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Dad Turns His House Into A Giant Ball Pit Filled With 250,000 Balls

Dad Turns His House Into A Giant Ball Pit Filled With 250,000 Balls

Joel Conder wanted to surprise his wife and children

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

A dad turned his house into a giant ball pit filled with 250,000 balls - without his wife knowing.

Joel Conder, 34, admits to often pranking his daughters Kaci, 14, Grace, 12, Sophie, eight, and Chloe, two.

But due to his asthma and Sophie's weak immune system, the family decided to stay at home from the beginning of March.

To recreate one of his daughters' favourite outings at home, Joel hired 250,000 balls to transform their home into a giant ball pit on 15 March.

Although he didn't tell wife, Sarah Conder, 33, about his plan.

The family.
SWNS

The dad-of-four from Surbiton in Surrey said: "Some of the videos we want to do, I almost sometimes think, 'what would have been my childhood fantasy?'

"I thought, 'imagine coming home to your house being a giant bill pit.'

"My wife and my kids didn't know - I was working on the idea with my friend and I was like, 'it can't just be like a few balls round your ankles, you've got to jump in and get lost in it."

This was just an idea for the child-at-heart dad, but as things began to get more serious with coronavirus, the family chose to stay at home more.

Joel, a vlogger for Dad V Girls, said: "I have asthma and my daughter Sophie, she has special needs and she has a very low immune system.

"We as a family started to isolate, we started to cut down on things we were doing - we wouldn't take the kids too soft play, I stopped taking Chloe to swimming lessons.

"So I thought, 'oh my goodness, this is perfect - we can create our own soft play at our house, by turning it into a giant ball pit.'"

The kitchen submerged in balls.
SWNS

To ensure they didn't bring the virus into the house, Ballmania brought either brand new balls or ones that had been cleaned and in storage for at least two weeks.

It took two hours to fill the house with 250,000 balls - with the kitchen and lounge almost three foot deep.

Joel said: "Kaci, Grace, Sophie and Chloe came home first - everything was worth it just for that reaction. They were shrieking with laughter - Kaci was like, 'mum's going to kill you.'

"Then Sarah came home - her face was like 'oh my god, what have you done?' Then she dived in and started playing with all of us. It's honestly one of the best memories I think we will have."

Joel's wife's reaction.
SWNS

The entire family spent hours sliding down the stairs in suitcases into the balls.

It took more than two hours to collect all the balls, using a giant vacuum and a team effort to push them down the stairs.

This is one of various fun things Joel shares on the family's YouTube and social channels - now with over 900,000 subscribers on YouTube.

During lockdown, Joel is trying to do more fun things with the families and he thinks other parents should cherish this time too.

He said: "I know that in many ways, for lots of people, it's not an ideal situation - people not being able to work and things like this.

"Let's just remember that we probably will never get this chance again as families, to all be at home together.

"Just to have my eldest daughter nagging me to play more board games with her - that just shows me how special this time is."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK Community, Coronavirus, Community, UK