Dear mummy, lets face it we don’t exactly have the most reliable summer. We often wake up with the promise of sunshine only to be disappointed with rain, leaving us stuck for something to do. We know that rain and dull weather can ruin even the brightest of moods. Instead of having cabin fever and climbing the walls at home, we decided to venture out and climb someone else’s walls!

We were invited down to Oxygen Freejumping in Southampton. It is the UK’s leading trampoline park operator and its aim is to create a fun and unique experience for its visitors. We wanted to see if it was toddler friendly…..and it was! More than just a trampoline park there were different zones to explore and we had fun walking the beam, throwing ourselves into the massive airbag and collapsing in the foam pits.

Oxygen Freejumping has a lot of different activities and sessions on offer at the trampoline park whether it’s Little O’s under 5 sessions on weekday mornings, the general freejumping sessions or family bounce at the weekends. The park offers the ultimate playground with 150 connected trampolines on the floors and walls, trampoline dodgeball, trampoline runway and airbag, obstacle course and more.

We were eager to get our trampoline socks on and head to the ‘bouncy land’ as I like to call it. Oxygen Freejumping Southampton is easy to get to, just off the M27, past Burseldon on the outskirts of Southampton City Centre. You can book online or on the day and car parking is free up to 3 hours outside in the retail park and there are good facilities nearby like The Range, Costa and KFC.

At the reception we were given coloured wristband for our sessions. locker keys were provided and we were asked to wear special trampolining socks for better grip. These were cool bright yellow branded socks. They even had little ones for me! As it was our first time to the centre we watched a quick safety video, put our possessions in a locker and removed all our jewellery. We were allowed to bring phones into the trampolining area and even encouraged to share our bouncing antics on social media.

Little O’s

The first session we tried was Little O’s for children five years old and younger and the park was transformed into a toddler’s paradise! The room itself is a huge space divided into zones where different activities take place. I enjoyed the foam pit and balancing on the beams. I had fun jumping onto the giant airbag. I loved running across the trampolining mats on the connected Freejump zones. Luckily for us it was very quite and calm in this session and there was enough room for everyone! There were parachute games and loads of balls to play with too. At only £5 a session per person it was really good value for money!

Trampolining is a great way for toddlers to play in a safe environment with loads of soft padding and bouncy trampolines. It’s a great way to teach toddlers spacial awareness and how to explore an environment they aren’t familiar with.

Bouncing on a trampoline is one of the most simple but joyful things that you can do at any age, that’s why we encourage parents to get involved too and whats more it’s a great way to get exercise!

Family Bounce

While we were at the centre we also stayed and enjoyed a family bounce session. This 1 hour activity was a bit busier, as the whole family is welcomed. Everyone knows weekend mornings are for family bouncing…well they are in our house! It’s the perfect way to spend amazing time in the air with your kids and great fun. £10 and you get access to everything and can bounce to your hearts content!

Facilities

We were really impressed with the facilities, they were clean and tidy with plenty of space outside the main area. Lots of lockers upstairs and downstairs with showers and changing rooms, unisex toilets to avoid queues. The cafe was well stocked however it would have been nicer to see less sugary snacks and chocolate bars, maybe more alternative options like fruit bags, nuts and salads for the adults too (it’s possible these are available but we didn’t see them at the time). There was a great viewing platform where parents could sit and take a time-out at the end of the park near the cafe. It’s also worth mentioning that the The Oxygen team were brilliant. We were greeted with smiles and there were plenty of them supervising the various areas. They weren’t imposing but did occasionally step in when us little (and big) ones got too excitable to ensure we all remained safe. They engaged with us little ones to help us feel comfortable and at no point did we see the smiles on their faces drop. I don’t know how they manage to stand there for so long, I couldn’t resist the urge to bounce!

Summer timetable and rewards

Keep an eye out for their summer timetable which is still in action until September, offering fun-filled sessions, competitions, gravity-defying games and loads more fun activities every day. To find out more visit www.oxygenfreejumping.co.uk The summer rewards card scheme encourages you to collect stamps and rewards regular visitors with a range of offers for multiple visits to the park throughout the summer holidays and until the end of September.

We had a great time at Oxygen Freejumping and will definitely be heading down for the Little O’s sessions in the near future. Who knows maybe if I get enough practice in you maybe looking at the next Olympic star!

Love Bella xx