Children’s bucket hats and beanies that can absorb up to 50% of sudden impact have hit the shelves across Australia, offering a level of safety for our little ones, against those inevitable bumps and knocks as they grow and explore their surroundings.
The innovative start-up, tumbl.bear, offers children’s hats that look and wear exactly like regular children’s hats but incorporate a thin layer of extreme impact reducing foam.
For life’s little tumbles
Tumbl.bear is the brainchild of SA entrepreneur Mark Sellar (and new dad!) of globally sold Fantom Hardware and co-founder Edward Cooper.
Mark said the hats were designed to be worn every day and to let kids play and experience life with a reduced risk of head injury.
“As a new father, I’m quickly becoming aware of how often babies and toddlers can bump their heads or tumble over as they attempt to find their feet,” Mark said. “The idea for the tumbl.bear hats came to me while watching my three year old niece play over the past few years. In one minor incident while running around, she underestimated her height as kids do, and ran into something resulting in a nasty bump. When I posed the question as to how you could minimise the risk of injury in these everyday scenarios, the only answer was in the form of a helmet which seemed far too extreme for what I call essential ‘life learnings’ as kids grow and explore their surrounds.”
Impact reducing technology
The tumbl.bear bucket hat and beanie are available in neutral colours and all include a thin layer of specially formulated impact reducing foam. The foam lines the interior of the hat without adding weight or bulky seams.
“This isn’t about being over-protective. Kids fall over, they hurt themselves – this is a fact of life. You can’t wrap your child in cotton wool however, we’re here to provide kids with a layer of protection to minimise those occasional trips to the doctor for stitches or emergency department for a playground fall.”
Falls accounted for close to half (45.9% or around 30,500) of hospitalisation injury cases and were the most common reason for injury hospitalisation of children across all age groups (source: aihw.gov.au).
“It’s impossible to eliminate risk altogether but this is certainly the first step.”
Australia’s largest baby supply store, Baby Bunting, is the first national retailer to place an order for tumbl.bear products, with its first delivery landing in store this week.
If your child is wearing a hat in the yard, kindergarten, around the house and you have the option to make it safer with this new innovative design that reduces impact, we think the question is, why wouldn’t you?
For more information:
See the tumbl.bear beanie in action
Tumbl Bear Beanie Test from Tumbl Bear on Vimeo.
