playgrounds, cont.

Our search continues to find the best toddler playgrounds in the city. I have a new favorite that has definitely moved up to #1. It's the "Hippo Playground" on 91st Street and Riverside Dr. There's tons of shade, baby swings, a few different sets of playground equipment, nice padded surfaces, a sandbox, and small hippo statues that shoot water out of their mouths! It's seems to be the only playground that Noah feels comfortable getting wet at, so it's great for hot days.

here are a few pics of a recent trip there:

Another good "hot day" playground that we discovered on the west side of Central Park on 69th street. It's called the "Adventure Playground." Some of it's features include an awesome water feature with a built-in slide and wading area that the little ones can splash around in. It also has a stone sand fortress, a treehouse, and a climbing pyramid for wall crawlers -- more fun for the older ones.

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This month's Time Out New York Kids had an article entitled, "7 NYC Playgrounds to Avoid" and one of them was one that I listed as a favorite in my last playground post! So, I am officially taking the "Ancient Playground" off the list... it was cited as being "rife with causes of scrapes and splinters." And "while the playground does boast a sand surface, the concrete climbing structures are quite steep and have sharp edges." I liked it only because there weren't as many gaps where Noah could potentially fall off the equipment. But it definitely had too many sharp edges and many potential scraped knees!