Padded box or pool filled with small colorful hollow plastic balls
"Ball pond" redirects here. For the community in the United States, see Ball Pond, Connecticut. For lake within the community, see Ball Pond.
Children playing in a ball pit
Aball pit (originally called a ball crawl, also known as a ball poolorball pond) is a padded box or pool filled with small colorful hollow plastic balls generally no larger than 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter. They are typically marketed as recreation and exercise for children.
A ball pit as part of a larger play areaBall pit in use
Generally, ball pits are considered safe and enjoyable for children who are at least 10 months old and able to sit up and move independently. At this age, they have better head and neck control, reducing the risk of accidental suffocation in the ball pit.[1]
Beginning in the late 1990s, a number of urban legends arose about children being severely injured or killed in ball pit encounters with vipers[5]orhypodermic needles.[6] There is no truth to these stories.[7]
InChina Miéville's short story "The Ball Room" (Looking for Jake), the ghost of a child who died in a ball pit haunts a local IKEA-like store.
In the Johnny Bravo episode "Johnny Meets Donny Osmond", Donny pushes Johnny into a fast-food ball pit, where he comes across a young boy who claims to have been there since the age of five.
In the Rugrats episode "Piggy's Pizza Palace", the Rugrats jump on a costumed pig named Piggy as an act of revenge to get Angelica's tickets back. It causes the ball pit structure to split open and the balls fall out all over the restaurant.
In season 3 episode 14 ("The Einstein Approximation") of the TV series The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon seeks inspiration in a ball pit at a shopping mall, then hides from Leonard, who then tries to retrieve Sheldon from the pit.[8][9]
In 2014, a YouTube vlogger under the name Roman Atwood made a video of transforming the living room of his home into a massive ball pit, intended as a prank for his girlfriend who had returned from a trip. He later collaborates with another vlogger, Freddie Wong, to create a comedy video involving giant ball pit and "ball monster" prank.[10]
