Written by Luke
To choose the right bouncy castle, start with three things: how old the children are, how much space you've got (including the height, if it's indoors), and where it's going: outside on grass, or inside a hall. Get those right and the theme is the easy bit. Here's how we'd go about it, from our own castles.
1. Who's going on it?
- Babies and toddlers (1 to 6): our Party Play Zone has a small castle, a slide, a ball pool and soft play, with side walls to keep little ones in. The Toddler Velcro Castle is another good first castle.
- Younger children: a standard castle or one of our theme castles, which come in three sizes. If you'd like a slide, have a look at our bounce and slide castles too.
- Older children: they often get more out of a fun run or a sports game than a plain castle. The football penalty shootout is for over-5s right up to adults.
- Teenagers and adults: our adult castle is built and insured for grown-ups. Our children's castles are for children only.
2. Will it fit?
Every castle needs a bit more room than its own size: space round the sides, and 3ft of access to get it in. As a guide, our small theme castle needs a space of 15ft x 17.8ft, and the largest needs 18.1ft x 21.1ft.
Indoors, the ceiling matters more than the floor. Our theme castles need 9.9ft to 10.5ft of height, the 3D Dinosaur castle 10.7ft and the adult castle 12.6ft. Outside, look up for trees and washing lines.
Our post on how much space you need for a bouncy castle goes into more detail. If you're not sure, tell us roughly what you've got and we'll tell you what fits.
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Review
Sarah Louise Dougal
★★★★★
Hired a bouncy castle for my daughter’s birthday party. Helpful from the start with measuring the space to ensure the castle would fit. Always quick to respond to my emails. Bouncy castle arrived promptly on the day and it was quickly installed. The castle was very clean on arrival. Bouncy castle collected on time and the area it had been was left tidy. Thanks!
3. Grass or indoors?
Our inflatables go either outside on grass, where we can peg them down, or inside on a hard floor, like a hall. Some companies put castles outside on patios or concrete, but we don't. If your garden is all paving, a hall is the way to go. There's more on this in can bouncy castles go on hard surfaces? Whichever it is, the ground needs to be flat.
4. Power and weather
The blower runs all the time the castle is up, so you'll need a normal 13A plug socket within 30 to 50 metres. Our post on whether bouncy castles need electricity explains more. Castles can't go up in strong winds, so if it's an outdoor party, keep an eye on the forecast.
5. Book early
Most people book about six weeks before the party, and summer weekends go very quickly. There's more on that in how far in advance to book.
We've been helping people pick the right castle round Leamington, Warwick and south Warwickshire since 2011, so if you'd rather just ask, get in touch.
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