A Trampoline
We were blessed by our neighbors a few years ago, in the form of a trampoline. Our children were thrilled and have spent more hours than I ever imagined they would, bouncing and pretending and doing flips. My son especially loves the trampoline and you will find him on it almost every day.
Double layers of socks in the winter.
Swimming and then bouncing in the summer.
Jumping in the beautiful, straight-down rain the other day. Eating a snack with the trampoline as your table and bench all-in-one.
Playing Popcorn on the trampoline! {Find the game in this post.}
Laying on it and cuddling your favorite kitten. An endless opportunity of uses.
With much use and weather and wear, our trampoline mat had seen better days. It started ripping out and popping where the springs were held onto the mat.
The kiddos had taken tape and taped off an area, so they would know to jump away from that area and hopefully prolong the life of their beloved trampoline mat. It worked for a while, but then it started popping springs again. When my husband looked at it, he could easily tear the tabs holding the springs. The trampoline mat was officially toast. Saggy and unjumpable.
My man told me to order another mat for it, so I did a little online looking. We had replaced the mat soon after our neighbors gave us the trampoline. It was torn out in a few places, but not too bad. We decided to replace it and we really were rather disappointed that the mat we bought then, didn’t last any longer than it did. I’m not familiar with trampoline brands, so I have no idea what is better or best. I’m also pretty much a firm believer that not very many things are made to last today and I can get rather annoyed at quality compared to price. If it is very affordable, generally the quality is not very wonderful. So it seems to me!
We ordered another mat and while we were waiting for it to arrive, I came across an idea on Pinterest. I know it’s really hard to believe that Pinterest would offer an idea!
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Covering Trampoline Springs with Pool Noodles
The idea was to use pool noodles to cover the springs of your trampoline. I thought it looked like a fun, affordable idea. And it looked easy, so it might be a project I could handle! 😉
I wrote a little about the project in this hello monday post. We’ve never had one of those covers for the springs for our trampoline, so I decided to give the pool noodles a try.
It was good timing too. We were waiting for the trampoline mat, had the trampoline apart anyway, and it was the week of swimming lessons, which meant we were driving to town everyday, which also meant I could run into Wal-Mart a couple of times to gather up, and buy, pool noodles. You can find pool noodles on Amazon here. Or give your local Dollar Store a try!
Tucker was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the trampoline mat. I think he was in trampoline withdrawal. It arrived the day or two after Grandpa’s arrived for a visit.
Tucker was ready to get it all together. He did much of the cutting of the pool noodles. We simply measured and used scissors to cut the noodles into pieces. *when cutting take into consideration the streeeeeeetch the spring will have when connected to the trampoline. I didn’t. Not a big deal, it just doesn’t completely cover the whole spring once connected to the mat. UPDATE: I’ve seen several times where people mention using an electric knife to cut the noodles. And I also saw box cutters mentioned. Good ideas! {obviously, adult supervision required.}
Renae and Tucker cut and covered the springs and then decided what order they wanted the colors in. Then with help from Grandpa and Daddy, they put the mat in place. New trampoline mats fit TIGHT and are a little work to get in place. Very thankful to have a strong daddy to lend a hand!
Once the mat was wrestled in place, it was done and done!
All except the trying-it-out part! Tucker had volunteered for the first-person-on-the-new-mat spot. They are both glad to have the trampoline working again and have already logged quite a few hours on it. It was fun to try the pool noodle project and it gives it a nice pop of color!
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Almost makes me want to come jump a bit =)) So cheery looking.
Come over anytime! 🙂 It bounces quite nicely. And it is cheery!
What a truly awesome idea!!! I would love for you to share and link up at my weekly TGIF Link Party if you haven’t already this week. Your favorite posts, most popular, recent or new! The party is open every Thursday night and closes Wednesday’s at midnight. Followed by (Not SO) Wordless Wednesday! http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/.
I would be honored if you join us and follow to stay connected Have a wonderful week!
Hugs, Cathy
Pinterest always has some great idea to offer! 🙂 Thanks for coming by!
Hi, I just got the pool noodles for this project and wanted to know if you cut the noodles down the middle length wise to get them aroind the springs easier, or if you just kinda shoved them through!?!
We had our trampoline apart anyway to replace the mat, so we just slid them on the springs and didn’t cut them lengthwise. The noodles were a perfect fit on the springs for us. My dad and I did talk about that if you needed to replace any and didn’t want to take the spring loose, you could probably slit them and put them on.
Thank you so much for your quick response! Gonna work on it now:)
I hope you love it! I like how cheery it makes our trampoline look. I’d love to see photos of yours if you post some. 🙂
What a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing! I’ll be trying this soon as the cover for our springs is wearing very thin these days.
It was fun and easy! My kind of project!! My kiddos did a lot of it. It makes the trampoline very cheery looking.
What a great idea! I think I’m going to do this. We have a net for our trampoline so the kids aren’t really ever touching the springs, but it just makes it look so much cuter also. How many noodles did you buy to cover all of the springs? We have a 14 ft. trampoline.
Quick note–I don’t know how much the noodles are at WalMart, but I do know the Dollar Tree carries them as well. We got some from there for VBS and they seemed pretty sturdy.
God bless!
Jessica
We have 96 springs and I bought 14 noodles. We had one whole one left. We should’ve cut the pieces a little longer though. But they’re fine! I think our springs are 8 1/2 inches from tip to tip and the stretchy part was 6 1/2 unstretched. The colors do make the trampoline really fun!
How have the noodle fairedin this winter weather? Will you need to replace them this spring?
They’re holding up well. I don’t plan to replace them at this point! 🙂
Do the pool noodles have a hole in the center? I was planning on putting a slit down the middle and popping it in over the springs. I really didn’t want to undo the springs again.
Yes, they do have a hole in the middle.
Wow what a great idea! I just love the colors. How many noodles did it take?
What I would like to know is…what do you think would be the ideal length to cut the noodles. Also…when the trampoline is jumped on, does the noodles get pinched or knotted up in any way?
I think our springs are 8 1/2 inches from tip to tip and the stretchy part was 6 1/2 unstretched. You would just need to check your springs and decide the length you need to cut them. If you want the spring completely covered, measure them when they’re attached to the trampoline. Mine came out a little short, because I didn’t think about the stretch of the spring. They were fine, though and it didn’t bother me. I’m a jump-in-and-do-it kind of project person. 🙂
The noodles have never knotted or pinched for us.
Have you had to replace the noodles yet and if so, after how long? I’m considering doing this, but wondering how long the noodles will hold up. And if they do break down, do they leave a mess in the yard? Thanks!
They didn’t make a mess, really. They lasted for well over two years for us. Some got split and had come off. My husband and kids decided to go ahead and take off the rest. They wouldn’t have had to all come off, though. We could have just replaced the ones that did need it. And they didn’t come apart in little bits or anything making a mess all over. Basically, we just would throw out one if it split.
It was a lot of fun to do this project and I would definitely do it again! The color is so fun, especially when you first put them on!