor Lynn Barnett, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Being silly and having the ability to laugh at oneself in appropriately playful situations can be an essential part of the rejuvenation process. It is like going to the well of playfulness to top up the necessary magic, which keeps us happy and healthy.
The Recharging Process of Play
The colourful array of bouncy inflatable realms at Ash Jumping Castles for kids and adults, hark back to fairy tale and fantasy. This link to our imaginary worlds is an important part of the recharging process of play. Super heroes, castles, princesses, fairies, clowns, gladiators, wizards and dragons are all elements in the stories that have underpinned our childhoods as human beings. They are conscious of these factors in the transformative nature of his business. Laughter rings out at parties across Sydney, where adults and kids enjoy bouncing around at play.
Shiny Faces in Rapture & Glee
The bouncy castle is a primal manifestation of unmitigated joy for children at play. To see those shiny faces in rapture and glee, as they interact with inflatable surfaces safely, is to be associated with something essentially good in life.
Mrs Aileen Conroy, owner of Ash Jumping Castles says, “I love my work, not everyone can say that about what they do for a living. We have an amazing range of premium quality jumping castles and inflatable suits for hire in Sydney. From the children’s birthday party through to the corporate team building event, we get great pleasure advising the organisers on ideas for the most memorable event”.
Laughter is Intoxicating in Itself!
More and more people are recognising that all work and no play is not healthy. Having an inflatable castle for the grown ups lightens the atmosphere for all party goers with the ringing of peels of laughter. Laughter is intoxicating in itself. Seeing inflated sumo fighters in a bouncy boxing ring will bring the house down. There is a large range of adult jumping castles and party gear available also. Science shows that fun is the healthy alternative to seriousness. All play, including a bounce on a jumping castle, makes you more alive and a great stress reliever when it comes to dealing with the fast pace of work and life in 2018.
Sumo Wrestling is actually a very serious business. It’s not just two fat guys jumping on each other!
Our Sumo Suit hire is awesome for a party but Japan’s national sport is quite fascinating.
Here are some things Ash Jumping Castles has put together that you might not know about Sumo…
Sumo is actually a religious ritual
Sumo originated around 1500 years ago in Japan. It originated in the Shinto religion and was performed at shrines to ensure a bountiful harvest and the hour the spirits. Sumo is still closely associated with its religious roots and Shinto principles govern the everyday life of today’s wrestlers.
Every newly promoted yokozuna (Sumo Master) performs his first ring-entrance ceremony at the Meiji shrine in Tokyo and wrestlers throw salt before a match to purify the ring in which they play
- The rules of the match
A sumo match doesn’t start until both wrestlers have placed both hands on the ground at the same time. Before this, wrestlers tries to psyche the other out, pretending to put his hand down and then getting back up again.
Once they finally do begin, it is very rare for sumo bouts to last longer than a few seconds – although occasionally they can up to four minutes.
This means that the action is very fast-paced and exciting. A match ends when one of the wrestlers is either thrown out of the ring, or if any part of his body apart from the soles of his feet touches the ground.
The match can also end if one of the wrestlers loses his mawashi, or loincloth – in which case the wrestler is disqualified!
Sumo life is really hard.
Sumo wrestlers’ lives are possibly the most rigidly regimented and disciplined of any athletes in the world, and life in a sumo stable is incredibly hard.
Lower ranked wrestlers are expected to get up earliest and cook, clean and serve food for the higher ranked wrestlers.
Sumo wrestlers haven’t always been fat
It was only very recently in the history of sumo that the wrestlers developed the chubbiness they are now famous for. Since there are no weight divisions in professional sumo, every wrestler just wants to get as big as possible so that he can use his bulk in the ring.
The sumo’s favourite food is chanko nabe. This is a special kind of hotpot packed with meat, veggies and noodles that is specifically associated with sumo wrestlers in Japan. Wrestlers also have a special routine of exercising on an empty stomach and sleeping after eating to help turn the calories they consume (up to 10,000 per day) into bulk.
Sumo wrestlers aren’t allowed to drive cars
Strange but true! After a serious car accident involving a sumo wrestler, the Sumo Association banned wrestlers from driving their own cars.
Sumo referees need to watch their backs
Like the wrestlers, Sumo referees or “gyoji” enter the world of sumo at a young age (about sixteen) and remain in their profession until they retire. The traditional clothing they wear in the ring is strictly graded according to rank, and as they progress up the ranks they earn honorific names by which they become known.
The gyoji also carries a sword, or tanto, to show that the referee understands the serious nature of the decisions he has to make – and is prepared to commit seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) if he makes a bad decision!
Thankfully these days the gyoji usually just submits his resignation papers instead as a gesture of contrition.
Sumo wrestlers have to wear traditional clothes
As soon as they join a stable Sumo wrestlers are expected to grow their hair in order to form a topknot, or chonmage, similar. They are expected to wear this hairstyle and traditional dress at all times when out in public.
They also have strict rules for behaviour
Rules delineate that when out and about, wrestlers must be self-effacing and softly spoken, and during tournaments they should refrain from showing joy at winning or disappointment at losing.
Only one foreigner at a time!
Sumo stables are only allowed to have one foreign wrestler at any one time.
These foreign wrestlers are expected to speak Japanese, and must be well-versed in Japanese culture – meaning that foreign sumo face all the same challenges that Japanese sumo do, but with the added anxiety of having to learn to live and breathe like a Japanese.
Akebono Taro, born Chad Haaheo Rowan, became the first ever foreign-born sumo grand champion in 1993. He is a native of Hawaii.
Women can’t be sumo wrestlers
Sumo is a sport in which women are not aloud to compete or enter the sumo ring, as it is considered a violation of the purity of the ring.
This caused a bit of an issue when there was a female Governor of Osaka since the Governor traditionally presents the Governor’s Prize in the ring at the end of the tournament.
It wasn’t always the case that sumo was so hostile to women, however, and as early as the 18th century there was a form of female sumo commonly performed in some areas of Japan. Most of the time this was just a form of entertainment, but in some areas of Japan female sumo did have a serious role in Shinto rituals.
