PART 1:

A Dad’s Perspective on…

Choosing the best trampoline in the UAE

Quality. Performance. Safety. Ease.

I’ve been thinking a lot about these four words lately. My children have asked for years and years (literally) to get a trampoline. And for years and years I said NO (we were all quite persistent!). Whilst I loved the concept of them getting outside and having fun whilst moving their little bodies, I kept thinking, “too rusty, too dangerous, too hard to put up and take down”….my list of “too difficult” went on. I dismissed the idea when the reality was that what I had to do was research and find the best trampoline in the UAE.

But then daddy guilt hit me.

The children were begging me to get them a piece of equipment that would make them even more healthy and get them outside in the fresh air, doing exercise! These were things I had been telling them to do This wasn’t a video game or YouTube or Netflix they were asking for, or that I was having to drag them away from. So, the penny finally dropped and I had a quiet word with myself.  This should at least be looked at  seriously before I could make a proper decision. The pros and cons of a trampoline had to be weighed up.   I needed to consider what would make the best trampoline in the UAE and think about what I wanted my children to be doing with their free time.

I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. My research began with the simple question: “What would make the perfect trampoline?” And because I love a bit of detail, I extended the question to “what would make the best trampoline in the UAE?” because, well, that’s where we live.

I made a list of what I was looking for in this piece of garden equipment, and here’s what I came up with:

• The best trampoline in the UAE:

  I was looking for a trampoline that was the most suited to the conditions of Dubai. The harsh summers can be disastrous for anything you leave out in you garden. I wanted something you could either leave out all year. Or, alternatively, something that would be easy to take down and put back up again when the time came.

• The best quality trampoline that would last and I could afford:

  The build and quality of the trampoline was important. I did not want to buy something that would need to be replaced in a year’s time.  Not only would that end up costing a lot of money,  but it would also be very wasteful and unsustainable. I don’t like to single use items and I wasn’t about to buy a trampoline that would end up in landfill in a short amount of time. I wanted  trampoline that would last.

• The absolute safest trampoline:

  Safety is hugely important. The trampoline had to be as safe for my children as possible.  Many injuries happen on a trampoline because the jumper hits the hard part of the trampoline,  gets trapped in the exposed springs or falls off the trampoline.  I wanted to minimise the risk as much as possible. This was the same as buying a good quality car seat for safe travel in a vehicle. This had to be the best trampoline in the UAE to keep my children safe whilst doing something that could potentially be hazardous. Investing in the correct piece of equipment was critical.

• A trampoline with great bounce performance:

  As children grow they become more capable.  I did not want to invest in something that my children would outgrow before they had finished using it.  Considering the investment I wanted this  trampoline to be to fulfil their jumping needs for now and the foreseeable future.

I now had my list of what were the most important elements for choosing the best trampoline for my family. In fact, if I could find a trampoline that met this criteria, I’m sure I would end up with the best trampoline in the UAE!  The perfect present for my family. 

You can read more about my perspective in the next blog but, in the meantime, if you want to read what other dads think you could try with Hari, an avid trampoline user with a family of jumpers 

A Dad’s Perspective… Part 2 coming soon!