A ball pit is a padded box or pool filled with small colorful hollow plastic balls generally no larger than in diameter. Instead of balls, other spherical objects can be used, such as balloons. It is typically employed as a recreation and exercise for children. Ball pits are often found at nurseries, carnivals, amusement parks, fun centers, fast-food restaurants, and large video arcades. Chuck E. Cheese's and Discovery Zone formerly had ball pits and they were frequently incorporated into larger play structures, such as mazes, slides, and jungle gyms. Ball pits may be rented for parties, and smaller versions are sold for use in the home. While ball pits are traditionally intended for children, some are large enough to accommodate adults. Ball pits may be used together with a trampoline, or combining the two by filling a closed trampoline with the balls.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a number of urban legends arose about children being severely injured or even killed due to ball-pit encounters with venomous snakes or hypodermic needles. Although there is no truth to these stories, workers have reported finding dirty diapers, half-eaten food and syringes in ball pits.
In China Miéville's short storyThe Ball Room,the ghost of a child who died in a ball pit haunts a local Ikea-like store. 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 right open and all of the balls fall out all over the restaurant. In season 3 episode 14 of the TV seriesThe Big Bang Theory, Sheldon seeks inspiration in a ball pit at a mall, and then hides from Leonard, who spends a good amount of time and effort trying to retrieve Sheldon from the ball pit. 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 has 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. In 2016, a pop-up "ball pit bar" opened in San Francisco.
