A boomerang is an Australian tool designed to return to the thrower with origins as a weapon or hunting tool, then becoming used for recreation, sport and entertainment. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes but are certainly not a toy that you would encourage children to throw around the house, that is until now.
With the school holidays and lockdowns, the kids are having to be entertained more at home and we are always looking for ways to do so, especially as the weather hasn’t been conducive to play out in the garden. With that in mind, Wicked kindly sent us their Indoor Booma Boomerang for the kids to try out indoors, we had already tried out their Duncan Pulse Yo-Yo.
The Wicked Indoor Booma Boomerang is a lightweight foam boomerang that is safe to use indoors. It is made from a specially engineered, soft and safe ‘Memorang’ foam so that you can safely throw it around the house without breaking things. It can be tuned for different paths and has a guaranteed return flight within a 4-6 metre range. It is available in three colour options; blue, red and yellow – we received ours in red. It is the apparently the world’s best-selling boomerang and is even sold back to the Australians!
Initially, despite what it says on the packaging, we were sceptical (at least the adults were, the kids didn’t care) about throwing it in the house due to it knocking something over and breaking it. We checked to make sure the television and any other breakables were securely in place before starting.
The instructions on the back of the packet are straightforward and easy to understand, with instructions on how to hold, throw and throwing tips.
You do need a fairly large room to use it in and once the adults had a few practice throws (after all, we had to make sure it was safe) we helped instruct the kids how to throw as it is not thrown like a Frisbee would be.
Well, despite our reservations it does work extremely well and nothing was broken or knocked over. It does take a bit of practice on how to throw (it has to be thrown in a nearly vertical position), learning on how to get the best angle and force of throw but it does accurately return to the thrower. The kids have really enjoyed it and want to use it in a bigger space outside – it can be used in small gardens or even in the park if social distancing allows but you do have to do it on a still, dry day with absolutely no wind – not like the very windy, rainy weather we are experiencing in West Yorkshire at the moment. When thrown as instructed it has a guaranteed 4-6 metres return flight (although we haven’t been able to test due to not being able to get out in the garden because of the weather).
You do need to spend some time practising with it to throw it properly, but it is accurate and safe with no breakages or damaged kids. We now have no concerns about the kids using it in their playroom or bedrooms.
Now that the kids have mastered the basics for indoor throwing, when the conditions are right we will be trying it in the garden as you can tune for high and low flights or distance throwing by manipulating (bending) the wings and it won’t break.
The kids have enjoyed playing with this, although the amount of time they play with it indoors is limited as in a room they can’t do too much. If they can get outside to play with it they will be able to do more and enjoy it better in a bigger space.
A fun indoor toy that won’t provide too much indoor play entertainment but keeps the kids off their devices and screens and playing together as well as on the own. It will keep them entertained at home for 10 minutes or so each time and is something that they keep going back to.
To get more out of it Wicked have also created a series of videos to teach you how to throw and do some tricks. You can access their tutorial videos on how to throw and throwing tips from the Wicked website or their Youtube channel.
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £7 | Age 3+
For more information or to buy, visit www.wickedmania.com.
Disclosure: I received this item for free for the purpose of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
