Having four children, we've had our fair share of trampolines in the garden. Small toddler bouncers with a nose-breaking bar for the child to hold onto, huge twelve footers and various 'character' trampolines to suit whatever is in vogue with the average four year old at the time. Our current one was bought to replace a much larger trampoline; our two older children weren't using it and after pricing up the enclosure we realised it would be cheaper to buy a smaller one for (then) almost three year old Hollie, this would also help us adults to start taking back our garden.

We bought this one on a whim, I seem to recall paying £70 for it in Toys R Us but this price fluctuates wildly through the year - I can't see it on their website now but last time I was in Toys R Us I saw it for sale at £49.99. I was surprised that the box was so small, I mean it's HUGE but I expected it to be bigger - when Mark mentioned the fact that a small box usually meant lots of assembly required my heart sank.

And rightly so. It took two hours to put this innocuous trampoline together, the main problem area being fitting the enclosure properly so that it was nice and snug against the rim. The trampoline itself (the bouncy bit) has to be attached to the base, but this was a surprisingly simple (if fiddly) job with only a small amount of frustration when the elastics refused to pull out far enough. It needs two people to assemble it really, if only so that the assembler has someone to hold the bits as he screws them into place! The instructions were relatively straightforward, I remember there being a few 'lost in translation' moments but fiddliness was the only issue really.

Once erected it's stable and fairly sturdy, the padded skirt and foam slips for the enclosure make it look bulkier than it is and when it was new it was a good looking trampoline with it's smart black and white colour scheme. When it was new. Now, after around eighteen months, it looks tatty and old with holes in the foam and a decidedly saggy looking enclosure. Hollie has had lots of fun with it so it's been money well spent, but it's looking so grotty now that I'm thinking of replacing it for this summer even though it's still perfectly bouncy! Even the canvas-style straps that hold the netting of the enclosure have inexplicably stretched - it just hasn't weathered well at all.

I'm not sure of the size, probably four feet from one edge to the other but this is very much a guesstimate so if you have a limited space to fill I suggest you check the box in-store. It's perfect for us, having only four year old Hollie playing on it, but if you have more than one child who is likely to want to play on the trampoline then this one will likely be too small - one child can bounce at a time on it, any more is just asking for a broken bone to happen! Hollie doesn't like the opening in the enclosure as it's 'envelope' style so feels a bit tight to get through, she preferred the opening on her cousins trampoline which zips down to make a small doorway - much more fun to clamber through and far less claustrophobic!

I've got one minor annoyance, and so has the hedgehog who visits our garden. For some reason the space beneath the trampoline has been draped with the same fine mesh netting as the enclosure, I can't see any reason for this and it just makes the trampoline look even tattier after a while - and has caused our local neighbourhood hedgehog to get snagged three times! Not good!

The trampoline is good and bouncy, Hollie can get herself pretty high now but the saggy enclosure prevents her from attempting anything more than a straight bounce or narrow star jump - she's getting a bit frustrated about this now actually, at her weekly gymnastics class she spends time on their trampoline and wants to be able to practice her moves at home too. I suspect the trampoline itself would be fine, but once again it's the poorly designed enclosure that spoils it as it hangs in such a way that you're losing space all the way round.

The trampoline is suitable from three years, I'm not sure quite why younger children shouldn't be on it as my sixteen month old son has had a little go recently and (other than the navigable drop) hasn't had any problems at all! He enjoys getting himself into crawling position and bouncing to give himself momentum, at the point where he reaches a decent bounce will try to crawl away - this invariably leads to him tripping over his hands and really makes him laugh. Obviously if you're letting a toddler use this (or any other) trampoline you need to supervise them constantly, marginally more so with this as the floppy mesh and straps could pose a choking hazard - but I'm always outside when David is so this isn't really a concern for me.

The tall, circular design means this trampoline will fit tidily in the corner of any garden; we have a reasonable size garden so it didn't matter too much where we put it, since it's started looking so tatty however it's been relegated to the far corner - where it's now looking tattier than ever as living underneath the trees has dirtied the foam!

As far as I'm concerned this has been a good buy; it's kept Hollie entertained throughout a relatively dry summer, and helped me in my endeavours to encourage Hollie (and all of the kids) to do more exercise.