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I’m so excited to share with you all today my quick tutorial for an easy DIY PVC pipe ball pit made from items easily purchased at a local hardware store. If you’ve been looking around for DIY ball pit ideas, you’ve come to the right place. This ball pit is easy to make, and the materials won’t break the bank either.
Why Make a DIY Ball Pit?
When my son was 18 months, my aunt bought him a blow-up indoor basketball ball pit. It was the coolest ball pit ever! I cannot count the number of hours we spent playing on that thing. He would run, jump, fall, etc. After all of the love that ball pit acquired, it quickly broke at the seams. The patch kits that came in the box didn’t work well enough to patch those stubborn holes.
Now, these ball bits aren’t the most expensive things in the world, but they also aren’t the cheapest either. Especially when you have to buy them over and over again once they have been played on a lot. So, I went a while without buying another one.
A couple of months ago, I took the kids to an indoor play park and my son fell in love with the ball pit. Again. I couldn’t get him out of it! I don’t understand why, but for some reason, it is just SO much fun. Because of this, I was on a mission to get him his own ball pit. I also wanted to make a DIY ball pit that could be used for babies, since my daughter was 6 months old at the time.
Ultimately, I decided to create them a 3 ft X 2 ft X 1.5 ft DIY PVC ball pit. I used white PVC from Home Depot. However, you can buy colored pipe online too if you want. Home Depot will cut it in the store for you though. If you would rather cut it yourself, the cutting tool is pretty inexpensive.
PVC Ball Pit Materials:
- Ten 1.5 foot PVC pipes (1/2″ pipes)
- Twenty 1 foot PVC pipes (1/2″ pipes)
- 8 three-way elbow connectors (depending on the connector, you might need an adapter)
- 12 tee connectors
- 3-4 pool noodles (Dollar Tree! Although they are only available over the summer there.)
- PVC pipe glue
- 60-120 zip ties (Dollar Tree!)
- 3 yards utility netting (I got mine from JOANN’s and cut it in half horizontally)
- Ball pit balls
How to Make a Ball Pit Out of PVC Pipes:
First, begin by connecting all of your PVC pipes together and then gluing them. Two of the sides will be three one-foot pipes connected, and the other two sides will be two 1 foot pipes connected. This makes the ball pit a total of 3 feet x 2 feet. The height of the ball pit is 1.5 feet, so this is where those ten 1.5 feet pipes will come in. If you look at the picture at the very bottom of this post, you can see the dimensions and orientation of the beams a little better. Also looking at the pictures right below, you’ll see how the connectors are used.
Once you’ve made the PVC pipe frame, secure the netting using zip ties around the exterior of the ball pit (on the top and bottom pipes). I placed mine pretty close to one another. At the end, I went back and placed the extras where I felt I needed it the most.
Once you have completely secured the netting around the ball pit, clip the zip ties so they are not sticking out. No one wants a hurt hand from them.
Add the pool noodles and there you go! (Cut them as needed to fit). This took me less than an hour to make and way more than an hour of fun for the kiddos! Totally worth it. Not to mention, decently cheap!
Another great, but more expensive idea, is buying some of those pit foam blocks and putting them in. You can find some on Amazon here. Our gymnastics location has a ball pit filled with foam blocks that the kids love.
If you are interested in other DIY projects, visit our Crafting & DIY section. And let us know if you make your DIY ball pit. We would love to hear from you and see pictures!
And lastly, feel free to ask questions if this tutorial wasn’t in-depth enough for you.
How many balls does it require?
I have about 400-450 in mine. However, you could do as much or as little as you like!
How much did it cost to make this?
Including the balls, it cost about $50. Thanks for your question!
what kind of glue did you use to glue the pipes together?
PVC cement. You can find it at your local hardware store.
What kind of netting did you use?
It’s a utility netting that I purchased from JOANN’s. It’s been several years since I purchased the netting, but you can check their website or in-store to see if they still have something like it available. If I remember right, it was polyester as well, I think.
What do you use for the bottom?
I just used my carpet (since the pit wasn’t ever going to be moved and the balls covered the bottom!), but I considered using utility netting as well.
if i wanted to make this large could you tell me the amounts and lengths of the pipes i would need? I would like it approximately the size of a king sized bed. PLEASE HELP ME!
I’d say just get an estimate of what dimensions you’d like and go see what size pipes are in stock at the hardware store!
How did you get the pool noodles to stay in place?
With the zip ties around the top pipes, the noodles stayed pretty well in place without anything extra added. I considered gluing them on but never actually needed to.
How many kids can fit into this size of a ball pit
My two fit with plenty of space!
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