Jump in Charlottesville, VA

As a mom to two boys who has raised them in three different cities (thus far), we’ve been around some trampoline parks. I love these parks for how they allow my kids to get some physical exercise on days when being outside isn’t an option. Plus, the kids think they are a lot of fun.

So when we moved to Charlottesville, they were very excited to try out the trampoline park – Jump.

Jump is similar to the trampoline parks we’ve visited in the past: a dodge ball area, basketball hoops above trampolines, a foam pit, a ninja warrior course, and a large area of trampolines to simply jump! There is so much to do that my kids never feel ready to leave.

To attend Jump, you have to purchase a timeslot. Jump is unique in that they allow families to purchase 30-minute time slots as opposed to a full hour. So for littles especially, that may be about perfect. Jump allows kids of *any* age to use the trampolines, if accompanied by an adult and provided that there is a waiver on file. Use your discretion as to what makes sense for your family.

Trampoline parks are inherently risky and a little dangerous. Kids are flipping and flying and jumping all over, some times with little control. While for older kids this can be navigated, for the littler ones, it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, Jump offers a “jumping beans” session every Friday from 10:00 am to noon. This is exclusively reserved for kids 6 and under.

As a purveyor of trampoline parks on the East coast (can I make that a career?), I felt Jump had the least on-floor safety oversight of any we’ve been to, which was noticeable and a bit disappointing. There weren’t any employees enforcing rules and ensuring that kids are safe.

For example: the foam pit that has the huge jumps can be a lot of fun, but kids should absolutely not jump until the jumper before them is completely out of the pit. At other parks we’ve been to, one employee is stationed at the foam pit specifically to tell jumpers when they can launch to make sure everyone is safe (and, also, sometimes smaller kids need help getting out of the foam pit). But at Jump, the foam pit was another free-for-all. Kids were jumping whenever they wanted, cutting in and jumping right in front of someone about to launch … it didn’t feel like a good situation.

Given that parents are allowed to drop-n-go for kids over 13 and that many parents will sit in the lounge area, out of sight of the foam pit and other areas of the trampoline park (because parents want to relax and/or do work while their kids burn off some energy), it would have been nice to have more safety oversight from Jump staff, as we’ve seen successfully modeled at other trampoline parks.

I would strongly encourage guardians to play an active role at Jump enforcing safety for their kids so that all in the park can have fun and avoid injury. We can work together as a community for our kids.

That confessed, our kids still loved it and came out unscathed. (And I don’t think I scared too many kids with my attempts to referee the foam pit.)

Mine are begging to attend a glow jump, which happens Friday and Saturday evenings. And given how much physical activity and coordination exercise they get in one hour at Jump, I am inclined to try it out. Healthy kids need time moving, and I appreciate how Jump gives us a wintry/rainy day opportunity to move.

Jump, as of the time of this publication, is $8 for a 30 minute session and $11-$12 for a 60 minute session (depending on the day of the week). Specific socks are required! These are sold only by Jump and are specially branded. Even our (multiple) other trampoline park socks weren’t accepted. This is for safety reasons. So plan to spend another $2 per jumper on socks if you don’t already own Jump socks.

And parents: you are invited to Jump, too! Get out there and bounce as a family! Trampoline parks are great fun for everyone, and you’ll be sweating and laughing with the family in no time.

Jump Trampoline Park

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