Puddle stompers did phenomenal job with fun and science. They know how to make it accessible to…read morelittle kids and have helped grow my son into a little naturalist.

We showed up to a winter camp session that had been advertised as an outdoor experience, only to…read morefind that the entire morning was indoors. My son cannot tolerate wearing a mask due to hypersensitivities related to being Autistic, and they would not make an exception to their masking rule. We were not allowed in the door, and had to forfeit three days of camp tuition. This is all after I spent hours finding a 1:1 aide we needed to pay out of pocket in order for them to allow him to attend. While I realize I should have double checked about how strict the policy is, there is nowhere else in our life that doesn't make an exception for him and for an outdoor program it didn't even occur to me. I frankly feel angry and sad about the experience, as a welcoming nature camp is exactly the right place for my son. While I understand and support masking as needed, we are three years into the pandemic, and he is triple vaccinated. I hope they improve in their flexibility and if they do I will edit this review happily.

Remodel finished Jan 2021! It's very sleek and silver now…read more Lots of structures, seating, sand, and a water feature.

Clarendon Avenue Park is our second favorite park for our 1.25yr old. There's a massive climbing…read morestructure with parts good for toddlers and parts better for older kids. It sits in a giant sand area with a ton of toys that live in the park (including some excellent truck/car toys). The sand is in pretty good shape.... not too gross, but not the cleanest either. There's also a large circular pavement area with a good number of tricycles, push-cars, scooters, and other assorted vehicles for your kid(s) to push around. This area gets some good shade in the late afternoon, so it provides some nice respite on hot days. My biggest complaint of the park is that not enough people use it. Capt. K (my son) and I are often the only ones there. I don't know if this is due to the park abutting Mass Ave (so there is a lot of traffic going by) or if there just aren't many families that live in the area. However, if you go on a weekday from 11am-12pm, there are usually 3-4 daycares that converge on the park. But it can get a little too insane for Capt. K's taste. In short, if you can walk to this park, I would definitely add it to your playground repertoire, particularly as an afternoon spot. There are so many toys to play with, it's easy to kill and hour or two there.

This is a nice, clean little park. The only public entrance is via the driveway of 799 Concord Ave,…read morea medical complex. There is plenty of free parking, a playset for little kids, a tennis court, and a little baseball-shaped field where dogs can roam free. (Tall fences prevent unsupervised wandering into the woods.) It's out of the way and a good place to go if you find Fresh Pond a bit too crowded or want to let your little ones of whatever species wander around without danger of getting run over by me on my bike. 8) There's a cool boardwalk that goes down a nearby hill, but it ends on private property "no trespassing" in back of the Fayerweather Street School. Posted hours are 8am to dusk.

Lots of shade! Cute climbing structure, play house, swings and tire swing. Also a tennis court,…read morebasketball hoops and soccer field. Close to a preschool so I suppose it could be busy when they play outside.

Best playground in Brookline and surrounding neighborhoods! Mature trees, water feature, play…read moregrounds in great shape, rose garden for the adults, all fully fenced in for the children's security. Lots of children play here, of all nationalities; wonderful opportunity for my toddler to interact with others and be multi-lingual. Adjacent to the playground is a fenced dog-park/grass area for children's soccer/other ball games, so useful to older children and dog-lovers, too. Absolutely love this playground!

This is a nice little park. The rose garden is kept is great condition. There's a large play area…read morefor the kids and there is a water play area too. No dogs are allowed in portion of the park. They are allowed in the large grassy area behind (and gated off from) the playground. Of course, kids and adults are allowed there too. To give you an idea of the size of that area, I've seen soccer practices happen there.

A-maz-zing!…read more Absolutely clean kid friendly family park. There is a little kids gym and a bigger kids gym, swings, picnic tables and so much more for the adults as well. Street side parking available, trash and recycle, portapotty as well as water fountain. This was a sweet park for the kids. Definitely be back!

Tucked away on side streets in Arlington and just off the bike path, this recently renovated park…read moreis a gem for younger kids. Plenty of equipment and a sandbox with an excavator make for a great time. Other attractions include a basketball court, community garden, and picnic tables where you can host birthday parties. My kids love it.

a leafy themed playground located around the corner from Clear Flour, ample shade, small sprinkler…read moresplash area, all makes for a great afternoon visit. Many kids from the neighborhood were there when we went. Really best for the 2-6 year olds, older kids would be too bored. Great challenge for the younger ones, the highlight is a cargo net canopy where good jumping gives way to a slide.

Oh, Alden Park. This is a special, special place. This is the park also known as "that playground…read morewith the crazy netted climbing thingy across the street from Oxford Spa." Yep. That's the one! That crazy netted climbing structure is the Climbing Web, a place for kids (and big kids like me) to climb around and get lost in the tangles of ropes and knots and rubber platforms. There's also a couple of slides, swings, a fountain, and plenty of other entertaining spaces to frolic in. The park functions as a school recess area for the Baldwin School as well as a community park and playground. It also happens to be of particular sentimental significance to me. This is where me and my honey came to play in the webs and swing on the swings in the middle of the night when we first met. He wasn't yet my honey then, but I like the think the spark was first ignited at Alden Park.

Children from the Baldwin school were playing ball in the circular area and after kicking the ball…read morethree times and grazing the stroller, without a single reaction from either the children or their parents, I stood up from the seat that I thought was designed for parents to sit in and walked down to the circular bit of the playground to ask the children to be careful with the ball. The fourth time, I was hit in the face. Not on the head, not on the leg, in the face. Again, nobody reacted (not an apology, not a single parental intervention to ask the children to apologize, be careful, stop or to ask me how I felt: a dodgeball thrown in your face does hurt quite a bit, I still have a sore lip and a headache). I stood up as I had no idea who was responsible, raised my voice in order to be heard and expressed my irritation and concern for my 5 month old. Still no reaction whatsoever. I saw a father look away and grab his child, so I am guessing, his son threw the ball? Minutes later, the ball came back to the stroller and this time I grabbed it, as I was starting to become really weary of the whole thing: that is, parents not intervening: I don't hold the children responsible, they are just children... Surprisingly, my gesture triggered a reaction from parents who demanded that I give the ball back. More surprising still was the chain reaction this confrontation provoked, by mothers who decided to gang up against me (as it was probably the easier option), rather than teaching their children manners or proper social behavior in what I thought was a public space. Of corse, nobody had seen anything when I reiterated that I was hit in the face. 1) Their first point was that this was the playground of the Baldwin School students, that it was where they played ball after school and it has always been the case. I must have been mistaken when I entered the premises in the first place, thinking it was a common space, open to kids below a certain age and paid for by local taxes. 2) This was followed by a girl telling me: "give me my ball back: it's my property! What would you do if I stole your baby?". Obviously the notion of property, already well-developed by the time children start the Baldwin school is mastered in their teenage years. Although I'm not sure that kidnapping my 5 month old would be charged as lightly as confiscating a used doge ball... 3) When I mentioned in passing that my five year old did not go to the Baldwin school, I was immediately told that I should probably go to the playground near his school, not this one. Another rule I was not aware of. 4) I was told by the cohort of mothers that if I didn't want to get hit by the ball, that I should go sit elsewhere in the playground to avoid the ball. I thought that the metal chairs screwed in the floor of the playground by the city of Cambridge were for the use of parents, grandparents, baby sitters who were keeping an eye on their children, not for decoration. Mine was climbing up the big frame, so I was strategically placed to see him play. 5) In addition, I was told that "instead of doing my knitting" (strangely, she had not seen me get hit by a huge ball but she could see me knit from that distance), I should watch the ball and I would have seen it coming to my face. Unlike parents who bury themselves in their iPhones at the playground (including those who "did not see me" get hit by the ball), I knit (I actually don't own an iPhone, believe it or not), precisely because I can look at my son while knitting. A lot harder to do while texting, going online, doing emails, etc. 6) In the end, I was told that if I wasn't happy with this setting, I should just go elsewhere, but they had nothing to do with it... I love Cambridge: I went to graduate school here, I was married at Cambridge city hall and I really think it is a place that can generate amazing people, scholars, great parents and kind children. Today I was disappointed by what I saw and by what I heard. Hearing a 12 year old invoking property, seeing such entitlement in parents who take it for granted that a public place is theirs and making the rules because they live here or their children go to school here. I thought that community was not just about what you could squeeze out of it, but also primarily about sharing, respecting and giving back. I'm disappointed because everyday, I tell my son to get off his bike when he goes into a playground, never to litter, to play with other children, to apologize if he hurts anyone or even just takes their turn on the slide, even by accident and to respect adults. As a result I sincerely hope that my child will not turn into a bully, a mean girl or a brat who terrorizes other children because they are different, ostracizes those who come from elsewhere or seem marginal and who dictates the rules on campus and in life because they come from wealth and utterly believe the world is their playground.