Trampoline Accessories - Which Ones Are Needed For Safety?

Parents typically have a love/hate feeling towards their kid's trampoline. They love it because it gets their child away from the XBox and gets him outside and exercising and yes, even enjoying it. So what's to hate? Well we all know that trampolines can be dangerous. And I'm pretty sure that when someone is doing a back flip 10 feet in the air, the last thing he's thinking about is safety. Especially if that someone is a teenager or even a pre-teen. And parents can just feel their stomachs tighten as they watch this activity outside the kitchen window.

That's why there are a few trampoline accessories that qualify as necessities.

The most important of these is the net enclosure. This is like a wall of netting that goes around the trampoline that will keep the back flipping child we talked about earlier from falling those 10 feet onto the hard ground. There are a couple of types of net enclosures available. One type attaches directly to the mat, the other is stands on it's own around the trampoline. It really doesn't matter much which one you get. Just be sure to get one.

If you only want to get one accessory, stop reading now. That's the one to get. But if you really want to be safe there are other trampoline accessories you should take a serious look at.

If your trampoline doesn't have padding on the frame, it should. Many come with padding now, but even then, it doesn't hurt to have an extra layer. Plus if your trampoline is getting old, the padding could be worn down. When was the last time you checked your padding? If it's been a while then it's quite possible that hitting the padded frame isn't much different than hitting the frame itself. Make sure your padding actually still has some softness.

Finally, seriously consider getting a cover. First of all, it's great for keeping things like wet leaves, bird waste, dirt and other things off the mat. Who wants to spend time cleaning up that mess? But a cover also has some safety implications. Wet things on the mat can make it slippery. If your child lands wrong he could go flying (into the net enclosure we hope). Simply keeping the mat clean is another way to take away some of the risk.

As parents, we're always going to worry a bit when we watch our children flying high on a trampoline. But having the right trampoline accessories can help cut down on at least some of that worry.

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