Sassy Mama Tries: Bounce Dubai

Take one industrial warehouse, fill it with trampolines, add colourful branding, a cute gallery café and a huge dollop of fun and what do you have? Bounce –Dubai’s hottest, or coolest, new indoor destination and one of the best ways to get the kiddos moving when outdoors is out of bounds.  We were desperate to give Bounce a go from the moment we heard whispers of its opening so we jumped (literally) at the chance to get our eldest boys (aged 4 – Bounce is unfortunately a no-go for the under 3’s) in on the action.

Arriving at the Bounce HQ in a converted Al Quoz warehouse, the super friendly staff high-fived our rather bemused looking minis and got them kitted out with stripy socks complete with paw like pads to ensure good grip before showing them to their designated trampoline area. Sadly the mamas had to sit this session out (adults aren’t allowed to bounce with kids for safety reasons) but could watch from the side (and will definitely be booking ourselves in soon – apparently you can bounce away 700 calories an hour and we believe it, having a mini go just to see how it felt when nobody was looking left us out of breath after 3 minutes!

The boys, who thought the small backyard trampoline was cool until they saw this place, were leaping about with other kiddos and literally bouncing off the walls while strategically placed staff made sure that collisions were controlled and nobody was doing anything (too) silly. The kids area included props such as balls (for double bouncing fun), hoops and tunnels to enhance the experience and the staff were on hand to encourage the littles to have a go. Jumping, flying, springing and falling (but without tears – ideal!), the boys were having a blast so mamas headed up to the café area for a coffee and birds-eye view of our mini gymnasts.

Bounce is divided into different sections for all types and all occasions.  We spied a bouncy exercise class going on next door to a school trip and some freestyling adults who were demonstrating some pretty impressive moves and were a little envious not to be cavorting around ourselves but the space is fab for spectators too, allowing you to keep an eye on the kiddos and indulge in some hilarious people watching (trampoliners pull the best faces!). The café is a great place to station yourself with a drink and snack and take it all in – plus allowed us to spy our boys making their way out of their section for a bit of an explore and discovering a huge blue air bag in a deep pit on which they flung themselves repeatedly – possibly breaking the ‘don’t attempt any activity beyond your skill level’ and ‘always allow smaller jumpers right of way’ rules as they went! Exhausted but so determined not to give up, we indulged the kids in a few last minutes of jumping before scooping them up to head home.

Whether you want your kids to be bouncing off the walls rather than climbing them at home or you have a mini parkour enthusiast on your hands, Bounce guarantees a heap of fun for the entire family. 100 interconnected trampolines and 500 square meters of padding & foam to land on make for a fab outing now that summer has set in – the boys were exhausted and well exercised and the next visit has already been scheduled.

Bounce is open from 10am – 12am everyday (except in Ramadan when doors open at 12pm)
General Access costs AED 80 for the first hour and AED 70 for the second hour including Bounce grip socks
Mini Bounce (age 3 -5)  and Junior Jump (over 5’s) costs AED 70 for one hour and AED 50 for the second hour including Bounce grip socks

Booking online in advance is recommended as sessions sell out very quickly www.bounce.ae

Bounce
32, 4B Street Al Quoz, Dubai (behind Ace Hardware off the Sheikh Zayed Road)