Bouncy house castles are a staple of children’s birthday parties and school fairs. Wen you think of them, endless childhood fun probably comes to mind. Yet when proper safety protocols aren’t followed, they can also be a potential death trap. Broken bones and other injuries from kids banging into one another are certainly possible. Yet the most serious accidents occur when one of these contraptions is lifted high into the air by a gust of wind, turning the bouncy house into a kite with children still inside. The following information details some of the things that can go wrong, and provides safety information to help ensure your children’s experience is a safe one.

Examples of bouncy house accidents:

Five Children Killed in Fall From Bouncy Castle
In Australia, on the island state of Tasmania, an especially tragic bouncy house accident killed 5 children and severely injured 5 more, leaving 4 of the survivors in critical condition. A gust of wind lifted the bouncy castle 33 feet into the air, spilling children out for the equivalent of a 3 to 4 story fall.  Four of the children — 2 boys and two girls — died at the scene. A fifth died at a local hospital.  (Wall Street Journal, 12-17-2021. p. A10)

Safety precautions for bouncy houses:

1. Make sure all bouncy house castles are adequately secured to the ground whenever used outside. If you ordered one for a party, be proactive on this. Workers get lazy and sometimes cut corners. If you can pull a cable out of the ground, so can a gust of wind.

2. Never use these installments outside on a high wind day.

3. Avoid overloading the bouncy house with too many people, or having children of drastically different sizes jumping around at the same time, which will reduce the likelihood of injury.