Does this seem like a good idea – kids in a hamster ball?

They are inside an inflatable ball. The ball must be airtight. Kids need to breathe. I don't understand their confusion.

Yeah, Darwin Award candidate - who thought it up and who thought it'd be a great idea to buy them?

wait
let me get this right.


Im putting my child? In a BALLOON? that is SEALED?? and then wondering where the oxygen went?

Ok.. that is stupid human trick number ten trillion and ONE..

Even the damn hamster balls had air holes in them. Anyone know if kids breathe air?

I did find the manufacturor of this product...

The website for one seller, uswaterball.com of Myrtle Beach, S. Car., says an
inflated ball holds enough oxygen for an average person to remain inside
for “a long period of time” – apparently 20 minutes without a refill, if it’s
being used in an enclosed area like a mall. Other producers claim they can be
used for up to 30 minutes.

And we are relying on some pimply faced teenager to inflate these correctly, huh?

I particularly like this "Also known as “bubble balls,” they’re made of elastic polyurethane, and are typically about 6 feet in diameter. The ball is deflated when the person gets inside. It’s then zipped up and a blower fills the sphere with air."

they climb in while the ball is deflated? With no air? And then they zip it up? And only after being deflated and zipped up do they fill with air. Seems safe to me.

And "At the Independence Mall on Sunday afternoon, Gavin said, the girl was lying down in the deflated ball when it was inflated and pushed out into the pool. "

"The website for one seller, uswaterball.com of Myrtle Beach, S. Car., says an inflated ball holds enough oxygen for an average person to remain inside for “a long period of time” – apparently 20 minutes without a refill, if it’s being used in an enclosed area like a mall. Other producers claim they can be used for up to 30 minutes."

Anyone else bothered by the use of "apparently" in the above statement?

And one more tidbit:

"James Swartz, director of the national child safety group WATCH (World Against Toys Causing Harm), said he’s not familiar with the water walking balls.

WATCH, located in Boston, is best known for its annual lists of the most dangerous Christmas toys. Last year the group posted warnings against a similar toy, the inflatable Giga Ball. WATCH said the Giga Ball could cause impact injuries to youngsters, but they’re for use on land, not in the water."

Don't try to exceed your time limit, kid.
The penalty is kinda harsh.

You air breathers disgust me!!
Always touting the line for the Respiration Industrial Complex!!

They're kids, dammit! Kids outgrow all kinds of disgusting things.

dunno, I'm still on the fence.

are they soundproof...?

Yes, if you keep them in the balloon long enough.

Soundproof? I just had a great idea. They're soft, collapsable, transparant polyurethane, right? The zipper is on the outside? Cool. We can market them as easily stored, inflatable Time Out Rooms. No home with kiddies should be without them.

Saw these in use in gotheborg Sweden. I must say I wondered about air supply at the time. I assumed they were some kind of hard perspex plastic.

Seriously, you get a bunch of kids tumbling around on a lake, how do you monitor them for time till the air runs out? I don't think you could miss too many before people start to comment.

I guess it's like the new beer bottle labels.

when the kid starts turning blue, it's done...

I also wonder how "puncture" resistant they are. Imagine what would happen if one got punctured.

Yeah, no doubt inflatable balls are dangerous. But how dangerous are they? More dangerous than skateboards? How many thousands of kids each year are injured seriously on skateboards? What parent would let their kid ride a skateboard? Or ride a bicycle. Have you seen some of those stunts that kids do on bicycles? Kids, especially boys are prone to do all kinds of stupid, dangerous stunts. Why would any parents even let their boys outside the house. There are accidents everywhere waiting to happen.

Just think back on your own boyhood and reflect on some of the stupid things you did or thought about doing. It makes riding in an inflatable ball seem tame by comparison.

Just consider Jackie Chan's parents. If they knew the things he was going to attempt, they would have never let him out of the house.

It's better that children do things under adult supervision than on their own, because children often lack proper judgment.

A case in point was in 2015, the disappearance of two 14 year old boys off the coast of Jupiter, Florida while on a fishing expedition. They had stopped about halfway to the Bahamas on their 19 foot boat with an outboard motor that had stalled. While attempting to repair the motor, the boat flipped in the swells. Neither boy was found, but a life vest was found near the overturned boat. Had both boys wore life vests hey most likely would have survived and been rescued. But 14 year old boys often lack proper judgment.