Bouncy castle

Inflatable castles (closed inflatable trampolines, bouncy houses, bouncy castles, moon bounce, moonwalks, or CITs) are temporary inflatable structures and buildings and similar items that are rented for functions, school and church festivals and village fetes and used for recreational purposes, particularly for children. The growth in popularity of moonwalks has led to an inflatable rental industry which includes inflatable slides, obstacle courses, games, and more. Inflatables are ideal for portable amusements because they are easy to transport and store.

The name given to such structures varies. They have been marketed with such names as "Bounce House", "Bouncies","Moon Bounce", "Boingalow", "Astrojump", "Moonwalk", "Jolly Jump" and "Spacewalk". "Brinca brinca", another name commonly used by Latinos, is Spanish for "jump jump". Residents of El Paso, Texas commonly refer to it as a "jumping balloon" but this appears to be the only area that uses that term. The term "Jolly Jumps" is often used to describe the inflatable playground structure in rural areas and some areas in the Western United States, but the term is otherwise obsolete. "Bouncy Castle" or "Inflatable Castle" are used in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and parts of Australia, "Air Playground Equipment" in Japan, and "Jumping Castles" in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Arizona in the United States.

Inflatable castles have been suggested as having some therapeutic value for children with certain sensory impairments, similar to ball pits.

The first inflatable structure was designed in 1959 by John Scurlock in Shreveport, Louisiana who was experimenting with inflatable covers for tennis courts when he noticed his employees enjoyed jumping on the covers. He was a mechanical engineer and liked physics. Scurlock was a pioneer of inflatable domes, inflatable tents, inflatable signs and his greatest achievement was the invention of the safety air cushion that is used by fire and rescue departments to catch people jumping from buildings or heights.

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