Necessary Roughness

We got an invitation to visit KC Gymnastics in Riverside, MO. My parents, my two nephews, and the four of us went Wednesday.

Recently they had built a kids play set (on the website, the picture on the left) that was sturdy enough for adults. An incline with rock-climbing handholds led up to a platform where kids could jump into a pit of 8-inch styrofoam cubes. After climbing out, they could slide back down to the floor. Under the platform was a small net maze that little kids could run around, and depending on the square that was stepped on, some of the foam squares had speakers that made noises. The kids also enjoyed an 8′ trampoline and a diving board where kids jumped onto a large foam pad.

KC Gymnastics also had equipment for larger people. They had a flipping apparatus that suspended kids over a very large trampoline. We didn’t use the flipping belt, but the trampoline was cool. Reportedly it could stretch down 10 feet if necessary. Adults could make kids fly just by timing their jumps. They also had a full-size tumbling mat that had 3000 springs in it. No wonder those olympic gymnasts could jump as high as they do. We all had a lot of fun, and the kids really wore themselves out.