At first glance you might not think a ball pit as a sensory toy/product, but for my needs I have discovered it’s perfect.* The first ball pit I purchased was a small one. I needed something small to use with my Baby YoGalore Mommy and Me class. I thought they would enjoy a small ball pit and since it wasn’t expensive I bit the bullet and purchased one. When it arrived I thought I had made a terrible error when I opened the box. What I had received was in a tiny (6 in x 6 in) nylon zipper case that resembled a small colorful purse. It looked like something you might see on Teletubbies (do parents now even know what Teletubbies are? Google it if you don’t. It’s bizarre but kind of cute).

Anyway, I unzip my new “purse” and gently pull out this tiny circular thing that looks like a tiny tunnel for dolls. Once I get it completely out of the purse, the thing popped out into a flat panel that has the cute polka dot ball pit I had ordered. WOW. I pulled it apart and sure enough it was the ball pit I had ordered.

I had also ordered some of the smaller balls for the ball pit, which were also a great purchase. They came in a zipper container that made clean up and transporting them very easy. The toddlers really enjoyed playing in the balls. They were contained, safe and happy (and what else could you possibly want for a toddler?)

The little ball pit (it was about 40 x 40 inches in diameter) gave me an idea. I travel to different locations to teach YoGalore classes, workshops and birthday parties. Everything I use has to be portable. I also use a lot of sensory bins and activities for my classes and as expected, it can be messy. I do what I can to keep the mess to a minimum, but I am always looking for better ways to do my sensory activities. After watching the kids playing in the balls, what if I got a bigger pit and put the sensory bins in the center so anything that would spill out of the sensory bin would be contained in the ball pit?

Thankfully I was able to find a larger ball pit. I have classes with a lot of preschool aged children and I needed something that could not only fit a sensory bin, but also a couple of preschoolers at the same time. We often divide up into smaller groups and there might be three or four children in a ball pit at one time. Last week we gave it a whirl and it worked SO well. Better than anything else I have tried so far. There was plenty of room for three or four of my oldest students and they didn’t seem to mind being in a ball pit. As a matter of fact they seemed to enjoy it. I was even able to fit five of my 2 YO students into the ball pit with no problem.

As far as the benefits of these ball pits, I have nothing but great things to say. They obviously fold up into a very small, portable package. The set up is VERY easy. They are easy to clean out (I usually just take it outside and dump out any of the stuff left inside. I get it home and open it back up and wipe it out, let it dry and spray it with disinfectant.  Then it folds right back up into its tiny little pouch. I now have three of them (2 large and 1 small) and they have been durable and with a few tries I finally figured out how to twist it to get it back into its pouch. But even if you find it difficult or impossible to twist back into its pouch, it easily folds completely flat into a panel that’s about 18 x 24 in. It can easily be put into an IKEA bag for easy storage and traveling and it’s made of a reasonably durable polyester fabric.

This is one find I have really been satisfied with so far. Anything that makes my job a little easier and the kids like, I think is a win. Many of the ball pits you find on Amazon are offered with Prime, so if you need it quickly for a party or event, you can get it quickly. Also, while I am not sure how long the offer lasts, the larger ball pit has a $5 off coupon (at the writing of this post), which made it too good to pass up this time.

*This post does contain affiliate links.