Space Hoppers - Original Toys Are Just More Fun

While we might all know them by different names, space-hoppers are outdoor toys we’ve all grown up with. Not to be confused with some outer space sci-fi term, space hoppers are those familiar large rubber balls with handles designed for hours of bouncing fun. But maybe you didn’t know it as a "space hopper", different cultures and even different neighborhoods had their own terms for a space hopper. Try these: skippyball, hippity hop and hoppity hop, kangaroo ball, kangaroo hoppers, bouncy balls, ride-a-roo, skippyballs and hippity hoppity.

What exactly is a space hopper? Space hoppers are large rubber balls, filled with air, some have handles and some don’t, that you sit on and are supposed to bounce up and down on. Originally made in Europe in the late 1960’s they were intended for children but can now be bought in adult sizes too. This popular activity toy could do so much and be completely pointless at the same time. Kids of all ages love them. Space hoppers were immensely popular throughout the late 1960’s into the 1970’s and even through the 1980’s.

What did you do with a space hopper activity toy? You could do pretty much whatever you wanted. The proper position on a space hopper was that you would sit on the space hopper with the feet out in front and the handle coming up between the thighs. Now you are ready for some fun. You could bounce up and down on the space hopper and by leaning forward or another direction you would get the space hopper to bounce that way. Now the fun begins – whether it’s just bouncing in the front lawn on the grass or in the garden or racing down the street with neighborhood friends or even setting up an obstacle course and bouncing over plant pots, etc., the possibilities are endless.

Why do kids and adults love space hoppers so much? No one really knows the answer to that. Could it be the simple design? Or perhaps the goofy images and faces put on the space hopper? It’s possibly the low-cost low-risk of the space hopper? It’s probably all of these reasons and more. Space hoppers are simple and easy to use. What you want to do with it is completely up to you. Just a few of the options are to bounce on it, just sit on it, race the neighborhood kids down the street, bounce around a park, make an obstacle course or try to bounce over various objects.

There are many variations of space hoppers but all pretty much follow the same pattern – big rubber ball with handles. Some of the original versions had 2 ribbed handles; others have a ring handle or a square handle. Most space hoppers have some kind of face on them, the originals were believed to have a kangaroo face. Space hoppers have even seen the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Kids’ sizes ranged from about 40 cm to 70 cm in diameter. Much larger adult sizes can be as large as 120 cm in diameter! They are all easy inflated with a foot or bike pump.

Many toys have come and gone throughout the decades, space hoppers are not one of those. What’s impressive about space hoppers is that they’re an activity toy born in the late 1960’s and they exist today in pretty much the same form they did then. Little has changed with this classic activity toy. For hours of bouncing fun, the choice for decades now has been space hoppers, for both adults and children.

About the author:
Rick Laurensen writes for 10X Marketing. For more information on space hoppers, activity toys and outdoor play equipment visit www.justoutdoortoys.co.uk