Parents Spend Weeks Creating ‘Unreal’ Gift, Their Kids’ Reaction Is Perfect

Many people may feel a sense of dread when friends or family suggest making gifts for Christmas, rather than buying anything new. However, these parents have shown exactly how it is done with an incredible foam pit, rock wall, and monkey bars they created for their daughters.

Elise and Scott Hunter worked tirelessly throughout December to give their daughters’ playroom a fun renovation, and they managed to keep it all a surprise until the big day. Elise Hunter, from Salt Lake City, Utah, said it initially started off as a simple rock wall, but as her creativity kept flowing, it quickly became any young gymnast’s dream playroom.

After weeks of secrecy, Hunter was delighted to see how her girls, 5 and 7 years old, reacted to the surprise. She told Newsweek that “it’s the definition of Christmas magic to watch them squeal and overflow with excitement.”

The foam pit, rock wall, swings, and monkey bars have been a huge hit already, and Hunter said that her daughters have barely left the playroom. It turns out that it’s not just the two sisters who get to enjoy it; Hunter added that many of the children in the neighborhood have already been round to test it out.

Hunter said: “Initially, we were just doing a plain rock wall and monkey bars along the ceiling. But, as soon as I saw the blank rock wall up, I knew I wanted to paint a mural and make the space even more fun. That led to turning the monkey bars into clouds and so on. They love gymnastics, and, in the cold Utah winters, having a place to play inside is great.”

Hunter added: “They were very excited when we put the closed sign on the basement door. Luckily, they’re very good listeners and never went down to peek. We worked on it mainly when they were at school or after they went to bed, so it was easy to keep the basement closed off.”

Hunter has documented the process of redesigning that corner of the basement on social media (@huntersofhappiness), and her followers were hooked. On December 27, she shared the adorable video of the girls finally seeing it for the first time on Christmas morning. The footage has been viewed over 2.3 million times and received more than 290,000 likes on TikTok.

Hunter loves creating projects for her daughters. Last Christmas, she and her husband built a large playhouse, complete with furniture and a hand-painted mural. It’s safe to say that her children love seeing what new ideas their parents are going to come up with next, as each surprise keeps getting better.

“The very best part of building them a gift is their reactions, and they’ve played in it non-stop since we surprised them,” Hunter said.

The Cost of Christmas Gifting

For many families, Christmas is one of the best times of the year, but it’s also very expensive. With so many costs to factor in, there is no wonder why people set strict budgets to follow.

Nineteen percent of parents wanted to spend between $50 and $100 on gifts per child, which was joint highest alongside a budget of more than $200 per child, according to 2023 figures by Statista. Comparatively, 16 percent said they would spend between $100 and $150 per child at Christmas, and 15 percent were being more conservative by spending less than $50.

In households across the country, a lot of children will have opened the newest toys that are all the rage right now, but the Hunter family much prefer to create their own magic instead. After all, you can’t put a price on hard work and imagination.

The chart below, provided by Statista, reveals the budgets that parents were setting for their Christmas spending in 2023.

How Did Social Media React?

As Hunter posted transformation videos on TikTok showing how the basement was coming along, she was blown away by the number of people who became invested in the process. Seeing her videos go viral was a bonus, and she hopes it could inspire other families to get creative.

Hunter told Newsweek: “It’s been unreal to see how many people followed along during these last four weeks. It’s been so fun to get input from people all around the world, and to see them as excited as we were to give this to our kids.

“I hope it helps others feel the magic of Christmas and giving, and maybe even inspires them to create magical memories with their loved ones, too,” Hunter said.

But the fun doesn’t stop there, as Hunter said that she is already “cooking up ideas” for next Christmas; it’s going to be tough to top this year.

With more than 620 comments on the video at the time of writing, many people shared their amazement at the epic design renovation, with one TikTok user dubbing them the “luckiest kids in the world.”

Another person wrote: “They are gonna be known as the cool house because of this.”

A third comment reads: “This reveal was the best! You guys did a fantastic job!”

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