No, not Lady Gaga, though not long ago she was here visiting her boyfriend's parents about 15 miles away from here and shooting a music video in the same area. We're talking a Gaga Ball pit in the backyard.
Last weekend the Mr. and my 3
minions children went to work and built the Gaga pit in a day.
Here it is layer by layer.
The last board going on!
144 bolts, nuts and washers, not to mention some team work, and we have the
kid corral
Gaga pit.
If you build it they will come....Sorta like our own personal field of dreams!
Last 2 standing. Gaga ball for those who have no idea what I'm talking about is played in the pit with either teams or individually. It is essentially dodge ball where the idea is to hit an opponent from the knee down. If you hit the ball out of the pit you are out, if you hit someones head you are out, if you get hit or your toes get run over by the ball you are out. You may use the wall of the pit to bounce the ball, but once you touch the ball you can not hit it again until it has been touched by someone else. When you start everyone stands with their heels to the wall and the ball is bounced in for 2 bounces "ga ga" then it begins. It's an equalizer type of game that allows kids of all sizes and skills to play. I anticipate we'll have many wild gaga ball events around here. And if I ever decide to get a bunny or a goat, I've got a pen!
Have a great week!
Deb
We get this request for measurements, etc. fairly frequently. Have fun!
Here is the design information for the Gaga Pit you requested.
First off, ours is six-sided with 8 foot long sides. You can make them larger, 8-sided with 10 foot sides, but we wanted to keep the size manageable. We used three 2”X10” X 8 foot for each side with ~1 inch spacing between the boards. I used treated pine just to make it last longer. I eventually stained it to make it last even longer and look nice.
The corner brackets were made at a local welding shop out of ¼ steel plate or whatever they have available. The attachment shows the size (30”X12”) with a 120 degree angle. I had them punch in the 3/8” bolt holes to save me time drilling and they can do it really easy. The only change I would make is to move the center bolt holes out further . The computer drawing shows the pencil changes. I found it was tough to get a bolt into the center holes as they were too close to the angle corner. I used galvanized 5/16 bolts with nuts and flat washers (total of 192).
When it is all put together it is really heavy, so you want to assemble it close to where it is going to sit.
Hope this helps and good luck
Dennis
Sounds fun, but no, I've never even heard of it!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this game. At first, the name Ga Ga reminded me of my Mom because it was her grandma name. It sounds like a lot of fun. Although, you wouldn't catch me dead in there playing the game. Just thinking about it gives me anxiety!!! lol
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was a great group effort! The best kind...
That is so great! The talent in your family just knows no bounds!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of that game. Looks like fun...my son would love that.
ReplyDeleteWe love gaga ball! Where can we get a kit like that?
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping to build a pit in our backyard for Christmas for our kids? When I google backyard gaga pit your blog popped up. Where did you get your brackets? We really don't want to spend $500 on brackets.
ReplyDeleteRichard at texaslogs@att.net. make brackets for 375.00.
DeleteWe are hoping to build a smaller one like this, this summer. Where did you get your plans? And what are the dimensions? After having it for these past years, would you recommend it? Thank you so much.
ReplyDelete