How to read a playground
Reading several thousand accounts of the same few hundred parks makes some patterns obvious. These are the ones worth knowing before you choose where to go.
How to judge playground shade before you drive out
Shade over a bench is not shade over a slide. What to look for, and why surface temperature matters more than air temperature.
HEAT AND COMFORT · 5 MIN
Why fenced playgrounds matter more than parents expect
Full enclosure, partial fencing, and a barrier along one side are three different things. Only one of them lets you sit down.
SAFETY · 5 MIN
Playground surfaces, ranked by the problems they cause
Wood chips, poured rubber, sand and artificial turf each fail in a different way. Which one you want depends on the month and the age.
EQUIPMENT · 5 MIN
What toddler-friendly actually means on a playground
The gap between rungs decides more than the sign at the entrance. A short field guide to equipment scaled for under-fives.
AGES · 5 MIN
Splash pads run on a municipal calendar, not the weather
The single most common wasted trip is arriving at a splash pad that is closed. Here is how the seasons actually work and what else goes wrong.
WATER · 5 MIN
Finding a playground that works for a three-year-old and an eight-year-old
Most parks are built for one age band. The ones that hold two siblings at once share four specific features, and there are fewer of them than you would think.
AGES · 5 MIN
Restrooms and parking decide how long you stay, not the equipment
The two most boring attributes on a playground listing are the two that most reliably end a visit early. What the accounts show about both.
LOGISTICS · 4 MIN
How we check a playground
What goes into one entry, why some attributes stay blank on purpose, and what we will not do to fill them.
METHOD · 4 MIN
What "well maintained" actually tells you about a playground
Upkeep is the thing visitors comment on more than anything else, and it predicts more about a visit than the equipment does.
CONDITION · 5 MIN
Accessible and inclusive are not the same thing
A playground can meet accessibility requirements and still be unusable for the child you are bringing. What the two words cover, and what to check.
ACCESSIBILITY · 5 MIN
Why the small park down the road often beats the big one
Two-thirds of the places in this index are parks that happen to contain a playground. The size of the park changes the visit more than the equipment does.
CHOOSING · 5 MIN
Dogs and playgrounds share more parks than either side would like
Off-leash dogs near play equipment is the most common recurring dispute in park reviews. What to check depending on which side of it you are on.
LOGISTICS · 5 MIN
Which playgrounds still work in winter and after rain
Most of what makes a park good in July makes it unusable in February. The features that carry a site through the off-season are a different list.
SEASONS · 5 MIN
The basketball hoop is why the nine-year-old agreed to come
About half the parks in this index have sports provision, and for families past the playground years it is usually the real reason to go.
EQUIPMENT · 5 MIN
How to choose a park in the ten minutes before you leave
A short decision procedure that uses four attributes in a fixed order, and the reason that order is what it is.
CHOOSING · 5 MIN