It may not be fancy, but it is the simplest idea that provided our daughter (and everyone) with hours of silly playtime. I present to you:
THE CUSHY STAIR SLIDE
The idea came after finding plastic, link together stair slides available for sale on Amazon: Stair Slide
We loved the idea and were considering buying a 4 pack of them. However, a lot of reviews warned about the landing being rough. Between that and me debating if the price was worth the purchase, my husband decided to take matters into his own hands.
Honestly, I still can’t decide if this was a great idea or a crazy one. The mother in me was screaming every single possibility that could go wrong, yet I seemed unable to stop myself from climbing back up and sliding down multiple times.
Originally, the cushy slide was made with two mattresses, but they added a third to increase the thrill level. What is really great about the mattresses being part of the slide, is the fact that the softness of the mattress allows it to curve once on the floor. This kept the final landing from becoming a harsh thump like what I was worried about with the plastic, link together stair slides.
The biggest downside was that they do shift, so we had to occasionally push them back up, into place. Having a carpeted floor did help create enough friction to hold them still for awhile rather than the mattresses just sliding down like big, old cushy sleds.
This was so much fun to slide down and the climb up let my daughter pretend that she was mountain climbing. It was the first time in awhile that she fell asleep at bedtime.
For a demonstration, here is Daddy Bear: