Mummy Must Have Review | Bop Along Buddies

Bub loves to jump and bounce. Like really loves to jump. She takes every opportunity she can to jump, including {much to my disapproval} constantly jumping on the couch and beds, jumping on the spot and most recently jumping on our tiny little floor trampoline. I'm pretty sure her love of jumping is intertwined with her sensory issues. She finds the repetitive nature soothing, and anything that helps her to chill out is ok by me. I just wish she'd stop doing it on the couch.

She gives me a slight heart attack each day when she jumps on the couch so I've been searching for alternative places for her to jump. Living in a townhouse we don't have enough room to get a proper trampoline for the courtyard, so I've had to think outside the box. I've finally found a really cool alternative though. I recently discovered Bop Along Buddies online and they're the perfect toy for my crazy on the go toddler, and they can be used inside as well which is great for our townhouse.

Bop Along Buddies are inflatable animal shaped bouncers, perfect for little kids who love to jump and bounce. They're designed to teach balance, co-ordination and to help develop core strength. They're also a great therapeutic toy for children with sensory issues and special needs children with autism and cerebral palsy. Bop along buddies are a great tool to help kids explore movement and improve muscle tone, posture, balance and core strength all whilst having loads of fun. They're also great for imaginative play {cowboy races anyone?}.

Bop along buddies are made from child friendly {Phthalate free} PVC that exceeds current Australian standards. Each bop along buddy comes with its own hand pump included so you have everything you need to put it together and start playing straight away. It does take a couple of minutes to pump up though so I'd suggest pumping it up before showing the kids {because dealing with impatient kids is never fun}.

There are 13 different bop along buddies to chose from, including the standard range and XL range. The standard sized animals are suitable for kids from 1-5 {and can be used with adult assistance for children under 1} and the XL range are designed for kids aged 5+. We got happy the horse, but I'm seriously considering getting an XL one just so bub and I can have animal races {not even joking}.

I chose Happy the Horse for bub because she loves farm animals. I also chose Happy because I knew the saddle would help bub know exactly where to sit while using him, which it does. I thought I'd need to show her how to get on him and bounce, but she proved me wrong by getting straight on him and bopping around. Although apparently his name is just "horsey" and she was "jumpin" not bouncing. Jeez mum get it right.

Happy, sorry horsey, is 54cm long and 42cm high {with the seat sitting approximately 24cm off the ground}. He holds a total weight of 120kg, but its recommended no more than 70kg for regular use. Of course once I read 70kg was the limit my first thought was hell yes I can play on him too. And I totally did {would you really expect anything less}. Although I have to say it probably wasn't the most elegant thing to watch {sorry neighbours}. Just imagine me with my knees up around my ears trying to bounce on a horse that comes up to about the middle of my shin. Like I said not pretty, but still oh so much fun.

Bub's just a little bit in love with him. Well that may be a huge understatement since she has to say hello and jump on him every time she walks past him. Plus the other night she walked up to him cuddled his chin and said "awwww horsey I love you". Less than 24hrs after meeting him she declared her love for him. I think that's a new record for her. But I totally understand why, look how much fun she has on him.

Bop along buddies are safe to use inside and out on lots of different surfaces {just make sure there's nothing around that can puncture the PVC}. Bub's used Happy on concrete, grass, timber decking and the tiles inside without any dramas. The only thing she hasn't mastered yet is actually racing him rather than bopping up and down on the spot, but I'm sure she'll work it out over time.

Bop along buddies are great toys that encourage kids to exercise and have loads of fun, all while developing motor skills. They're basically a high tech version of the jumping balls that were around when I was a kid, just with loads more personality. I don't know about you, but I definitely think an animal bouncer would've been much more fun than the bouncey balls I got around on. At $44.95 I think they're a great investment given they can be used up until 5 years old, plus they're great quality. I know we'll definitely get years of use out of ours. If you'd love to have a bop along buddy at your place too, or know someone who would, then make sure you enter the giveaway below.

BOP ALONG BUDDIES GIVEAWAY

Bop Along Buddies have kindly given me a bop along buddy to give away to one lucky Finding Myself Young reader {you can choose from any of the six included in the image above}. To enter fill in the rafflecopter prompts in the widget below and then leave me a comment letting me know which bop along buddy is your favourite and why? You can see all the available bop along buddies here.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions

Competition commences 12:00am October 27th 2015 and ends 12:00pm November 9th 2015. Entry is open to Australian residents only, excluding ACT. One reader will win a Bop Along Buddy valued at $44.95. Winner can choose one bop along buddy from the 6 options shown on the prize image. Prize will be delivered by Bop Along Buddies, Finding Myself Young are not responsible for prize delivery. This competition is a game of skill and will be judged as such. All mandatory entry steps must be completed to constitute a valid entry. Incomplete entries will be deemed invalid and excluded from judging. By entering this competition you are agreeing to sign up to Finding Myself Young and Bop Along Buddies newsletter. Winner will have 72hrs to respond or prize will be redrawn. This competition is in no way endorsed, promoted or administered by Facebook.

Disclosure - I was gifted Happy the Horse for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own based on my experience with the product. I did not receive payment for this review.