Jumping on a trampoline can make you feel like a superhero. Just one little push-off and you’re flying higher than anybody on the ground. With all that time hanging in the air, you can do flips, bounce onto your knees, or land in a handstand. There are world records for the longest time jumping, the most one-legged jumps, and even the “Fastest Time to Dress in Formal Attire While Jumping on a Trampoline.” Even dogs are getting into the act: check out this video of a Great Dane (a really huge dog) doing some jumps himself!
Wee ones: Jump as high as you can from the floor. Now do 2 more jumps! How many jumps did you do?
Little kids: If you and your pet dog jump on the trampoline, how many legs do you have in total? Bonus: If you jump for 20 seconds and count down from 20, what are the first 10 numbers you say?
Big kids: If you’re in the air 4 seconds per jump, and you need 8 seconds in the air to pull on pants, 12 seconds to pull on a shirt, and 8 seconds to pull on socks, how many jumps do you need to get dressed in the air? Bonus: In one world record, Ken Kovach spun a hula hoop 130 times around himself while jumping. If he did 2 spins per second, how long did it take him to set the record?
Answers:
Wee ones: 3 jumps.
Little kids: 6 legs. Bonus: 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11.
Big kids: 7 jumps (2 + 3 + 2). Bonus: 65 seconds.
Laura Bilodeau Overdeck is founder and president of Bedtime Math Foundation. Her goal is to make math as playful for kids as it was for her when she was a child. Her mom had Laura baking before she could walk, and her dad had her using power tools at a very unsafe age, measuring lengths, widths and angles in the process. Armed with this early love of numbers, Laura went on to get a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business; she continues to star-gaze today. Laura’s other interests include her three lively children, chocolate, extreme vehicles, and Lego Mindstorms.