Amanda and Elena got to go to a birthday party at Bounce U this past weekend. They love that place, even if Amanda gets upset at times when the slide gets too crowded (she doesn't like to get pressured into going down before she's ready or trampled on at the bottom).
I invented a great game with Elena, though. She sits on the raised "wall" on the edge of an inflatable area (like a moonwalk). I thrust my feet into it next to her, and she goes flying a respectable distance. It's quite a workout for me, and she really loved it.
Donna tried it, too, but I didn't explain it very clearly, and it didn't work as well for her. I was surprised at how unable I was to explain how it works. The first time I tried it with Elena, it worked great, even though I didn't really know what I was doing. I could reproduce it but couldn't explain it.
After thinking about it some more, I think I can finally explain what is happening. It turns out that my first contact with the edge that Elena is sitting on does not propel her up very far - just a little bump up. But I keep my feet on the inflatable part and she comes back down from her small bump up. At this point, I press hard with my feet. This is what launches her up into the air. When I do it, it feels like a slow process, but it feels just like one jump, given that her first small bump up is indeed very small.
What puzzles me about this is how I knew to do it this way the first time. Was it blind luck? Did I just feel for her weight and then push her off? Am I just naturally gifted in the physics of large, inflatable objects? They are invited to another birthday party at Bounce U next week, so I'll get to study my technique some more then.