Toys 'R' Us Junior Trampoline : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Age Group	12 - 36 months
Wear and Tear	Tough
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Light, ideal size for a child to climb on independantly
Disadvantages:	Doesn't fold up and takes up storage space

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Last Summer although Muzz was a baby, I decided that I wanted him to have a trampoline. Having looked a round there were 2 or 3 which I had in mind and my mum and dad offered to buy one for his birthday. Seeing as his birthday is in October we had a few problems trying to locate the one I really wanted. So my mum and dad eventually just bought the Trampoline from Toys R Us. At the time it cost around £24.99 but has recently been reduced in price to £19.99.

When my mum and dad brought the trampoline over, it was in a flat packed sort of box which wasn't very big and when I lifted it to move the box, it was remarkably light. Even lighter than a McLaren Buggy. But it sat in the hall behind the ironing board for just over 5 months before we decided that it was time we should get it out. The material part for the bouncy part is green and didn't in the least bit feel springy. It was in the shape of a square and was a rough feeling to it like some of those string bags which people use for shopping. The frame was Purple and the handle part is purple with a green foam part for the child to hold onto. The instructions look easy enought, but Hubby struggled with it for the best part of 30 minutes. The first 3 pieces were easy enough to screw together following the instructions but when it came to fixing on the handle side, it was confusing as to how it was to go and trying to fix it on to the othersides was hard as we could get one side in but not the other. I can't remember quite how we got it together but we got there in the end.

The next part was to put the elasticated string on and fix the green mat thing on to the trampoline to allow the child to bounce. This was another confusing part. It tells you in diagrams how you should fix on the string and which way to weave it but as normal we got it wrong. Eventually we managed to get the bouncy part on with our own method of weaving and it has been safe enough. Beware though, the green mat, isn't quite big enough to fit in the square allowed and it does take some stretching to get it to fit. We were very hot and bothered by the time we had finished this and we were quite relieved to have done it at night without the stress of the children around. It does say on the instructions that it will take 2 people around 30 minutes to assemble, but in reality it must have taken about 90 minutes. Plus the diagrams aren't the best for explaining how to get things together and there are no words. Call us thick but it gave us one hell of a job!

Murray loved his surprise in the morning and within seconds of seeing it had climbed up on it. It is quite low down with a height of about 50cm to the bouncy area. Murray is a petite child who is about 86cm just now and he manages to climb on and off this easily. He wasn't quite sure about what to do at first but once I showed him he happily bounces away and it has even had my weight on it and my hubbies weight on it. The handle is handy and Murray manages to hold the handle well. I wouldn't recommend allowing a child who is unsteady on their feet to use this independantly the way I allow Murray to use it, but it can be fun to do it together. The Trampoline has also been subjected to some vigourous bouncing from my niece who is 7 and survived and we have never had to tighten up the mat bit as it has kept it's bounce.

My nephew has the TP one and that is quite small and expensive in comparison to this one. My sister in law commented on how much bigger this one was compared to the TP one. The recommended age for both is 3 years but under suitable supervision we have never had an accident on the Trampoline. We keep the trampoline in the Garage when it is not in use and built up, it does take up a lot of space but for moving about a lot it is extremely light weight and easy for me to carry. There's only once that we have nearly had an accident on the trampoline and that was when my niece who is 7 bounced too high and hard and nearly went flying over the hand. Luckily hubby was right beside her to keep it on the ground. Otherwise the trampoline has been great in all respects and I'm sure has a lot more life in it!