(Part 2) Best ball pits & accessories for kids according to redditors
We found 95 Reddit comments discussing the best ball pits & accessories for kids. We ranked the 28 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Stupid amazon, get 5 of these for half the price http://www.amazon.com/Crush-Proof-non-PVC-Plastic-Balls-Colors/dp/B0072VZLHM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_3
Those look like their just the thick soft play mats you can buy individually arranged in a clever way.
It looks like a homemade version of this
800 Ball pit balls They're light, legal to have, and as G-rated as it gets. Jus get some guys to help you move your furniture out of your living room, pour the balls out, and relive being a 5 year old again. It's what I'd want! Happy early birthday, by the way!
In order to answer part of what you wrote in the first paragraph, the pool is 90 inches in diameter at the outer edge. It does not give the interior diameter, but we can get a rough estimate by looking at the cylinders that make up the wall. Three cylinders add up to 20 inches, so each cylinder is roughly 7 inches in diameter, which makes the interior diameter of the pool 76 inches (radius = 38 inches).
Calculate the volume:
38^2 pi 20 = 90,729 in^3 = 392 gallons.
38^2 pi 14.5 = 65,779 in^3 = 284 gallons
I get a different number when calculating for the ball size. You use a radius of 1.08 inches. I calculate 5 cm /2 = 2.5 cm radius = 0.98 inch diameter. I also would like to point out that a 5 cm ball is smaller than the balls in a commercial ball pit (think Chuck E Cheeses). Standard ball pit balls would probably be more like 3 inches in diameter, but that's a rough guess from memory. I don't have anything to measure.
Using the packing density of 0.64 you give from XKCD, we get the following:
5cm balls: 0.98^2 Pi 4/3 = 4.0 cubic inches
65,779 in^3 0.64 / 4.0 in^3 = 10,525 balls
3in balls: 1.5^2 Pi 4/3 = 9.4 cubic inches
65,779 in^3 0.64 / 9.4 in^3 = 4,479 balls
Here are a couple of sources for 3 inch balls:
26 cents per ball
http://www.amazon.com/150-Large-Crush-Proof-Ball-Balls/dp/B000VX2PO0/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1449891804&sr=1-3&keywords=3+inch+ball+pit+balls
21.31 cents per ball
http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Crush-Proof-Ball-Balls/dp/B000NNM41C/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1449891804&sr=1-6&keywords=3+inch+ball+pit+balls
That's still super expensive (4,479 0.2131 = $954.47) and costs more than the 5 cm balls (10,525 0.082 = $863.00), though the 5 cm balls may not give the same ball pit experience you remember as a kid. Getting a smaller pool would definitely make it more affordable.
Edit: You could probably get by with significantly fewer balls depending on the age of your kids. Here is a small ball pit without balls, but take a look at the dimensions and number of balls in the first review.
http://www.amazon.com/FocuSun-Playpen-39-4-inch-19-7-Inch-Zippered/dp/B00XPLB35M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449892883&sr=8-1&keywords=4+inch+ball+pit+balls
Amazon has some too, not sure how they compare with the Toys R Us ones /u/annamuffin420 mentioned. There's some talk in the reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Balls-100-Ballz-Ball/dp/B000Z408YY
Looked into it after seeing the dog playing in the kiddie pool ball pit on the front page the other week
The same balls are available cheaper on amazon.
Ball pit balls. Lots of them. Takes a bit more money, but if you have friends that will chip in it's not so bad.
http://www.amazon.com/Phthalate-Balls-Filled-Bright-Colors/dp/B0016MKZXS/ref=pd_sbs_t_9
Much cheaper alternative would be balloons. Packing peanuts are way too much hassle to clean up.
So go to a playpen that doesn't have kids.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Time-Kids100-Playballs-Balls/dp/B003G2YYRE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1321073683&sr=8-5
You're old enough to decide what that means now.