A ball pit (originally called "ball crawl" and also known as a ball pool or ball pond) is a pit, usually rectangular and padded, filled with small (generally no larger than a baseball) colorful hollow plastic balls. Instead of balls, other spherical objects can be used, such as balloons. It is typically employed as a recreation and exercise for small 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 (now defunct) Discovery Zone formerly had ball pits and they were frequently incorporated into larger play structures, such as mazes, slides, and jungle gyms. In the early 2000s, Chuck E. Cheese's removed their ball pits due to safety concerns and because the pits were a drain on resources, since children would frequently steal individual balls until the pits were far below capacity and unusable.
Ball pits may be rented for parties, and smaller versions are sold for use in the home. While ball pits are traditionally regarded as a children's plaything, some are large enough to accommodate adults.
Read more about Ball Pit: History, Urban Legends
Famous quotes containing the words ball and/or pit:
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)
“The great snake lies ever half awake, at the bottom of the pit of the world, curled
In folds of himself until he awakens in hunger and moving his head to right and to left prepares for his hour to devour.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)