NYC Will Be the Latest City to Host a Ball Pit for Grown-Ups

It’s official: ball pits are no longer just the domain of children and fast food mascots. On August 21, JumpIn will be setting up camp in the offices of creative agency Pearlfisher in NYC. The interactive art installation will promote the “transformative powers of play,” and feature a room filled with 81,000 white plastic balls. 

This isn't the only option for young-spirited adults looking for the ultimate ball pit experience. “The BEACH,” an art installation that mixes experimental architecture with classic summer fun, is on display at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. until September 7. Dreamt up by the firm Snarkitecture, the exhibit consists of a 10,000-square-foot enclosure filled with nearly 1 million translucent balls and a carpeted deck complete with beach chairs and umbrellas. According to the National Building Museum’s website, visitors can, "'swim' in the ocean, or can spend an afternoon at the ‘shore’s' edge reading a good book, play beach-related activities such as paddleball, grab a refreshing drink at the snack bar, or dangle their feet in the ocean off the pier.”

The JumpIn ball pit will be open to the public through September 21. Entrance is free with a suggested donation of $5, and for serious fun-seekers there's an option to reserve the room for 30 minutes at a time.

For The BEACH, tickets will be on sale online until August 24; after that they’re available on a first-come first-served basis. As for the fate of those nearly 1 million balls once the installation closes? "We don’t know what will happen to the balls," Snarkitecture co-founder Alex Mustonen told the Washingtonian. "They can be recycled." So seize the chance to dive in now before those plastic balls are turned into something significantly less awesome.

[h/t: CNN, Curbed NY]