Adventure Playground in Central Park

As a stay-at-home mom to two preschoolers, I both dread and anticipate summer. I always thought part of  the fun having kids was having companions in exploring all the great things New York has to offer.  At ages four and two, my kids are finally at an age where they both are really starting to enjoy field trips around our awesome city.  The flip side of that coin is that someone must coordinate these adventures! During the late winter, I started to look at potential summer camp ideas for my four year old son but found most of them were out of our price range and also didn’t seem to include a lot of outdoor time.  Also, despite the usual sibling rivalry, my kids seem to enjoy spending time together.  My two year old daughter would protest bitterly a daily separation from her brother – her best source of silly, rough & tumble, nonsensical games.  As the days warmed and preschool ended, I realized I needed to step up.  I could take on the roll of camp director in addition to my long list of mommy jobs (driver, maid, cook, laundress)!

I started digging and using some awesome lists and word of mouth, I have started putting together a list of fun adventures for my two little campers.  Check back here weekly for a new post with fun tips, suggestions and ideas for your own parent run camp!

Here is my first fun adventure for mommy camp.

A friend recently introduced us to a lovely playground in Central Park: the Adventure Playground.  It doesn’t have the cutting edge design of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s  Pier 6 or diversity of options like the playgrounds in Battery Park, but it does have some key essentials for this camp director. First, it’s well enclosed.   As a mom to two small children with boundless energy, I prefer to keep my children fenced in.  They both are pretty good at remembering to stay close and checking  in, but I find my stress levels are much lower at playgrounds where I can easily keep an eye on them and can generally be assured that they won’t accidentally wander off.  Second, it’s got great shade which makes it an ideal choice for a hot day.  I truly appreciated the big, old trees of Central Park that extended over nearly the whole play area.

So, what does it feature? A decent sand for digging and lovely water play.  A sprinkler descends into a little stream that creates a pool of water that is about 4 inches deep.   It’s stretches over a large enough area that it never felt crowded on the day we visited.  The playground also has two fun climbing pyramids with slides.  Finally, it’s just a five minute walk at a preschooler’s pace from Sheep’s Meadow and Le Pan Quotidien (which has bathrooms).  As a side note, it’s just across the path from a toddler park that can provide a little variety.

Transportation: For this trip, we settled on the subway; parking on the Upper Westside can be a bear!  The stop on the B or C at 72^nd Street lets out very close to the park entrance at 68^th Street (there is an exit at 70^th St if you ride at the corresponding end of the train).

Food: La Pan Quotidien is just a short five minute walk from the playground.  I packed lunch for the kids and then bought myself one of their fancy sandwiches as a nice treat!  We actually picnicked in a small grass area outside of Sheep’s Meadow just to the right of the café that had some rocks that the kids loved playing on.

Tips: 1.  The train is your friend on this trip.  2.  Don’t miss the toddler playground across the path that has a roller side that my kids adored.  3.  If you do need additional supplies, head toward Columbus Avenue before entering the park.  Central Park West has no real options beyond carts.

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Carolyn Pravda is a stay-at-home mom in Brooklyn, NY.  After having two kids in quick succession, she found the slippery slope to frumpy housewife was getting steeper. It was just too easy for her to pull the same jeans and cotton t-shirts out of the closet each day. With laptop in hand and a firm nap schedule, she set to work creating a site that would help mommies everywhere get dressed in the morning, ready for life with kids and looking good. Her suggestions are budget conscious, washable and wearable at the playground.

Carolyn blogs at www.mamathreads.com with fashion suggestions as well as Mama Thread Thoughts on parenting.  She is a member of the Yahoo! Mother Board and is a moderator for the lively and helpful online parenting group Bococa Parents.  Finally, she contributes to AChildGrowsInBrooklyn.com with a column on fun things to do this summer in New York for an adventurous mom of two preschoolers who didn’t sign up for any camps!

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