In addition to it's convenience to other park attractions, one of the things I like most about this playground is that it tends to not get overcrowded. It can fill up in the summer a bit more, but it's big enough that it doesn't tend to be too claustrophobic or chaotic. There are two large climbing areas (one for older children and one for the younger ones) which are separated by a sandbox, sprinklers (when the weather is warm enough) and tire swings. There are plenty of benches along the perimeter that offer both shady and sunny spots to sit in. The playground equipment itself also has areas of both of sun and shade, so you can opt for different spots depending on the weather. The sandbox, however, is in the middle of the playground and is unshaded, so if you're planning to hang there be sure to have your floppy hats and sunscreen. There is also a swing area that has baby swings, however, this playground does not have any "big kid" swings (although it does have two tire swings that are mostly in the shade). In addition the the usual climbing and sliding equipment, Lincoln playground also features "music switches" (I don't know the proper name for these) that let kids "ring" a bell/note by pressing a little thing that looks like a small light-switch, and angled parallel bars that allow children to "slide" down supported by their underarms (this works best with long sleeves so that the child can comfortably slide down without getting stuck or hurt from their skin sticking to the bars).
This week is NYC wildflower week and around the entrance to Lincoln playground are some beautiful flowering trees. We also saw and smelled even more wonderful flowers during our walk through the park to get there, so, we thought that "flower" would be a fitting sign for this week.
Flowering trees in Prospect Park
I would give Lincoln Playground an A+ as well, because it is gorgeous, except that it was teeming with people, big kids were tearing through the place with no regard for small children, kids were playing basketball on the jungle gym, and questionable parents and others were cursing up a storm in front of everyone; one parent was even drinking liquor from a paper bag. My toddler son was scared here.
ReplyDeleteWow, Carolyn. Thank you so much for sharing this - so disturbing! All of our experiences here have been quite the opposite for the most part... but perhaps this could be due to the fact that we are only there in the morning during the week and never after 1pm or on weekends? I wonder what day/time you were there and if there is perhaps a very different side of the playground that shows itself at times we do not frequent.
ReplyDeleteWe were there on a weekend afternoon. Probably not the best time to go there. Unfortunately, as with a lot of other people, that is only time we have to go to Prospect Park since we live in another part of Brooklyn. I wish we could go there on the weekday mornings, because it is a great playground, but with work it just isn't possible. So, beware this playground on weekends! :)
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