Strollerderby
Deadly Fun: Inflatable Pool Toys May be Riskier Than They Look
vigilant (read:obsessively anal and anxious) whenever any of my kids
are around water. And for good reason, too.
But hey, it gets hot in the summer, and wouldn’t it be so nice to cool
off in a nice pool and maybe splash around and play on one of those big
inflatable pool toys? Don’t they look like fun? Safe too, right?
Maybe not.
The Good Housekeeping Research Institute tested a few of them and
weren’t impressed. Toys were tested by kids ages 4-10 and were found to
be dangerously slippery when wet (you were planning to use that
in water, right?), easily collapsible, and lacking proper instructions
and warning notifications. While part of me wants to say “Fie on thee
for omitting proper instructions!”, this is serious business.
Here’s one, the Home Waterpark Erupting Volcano Island
of Death. Looks fun, right? Yeah, until it erupts real lava right into
your pool. No, actually, this is the slippery-when-wet one. This sides
are steep and kids could fall unexpectedly.
Next we have the Coolcastle Floating Habitat complete with Death Moat.
This one lacks visibility, so even the most vigilant of parental
watcher-persons will have difficulty seeing inside to keep track of the
wee ones. Troubling, that.
Most awesome-looking but certainly also the most dangerous is the Collapsing UFO Habitat of Death,
which could be collapsed or capsized by a single kid climbing on the
roof, or because it comes in two pieces someone’s foot could be stuck
in between them when it capsizes, which is surely recipe for
disaster.
I
think the worst part is, all of these toys look fine to me. So how do
you judge? I don’t think any of us are willing to have our kids be
unwitting test subjects. I think I’ll just dangle my toes in the water
this year.
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1 Comment
doodaddy commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amThe scariest part in those photos is the kids themselves… have they been poorly Photoshopped, or have they already drowned and come back as zombies?
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