As soon as Charlotte could walk, as soon as the weather was warm, we've been taking Charlotte to playgrounds for having fun, motor skill development, interacting with other young children, discovering the outdoors, and burning off energy. We try to get to a playground once a day, Dad's schedule permitting. We've found that lunch time is usually the best time to go as the playgrounds typically only have pre-school aged kids at this time as the bigger kids are in school.
CONSHOHOCKEN
We've loved living in Conshohocken for various reasons from the small town feel to the proximity to everything to its public amenities. Conshohocken has several parks within walking distance of our house, as well as, a community center and library that hold toddler-aged activities throughout the week.
SUTCLIFFE PARK
What's not to love about Sutcliffe Park? The Park has an impressive baseball field complex, almost like a mini-spring training facility, basketball courts, a running track, a fitness court, hosts various events including the spectacular 4th of July fireworks celebration, and has two playground, one for two to five-year-olds, the second for five-to-twelve-year-olds. While we could walk to this park, we typically drive due to their being a serious of hills. The park has several slides including two large twisty slides that are Charlotte's single favorite feature across all the parks. There's a slide with a few curves that Charlotte loves going down. When we arrive, I drop her off at the smaller kid playground but it doesn't take long before she turns her attention to the big kids playground and insists on going down the longer slides. We also really like getting dizzy on the teacup spinner then stumbling when it's time to walk again.
What's not to love about Sutcliffe Park? The Park has an impressive baseball field complex, almost like a mini-spring training facility, basketball courts, a running track, a fitness court, hosts various events including the spectacular 4th of July fireworks celebration, and has two playground, one for two to five-year-olds, the second for five-to-twelve-year-olds. While we could walk to this park, we typically drive due to their being a serious of hills. The park has several slides including two large twisty slides that are Charlotte's single favorite feature across all the parks. There's a slide with a few curves that Charlotte loves going down. When we arrive, I drop her off at the smaller kid playground but it doesn't take long before she turns her attention to the big kids playground and insists on going down the longer slides. We also really like getting dizzy on the teacup spinner then stumbling when it's time to walk again.
Charlotte is also fascinated with the activities beyond the playground and enjoys exploring the baseball fields and basketball courts. The only downside to this park is that during the evening siblings of kids participating in these activities and other neighborhood kids often play unsupervised on the playground. The kids are always cognizant of Charlotte but there are times when the playing can get a bit out of hand. We try to go to this park during the day.
MARY WOOD PARK
Mary Wood seems to be a favorite of parents whether it's a nanny lunch crowd or after work visits, there's always a ton of pint-sized adventurers at this playground. Similar to Sutcliffe, Mary Wood has two playground areas for different age groups but unlike Sutcliffe, Charlotte tends to stay in the two to five-year-old zone here. The longer slides here have some sharp curves that slow the rider down - without the speed thrill Charlotte is less interested in the bigger kid's section.
Mary Wood seems to be a favorite of parents whether it's a nanny lunch crowd or after work visits, there's always a ton of pint-sized adventurers at this playground. Similar to Sutcliffe, Mary Wood has two playground areas for different age groups but unlike Sutcliffe, Charlotte tends to stay in the two to five-year-old zone here. The longer slides here have some sharp curves that slow the rider down - without the speed thrill Charlotte is less interested in the bigger kid's section.
This park has two distinct features - a musical zone and a zipline (although unfortunately the zipline has been taken down at the moment which doesn't surprise me as it was quite a fast zipline). The music zone features several "instruments" where children can bang out tunes and get in touch with their inner Beethoven.
COLWELL PARK
Colwell Park is hidden behind a housing track off Colwell Road, on the borough outskirts, thus it doesn't get quite as many children. The park also has wood chips as the ground base over rubberized surface at Sutcliffe and Colwell. Again, two designated areas, although the younger kids' zone is quite small and the larger kids' zone doesn't have all the adventurous elements seen at Sutcliffe and Mary Wood. That does mean that on many trips here Charlotte winds up having the larger kids' zone all to herself. This playground has a "wacky" suspension bridge and it's been fun watching Charlotte muster the courage to walk across the bridge. Initially she would spin around and crawl backwards across the bridge but now she can walk across and even enjoys it when Dad shakes the bridge. The park also has an airplane that Charlotte pilots.
Colwell Park is hidden behind a housing track off Colwell Road, on the borough outskirts, thus it doesn't get quite as many children. The park also has wood chips as the ground base over rubberized surface at Sutcliffe and Colwell. Again, two designated areas, although the younger kids' zone is quite small and the larger kids' zone doesn't have all the adventurous elements seen at Sutcliffe and Mary Wood. That does mean that on many trips here Charlotte winds up having the larger kids' zone all to herself. This playground has a "wacky" suspension bridge and it's been fun watching Charlotte muster the courage to walk across the bridge. Initially she would spin around and crawl backwards across the bridge but now she can walk across and even enjoys it when Dad shakes the bridge. The park also has an airplane that Charlotte pilots.
AND BEYOND
It's amazing how the weekend itinerary changes with a toddler in tow. Instead of roaming from coffee shop to coffee shop, it's pick up a coffee to drink at playground. We've tried playgrounds from San Bernardino to Ocean City, NJ to New York City. Charlotte surveys the playgrounds features then makes a plan of attack on how to have the most fun.
MASONS MILL - 3500 Masons Mill Road, Willow Grove, PA
Masons Mills is the greatest park ever. I remember going here as a child and couldn't wait to bring Charlotte here. I was so excited to bring Charlotte here that I'd done two "reconnaissance" trips here over the past years to verify the park remains as glorious as I remember from my youth. It is.
Masons Mills is the greatest park ever. I remember going here as a child and couldn't wait to bring Charlotte here. I was so excited to bring Charlotte here that I'd done two "reconnaissance" trips here over the past years to verify the park remains as glorious as I remember from my youth. It is.
The park's distinguishing feature is a toddler size town center featuring local businesses, primarily from Willow Grove but a few from Hatboro sprinkled in. The buildings consist of five stories of cinderblocks painted over with the local business design. As a child, going to "downtown" Hatboro, the shopping corridor along York Road, felt like going to Manhattan. This park with the buildings felt like driving through Manhattan. Even at sixteen months, I could tell that Charlotte knew this town feature is a unique feature that separates Mason Mill from other playgrounds.
Masons Mill is even better than when I was a kid. When I was cruising around the park the buildings were made out of wood with no discernible features besides windows and doors. Today's cityscape features everything from the historical Willow Grove Park to major retailers like Home Depot to local spots like Weinrich's Bakery (which now I'll need to check out).
KIDS CASTLE - 425 Wells Road, Doylestown, PA
Waaaay back in the late 90s I actually helped to build Kids Castle. I don't recall whether I did much more than haul and spread wheelbarrows of mulch but I do know that for multiple days during the summer I volunteered my time to help construct this park. There's been a few updates to the park over the past twenty-five years but the original structure still holds all sorts of mazes and slides. Charlotte's a bit too young for Kids Castle now but glad we scoped this out and looking forward to bringing her here in the future.
Waaaay back in the late 90s I actually helped to build Kids Castle. I don't recall whether I did much more than haul and spread wheelbarrows of mulch but I do know that for multiple days during the summer I volunteered my time to help construct this park. There's been a few updates to the park over the past twenty-five years but the original structure still holds all sorts of mazes and slides. Charlotte's a bit too young for Kids Castle now but glad we scoped this out and looking forward to bringing her here in the future.