Beck Family Blessings: Ball pit!

Last Friday Sadie and I went to Foundation for Blind Children's infant program/Parent class. We hadn't been in probably over a year so it was really fun to see some of the same people and how they'd grown and for the parents and staff to see how far Sadie has come.

I wasn't quite sure how long it would take us to get there, so I left probably too early (just to be safe) and we were like the first ones there... so I sat and played with Sadie for a few minutes before I joined the parent meeting. But I noticed they had a ball pit. It was basically an inflatable swimming pool just filled with balls like you'd find at McDonald's or somewhere.

Sadie has never been in a ball pit before, so I took her over there and plopped her in (I'm not cautious or shy about trying new things! haha). She thought it was great! We piled the balls on top of her as she sunk down (it wasn't that deep, it's not like she would have gotten lost in there) and then we unburied her. She smiled the whole time. Then just as she got comfortable, I would grab one arm and yank and move her or flip her and at first she was a little freaked out by it (because it doesn't feel like the floor), but then she liked it!

I came home that day and decided we needed a ball pit at our house.

I have this dream of turning my office into a playroom/sensory room. It's in the front of the house right off the living room and there's no door...it's more like a den. But it's the perfect room for playing because everything can be contained, it's carpeted, and I can baby-gate it so that it's safe. So, my summer project is to clear out my sewing/office-school stuff and paint and start converting this room into a super fun place to play and hang out. (The idea is that it'll eventually turn into a teen hangout/homework room where kids can watch movies and play video games and have slumber parties)

Sadie's table is going to go in there, and I got some musical instruments to play with. We want to build some kind of light wall (we're not really sure what this is going to look like yet) and replicate the bubble pole from Ryan House (because Sadie LOVES that thing!). And now we have a ball pit to go in there too!

Anyway, I started looking online this weekend for balls. I had no idea how much they'd cost or if I could afford them now. I kind of had an idea of saving up for them, then buying a baby pool at the end of the summer when that kind of stuff went on clearance. But on Craigslist, there was an ad for 500 balls for $20!!! New on Amazon they were somewhere between $70-$100! So, I called. He told me they were kind of damaged and that's why they're $20, I told him I'd come look at them.

Turns out he's some kind of warehouse distributor (chances are, if I'd bought from Amazon, it'd have come from him anyway! ha!), so he took me back and showed me the $20 balls. He said they've never been used, they've just been sitting in the warehouse for a long time, so they're a little bit deflated. He told me that after about a year, the balls lose some of their air and get like this. So, he gave me a choice...he said, "you can buy 500 brand new balls for $70 and they'll be like this in a year. Or you can buy these for $20." I told him I'd take them. Then he sold me the pool too for another $20. I looked at Target and that same pool was $35.

We got the whole ball pit for $40!!!

It's bigger than I thought it'd be, but it's good. It'll definitely fit more than one toddler-size person in there. We are going to have an awesome playroom in our house!! I'll post pictures as we transition the room...it's my summer project.

Any other ideas for what we could do in that room? What kinds of things do your kids like to play with at therapy or different places they visit? What kinds of things have you made for your kids to play with at your house?

Update: More pictures!!!