The best pogo sticks today are no longer just a child’s toy. Kids and adults alike can have some bouncing fun, enjoy a good physical workout, or even progress into the sport of extreme pogo.
Let’s jump right in! We have carefully reviewed dozens of pogo sticks to select the 6 best models in 2024. From cheap bungee jumpers for little ones to heavyweight pogos for adults, there’s something here for everyone.
You’ll find our three top picks below, followed by a quick comparison table of all 6 pogo sticks. Then we’ll review each one in more detail.
After the reviews we have a Buying Guide, FAQs, tips on how to pogo and an all important Safety Guide.
Best for Teens
Flybar Foam Master
Best for Kids
Flybar Foam Maverick
Best for Toddlers
My First Foam Pogo
6 Best Pogo Sticks in 2024 – Comparison Table
The selected pogo sticks below are in ascending order of price. After the comparison table we will review each model, in the same order, to make comparing them easier.
If you’re on a small screen, click on the green plus sign, or the little picture of each pogo stick, to see more features.
Name | Weight Limit | Age Range | Weight of Pogo Stick | Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
My First Foam Pogo | 40-250 lbs | 3+ | 1.3 lbs | $ | |
Flybar Foam Maverick | 40-80 lbs | 5-9 | 4.5 lbs | $$ | |
Flybar Foam Master | 80-160 lbs | 9+ | 7.6 lbs | $$ | |
Aero Advantage Pogo | 40-90 lbs | 5-10 | 5.1 lbs | $$ | |
Flybar Super Pogo | 120-210 lbs | 14+ | 7 lbs | $$$ | |
Flybar Super Pogo 2 | 90-200 lbs | 14+ | 15 lbs | $$$ |
Product Reviews – Best Pogo Sticks for Kids
If you want to find the best pogo stick for any weight or age range, these reviews will help you make the right choice. They are in the same order (price ascending) as the comparison table above.
1. My First Foam Pogo Jumper (Little Ones)
Best Pogo Stick for Little Kids
- Age Guide: 3+
- Weight Limit: up to 250 pounds
- Colors: choice of 13 colors, characters, LED lights or sound (Blue shown)
My First Foam Pogo Jumper is a cute little introduction to bouncing for toddlers and is easily the cheapest here (check price at Amazon). Unlike the other pogos in our reviews, this one has no central stick or spring – it is a bungee jumper with a foam base.
The more you pull on the bungee cord, the higher you bounce up – about 6 to 9 inches. It’s not a traditional pogo but it does teach little ones the basics of jumping. This should help them to more easily get the hang of a classic spring pogo stick when they get older.
Not only will this Jumper put a huge smile on your toddler’s face, but the base is made of soft foam so is suitable for indoor use, as well as outdoors. It doesn’t scratch floors and is the only pogo here that can be safely enjoyed throughout the year, even if it’s raining or snowing outside!
Many fun versions are available to keep even the most choosy toddler happy. They come in various colors and some have cool characters (e.g. a frog or pink unicorn). Others include a jump counter or LED lights – the police officer version has a realistic police siren sound too.
The foam base can hold up to a whopping 250 pounds and the bungee cord stretches up to 40 inches. Kids definitely can’t grow too big to have a good boing on this! In fact it can easily cope with the weight of a teen, or adult.
This is the best pogo for toddlers but note that the base does contain a squeaker – so it squeaks every time you hop. Toddlers usually find this hugely amusing but it may get a bit tiring for parents to listen to after a while.
We can’t recommend spoiling kids’ fun but, if the noise becomes unbearable, some users find that if an adult bounces on it for a while that usually kills off the squeaker inside. No more squeaks…
Pros:
- The cheapest here
- Best for toddlers
- Can be used indoors or outdoors
- Great choice of colors and characters
- Folds up small for easy transport or storage
- No minimum weight, huge maximum weight limit
Cons:
- No spring so bounce height is less than a foot (but safer for toddlers)
- Squeaker inside is fun for kids, not so much for parents…
2. Flybar Foam Maverick Pogo Stick (Kids)
Best Pogo Stick for Young Kids
- Age Guide: 5 – 9
- Weight Limit: 40 – 80 pounds
- Colors: choice of 7 colors (Red/Blue shown)
The Flybar Foam Maverick Pogo Stick is an awesome entry level bouncer for younger kids and is great value (check price at Amazon).
Like its big brother (the Foam Master – review no. 3) it features non-slip footrests to increase stability. But it is designed especially for younger children so the entire stick is wrapped in foam for protection – including the metal frame, padded hand grips and the enclosed spring.
The Maverick comes fully assembled and the tip, footrests and hand grips are all replaceable. This can help extend its lifespan so you could hand it down to younger siblings or friends if your child outgrows it.
The recommended weight limit of 40-80 pounds is fine for most kids aged 5 – 9. But, if your child is at the very upper end of this weight range, the stick is more likely to bottom out – and kids grow so fast they may soon outgrow it. In that case, consider the Foam Master instead (80 pound minimum weight) for future proofing.
On the other hand, this pogo won’t bounce too high if your child is at the very lower end of the weight range. But that may not be such a bad thing for little ones! They will likely grow all too quickly and then be able to bounce much higher.
As with most models, some users say that the spring is very stiff when new – it takes time to loosen it up. If your child is very light and struggles to get it going, a heavier person could use the pogo for a while to speed up the process.
Pros:
- One of the cheapest here
- Best for young kids
- The entire stick is covered in foam for safety
- Spare parts (tip, hand grips and footrests) are available – can greatly extend the life of the pogo stick
- Flybar are the leading US manufacturer
Cons:
- Weight range is only 40 pounds so some kids may outgrow it in a couple of years
3. Flybar Foam Master Pogo Stick (Kids / Teens)
Best for Older Kids and Teens
- Age Guide: 9+
- Weight Limit: 80 – 160 pounds
- Colors: choice of 7 colors (Black/Silver shown)
Older kids will love the Flybar Foam Master Pogo Stick (check price at Amazon). It has a classic spring design with a wider tip for a more stable and consistent bounce – up to about two feet high.
Non-slip footrests help keep feet firmly in place during energetic bouncing. Both the hand grips and frame are foam covered for better safety and durability. The foam also protects delicate toes if the stick is dropped on them!
The spring is covered too so there’s no exposure to moving parts which means no risk of trousers (or fingers) getting caught up in the spring.
Parents will like the fact that the tip, footrests and hand grips are all replaceable. This makes the Foam Master better value for money by extending its lifespan – those parts (especially the tip) can take a serious beating over the years.
The recommended weight range of 80-160 pounds is sufficient for most kids and young teens. But, like all spring pogos, it may not bounce very high if your child is at the lowest end of the scale – because they will find it harder to compress the spring.
The spring can also be very stiff when new – it takes some time to loosen it enough to enjoy the full bounce height.
If your child is light and finds it difficult at first, a heavier person could use the pogo for a while to help loosen it up. Flybar also suggest applying an oil based lubricant (WD-40 or Vaseline) on the spring if required.
Pros:
- Up to about 2 feet bounce height
- Spare parts (tip, hand grips and footrests) are available – can greatly extend the life of the pogo stick
- Foam covered frame and grips for safety
- Flybar are the leading US manufacturer, founded in 1918
Cons:
- Spring can be hard to compress when new, or if you weigh less than 90 pounds – lubricant can help
4. Aero Advantage Pogo Stick (Kids)
Cheap Pogo for Young Kids
- Age Guide: 5 – 10
- Weight Limit: 40 – 90 pounds
- Colors: choice of 4 colors (Red/Black shown)
The Aero Advantage Pogo Stick is an entry level pogo stick for kids with a retro design. It targets a similar weight and age range to the Flybar Maverick (see review no. 2 above) but is a similar price point (check price at Amazon).
The Aero has non-slip pedals to help feet grip, the low-friction spring is enclosed for safety and the handle is covered with foam.
About 37″ tall, it comes fully assembled and the tip, footrests and hand grips are all said to be replaceable. This can help extend its lifespan and let younger kids take over if your child outgrows it.
As with most pogos, the spring is deliberately designed to be stiff when new – it takes some jumping time to loosen it up. If your child is very light and struggles to bounce, a heavier child could use the pogo for a while to speed up the process.
Pros:
- One of the cheapest here
- Spare parts are available – can greatly extend the life of the pogo stick
- Foam covered handle for comfort and safety
Cons:
- Only has a 50 pound range in weight limit so kids may quickly outgrow it
5. Flybar Super Pogo (Teens)
Best Pogo Stick for Teenager
- Age Guide: 14+
- Weight Limit: 120 – 210 pounds
- Colors: 1 color (Chrome/Black as shown)
The Flybar Super Pogo Stick is our top choice for teens or adults and is well priced for an adult pogo stick (check price at Amazon). Built with a reassuringly heavy duty steel frame, and a stiff piston for higher bounce or tricks, this is a high performance pogo stick for heavier users.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced pogo-er, the grip tape covered foot rests provide good control and stability. The foot rests are also extra strong (injection molded) and large enough for big feet or to cope with tricks where you need to take your feet off the rests.
The Super Pogo is one of the few classic sticks on the market that can cope with the weight of a full sized adult, up to around 210 pounds. If you’re heavier than this we’d recommend the Super Pogo 2 (see review no. 6 below).
The super wide range in weight capacity (120 – 210 pounds) also makes this pogo an excellent buying choice for a young teen. They won’t need to upgrade to a pogo with a higher weight limit after a couple of years.
Beginners may find that the spring seems very stiff at first but this is often due to lack of practice – it takes time to master the art of actively jumping with enough force to compress it. You can’t just stand on the pogo and expect it to bounce…
Pros:
- Can cope with weight up to 210 pounds
- Up to about 3 feet bounce height
- Sturdy steel construction
- Good size and design for tricks
- Spare parts are available
Cons:
- Noisier than pogo sticks for kids
6. Flybar Super Pogo 2 (Older Teens and Adults)
Ideal for Heavier Teens and Adults
- Age Guide: 14+
- Weight Limit: 90 – 200 pounds
- Colors: 2 colors (Black/Silver or Black/Yellow)
The Flybar Super Pogo 2 is a good choice for older teens or adults and is a very competitive price for an adult pogo stick made by the leading brand (check price at Amazon). Built with aircraft grade 6160 heavy duty metal and aluminum and a very stiff spring, this is an awesome performance pogo that can withstand extreme jumping by heavy users.
And we mean heavy! The weight limit of 90 to 200 pounds is a little misleading – many users report that if you’re under 140 pounds you’ll really struggle to get this stick to bounce, at all, because the spring is so stiff. Although it will loosen up over time, we wouldn’t recommend this for a young/light teen.
You really need to be in the upper end of the weight range to get the most out of this stick – although it’s not recommended, some users weighing a lot more than 200 pounds say they use it quite happily so it can certainly stand up to adult weights.
As suits a pogo aimed at larger users, the foot pegs are the width of a bike pedal for better control and stability – large enough for big feet or to cope with tricks where you need to take your feet off the pegs. It also has adjustable handlebars that you can set to your desired location and the rubber handgrips are easily replaceable.
The Super Pogo 2 is one of the only classic sticks on the market that can cope with the weight of a full sized adult, up to around 200 pounds (although in practice some users weighing a lot more than this say they use it with no issues, it’s that strong).
This pogo is an excellent buying choice for a fast growing teen who is already 140+ pounds. They won’t need to upgrade to a pogo with a higher weight limit after a couple of years – this one can easily handle the weight of an adult!
Pros:
- Can cope with weight up to 200 pounds
- Up to about 4 feet bounce height
- Sturdy aircraft grade steel construction
- Good size and design for tricks
- Vertical reinforcing chambers for extra strength
- Replaceable rubber tip, handgrips and foot strips
Cons:
- Noisier than pogo sticks for kids
- Helmet definitely required!
Pogo Stick Buying Guide
What You Need to Look For in a Pogo Stick
Some of the basic things to look for when buying a pogo stick include the cosmetic details (such as color) and the type of metal used. Steel is stronger but heavier whereas aluminum is lighter and more weather resistant.
Quality rubber tips on the base are important for improved friction and durability. It’s useful if a spare is included – if not, check if spares are readily available as they do wear out.
A heavier pogo stick will typically be more springy, be easier to use and have less chance of tipping over than a lighter stick.
However, a lighter stick is easier to carry to a safe place to use. It’s surprising just how quickly kids can tire when carrying something heavy. They also quickly lose interest in anything that they consider to be a struggle.
The amount of ‘springiness’ in a pogo stick also varies:
- Low in kids’ pogo sticks, for safety – delivered by a regulated coil
- Medium in sticks for teens and adults – delivered by a reinforced spring
- High in extreme models – delivered by a high intensity spring / compressed air actuator
Shock absorbers are especially important for a smoother ride on extreme pogo sticks. Going way higher into the air also means they land much harder on the ground
Also look for the following safety features, especially when buying a pogo stick for kids:
- (Non-slip) rubber tip
- (Non-slip) rubber on the foot rests
- Foam padded frame
- Foam covered dual handle bars
- Fully encased spring mechanism
- For toddlers – stability provided by a box shaped foam base, instead of foot rests
What Height Should a Pogo Stick Be?
The overall height of a pogo stick for kids is not as important as the height between the foot rests and the handlebars. If the handlebars are too low or too high when you stand on the stick, you’ll have a harder job controlling it and may tire more easily.
Ideally, when you stand on a pogo stick, the handlebars should be at the same height as your waist. Obviously manufacturers can’t make sticks that are the perfect height for everyone. But many do produce some models in different sizes – you should purchase the closest possible match.
If buying an adult pogo stick, it’s even more important to try to match up the distance between the foot rests and handlebars with the distance between the bottom of your feet and your waist. Because adults won’t grow any taller! So buying a pogo at the ideal height now should result in many years of use and great value for money.
What Age is Appropriate for a Pogo Stick?
There are bungee jumper pogos that are suitable for kids as young as 3. But traditional spring sticks usually have a minimum recommended age of 5 years old.
Most manufacturers offer a range of pogo sticks that target different age groups, weights, heights and skill levels.
The way the products are marketed and the suggested age and weight limits often make it obvious who they are aimed at.
For kids, it makes sense to buy a pogo stick where your child is in the lower half of the recommended age and weight range. That means it should stay usable for a good few years, even as they grow.
But make sure they are not at the very bottom of (or below) the weight range.If they are, the spring mechanism will likely be too strong for your child’s weight to make it bounce. For very young kids, also check that the footrest isn’t too high for them to climb up onto safely.
If your child isn’t quite ready for a pogo stick yet, why not take a look at the feature packed bounce houses for toddlers and kids that we reviewed recently. They’re great bouncing outdoor fun (some can be used indoors too) and are suitable for ages 2 years and over.
Pogo Stick Weight Limit
Does it matter? Yes, very much so. Every pogo stick is designed to be safe (and fun) for users within a certain height and weight range.
If you are below (or only just above) the minimum weight capacity:
- You may not be able to get the pogo stick to bounce at all – the spring will be too strong and need more weight to compress it
If you exceed the maximum weight capacity:
- The spring might break – this could cause an accident and may be difficult to replace
- You may not be able to jump as high or might ‘bottom out’ at the base of the spring
- The rubber cap around the base might become misshapen – this could cause the pogo stick to under-perform or even cause an accident
Always choose a pogo stick in accordance with the weight of the intended user. Manufacturers provide minimum and maximum weight limits for a reason. If you stay within the correct weight, height, age and skills range, you should get many years of pleasure hopping around!
Pogo Stick FAQ
It is a pole made of 2 overlapping sections that have a spring or gas loaded mechanism between them. As the stick lands on the ground, the spring mechanism is compressed by the weight of the user.
As the user pulls back up, the spring recoils, pushing both the stick and user up from the ground and into the air.
There are footrests for the feet near the bottom and a handle at the top to assist with balance. It can be used as either a toy, exercise equipment or extreme sports apparatus.
Yes! Bouncing on a pogo stick is a form of plyometric exercise. That’s a fancy way of saying that it is exceptional at developing a strong core, building leg muscles and absorbing shock.
Additionally, it gives the arm muscles a good anaerobic workout and is an intense, low-impact cardio exercise. Pogo sticking can burn as many as 100 calories in just 10 minutes!
If you are enthusiastic about fitness, or determined to work off some weight, it can be an awesome workout. If you are a more focused athlete you could burn even more calories than that. What isn’t there to like?
For those who think that ‘exercise’ is a nasty 8 letter word, pogo sticks are a fun way to exercise at home. There’s no need to join an expensive gym or wear unflattering sports kit…
Of course, if sport is your thing, there’s nothing to stop you bouncing away at home as well as lifting weights, running or playing team sports.
Using a pogo stick can help children develop their balance, agility and co-ordination skills. Over the course of a few months, this regular exercise may also improve their endurance and leg strength.
If used in school, teachers could use a pogo stick as a practical example to illustrate the basics of ideas like the elastic properties of physics and the action reaction principle.
Before each use, to ensure that it is safe:
– Check that all parts are secure and fastened properly
– Replace any parts that have come off
– Follow manufacturer instructions – some sticks may require lubricating every few days if used heavily
After each use:
– Clean it if dirty and do not leave in damp conditions (rain, snow, damp outbuilding) as this may cause rust
– Keep it in temperatures as close as possible to room temperature
– Leave it in a safe place so that it doesn’t get stolen
They contain moving parts so pogo sticks do make some sound as the spring compresses or recoils and as the stick hits the ground.
A larger adult stick is likely to be more noisy than one designed for kids. However, most aren’t too noisy and it is unlikely that you will annoy your neighbors.
Pogo sticks were very popular up until the early 1980’s. After that their share of the recreational toys market began to decline as electronic games took over.
However, in the early 2000’s, Bruce Middleton (who studied at MIT), Ben Brown (a robotics engineer at Carnegie Mellon University) and Bruce Spencer (a retired firefighter from Huntingdon Beach) were independently experimenting with the idea of gas pressured “springing mechanisms”.
What emerged were pogo sticks which had a considerably higher bounce than the traditional spring design – potentially over 10 feet!
These “extreme” pogo sticks opened up a new market called Xpogo. Adrenaline junkies were attracted to the idea of using the new sticks for dare devil stunts such as somersaults and backflips.
Aided by amazing Youtube videos of stunts and tricks, this has seen an increase in the number of extreme pogo sticks on the market. But pogo sticking in general has also benefited from the renewed publicity.
Adults and kids are turning to standard pogo sticks just for fun or as a way to improve health or reduce weight, because they provide an intense, low-impact cardio exercise.
Pogo sticks have also enjoyed a resurgence with schools and parents as they are a good way to get kids off their phones and involved in active play outdoors.
The origins of the pogo stick are somewhat mysterious – there wasn’t a single inventor of the pogo stick as we know it today. See our review of who invented the pogo stick and how they developed the idea of a bouncing pogo.
See our review of how to use a pogo stick for videos, advice and tips on how to get on a pogo stick, make your first bounce and keep on bouncing!
See our review of pogo stick safety for more details and advice on safety, protective gear and best surfaces for pogo.
It depends of what is important to you.A heavier pogo stick will typically be more buoyant, be easier to use and have less chance of tipping over than a lighter stick.
On the flip side, a lighter pogo stick would be easier to carry to a safe place to use it. It’s surprising just how quickly your arms can tire when carrying something! Children can also quickly lose interest in anything that they consider to be a struggle.