Kemp Mill Urban Park (Silver Spring)

The huge slide and climbing web is clearly the centerpiece of the newly-renovated Kemp Mill Urban Park, and indeed, it is usually swarming with kids. But the park also has a number of fun, unusual climbing structures, as well as an enclosed basketball/soccer court and swings.

The playground is clearly designed for older kids, but there is a scattering of structures for toddlers and younger children, including some play houses that are nicely shaded by trees, a smaller slide, and some other climbing equipment. Unfortunately, these are widely separated, so there's no `little kid area.' In general, I would go to this playground for older kids; but if you have younger ones in tow, they will definitely not be bored.

As a bonus, this playground is part of an outdoor shopping center that also has a nice cafe, a pizza shop, a supermarket, and a fabulous candy store.

Adventure Park (South Germantown)

The centerpiece of this castle-themed playground -- proclaimed "super cool" by my eight-year-old -- is, well, a castle. But it doesn't just look good; it's a mostly-wooden maze packed with steps, ladders, drawbridges, and slides. The same is true of the ship-shaped climbing structure geared for younger kids. There's also a collection of wooden play structures for toddlers, various animal-shaped climbing sculptures, swings of both the standard and disc-shaped variety, a musical play section, and a stand-alone climbing wall (because, apparently, why not?)

Trees provided segments of shade even at high noon, though the main castle structure is not in the shade, and there is both an enormous parking lot and -- da ding! -- a bathroom. Overall, one of the most interesting and fun playground Montgomery County has to offer. Even my 11-year-old wants to go back.

(It looks like there's a splash park just up the road, which we might check out in the summer. But on a first visit, the adventure park was more than enough to keep my kids occupied for an afternoon.)

Woodside Urban Park (downtown Silver Spring)

This large, pretty, well-shaded playground, at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street, has three separate climbing structures -- each one with unique and interesting features -- plus a bunch of stand-alone favorites, including two pretend cars, an airplane bouncer, a climbing web, and several varieties of things that spin. Add in four baby swings, two regular swings, picnic tables, and wooden barriers for walking on, and you've got yourself a kids' paradise. This one will definitely go on my list of playgrounds to visit often.

Also in the park: tennis courts, basketball courts, a two-sided racquetball court, and a skate track.

White Oak Community Recreation Center Playground (White Oak)

The White Oak Recreation Center (1700 April Lane) has two playgrounds. The first, which is the one you see as you drive in, is a nice and fairly standard younger kids playground. The "5-12 years" playground (pictured) is on the far side of the rec center. It has a number of cool climbing structures and features, plus a younger kids structure of its own off to the side, making it a particularly good playground if you have kids of various ages. There are bathrooms (and some other amenities) available in the rec center when it's open, plus a large field and "skate spot" near the younger kids' playground. (Unfortunately, the two playgrounds are separated by the parking lot, so it's usually going to be necessary to choose one at a time.)

Green Park (Gaithersburg)

Words cannot do this playground justice. So I took lots of pictures instead -- which was easy to do, since it was not over-crowded even on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

In short: I spent the afternoon here with a 10-year-old, 7-year-old, 5-year-old, and 1-year-old, and every single one of them had plenty to do... plus, they begged to come back the next Sunday. A++.

(If you're using GPS to get here, I advise aiming it at the dog park -- 251 Bickerstaff Way, Gaithersburg MD. When I tried the playground itself, my GPS landed me on a random spot on the highway adjacent to the park. From the dog park, continue down the road; the playground is on the left, and there is street-side parking right next to it.)

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Indoor Playspaces for Babies & Toddlers

This blog has been a bit neglected lately, mostly because my youngest was too young for playgrounds until recently. In the meantime, a discussion on one of my parents' groups has made me realize it would be helpful to collect a list of indoor playspaces appropriate for infants and toddlers. Here are the ones I've checked out so far:

Brookside Nature Center: This is one of my favorites. The indoor part of the nature center has a really nice playroom with lots of wooden and nature-related toys, as well as exhibits of bumblebees, turtles, and a nature diorama. There's a really great bird-watching area, too. Good for all ages for a short visit, but I find that babies and toddlers can easily spend hours there.

Meadowside Nature Center: This free, spacious nature center has: (1) a combined playroom/animal exhibit room stocked with baby and toddler toys, with turtles, snakes, and some other animals in glass display cases along one wall, (2) a woodlands room featuring a crawl-through tunnel with a small slide at the end, (3) a large atrium with a couple of hands-on historical exhibits -- most popularly, a dug-out canoe that kids can climb into, and (4) judging from the signs on the wall, a variety of programs geared toward young kids.

Downtown Silver Spring Library: This list doesn't include all the libraries, but you can take it for granted that most of them are good for babies. I find that they are less helpful for toddlers -- mine, at least, have always had a singular focus on pulling all the books off the shelves. This new library is particularly interesting because it has a great baby/toddler play area that is a bit set apart from all the books.

White Oak Library: Also a standout library because of its high concentration of toys. It doesn't have as much space as downtown Silver Spring, though, so the book-pulling-off-shelves issue still exists. NOTE: CLOSED FOR RENOVATION AS OF MAY 2017

Ellsworth Place Playspace: The bottom floor of this mall in downtown Silver Spring has a small play area especially good for toddlers. It tends to be pretty quiet and not overcrowded.

Silver Star Gymnastics: This gym has open play hours, usually from noon-1:00 but you can check their website. It costs $9 per child. My daughter has loved this place since the moment she learned to walk, but you will get more for your buck with older kids who can use the equipment. [pictures to follow]

The Little Gym of Silver Spring: The Little Gym of Silver Spring usually has 3 open play times per week (times vary depending on the semester, but should be on their website). They cost only $2 per session, BUT you have to be a member. If it's something you would go to often, though, I find the $40 membership fee to be well worth it for access to the playspace. (And of course, you can also sign up for classes.) This gym is my 16-month-old's favorite place in the world. 

As a bonus, it's in an outdoor shopping center that also has a nice cafe, a pizza shop, a supermarket, and a fabulous candy store.

County-Run Playspaces: The county runs two open plays per week, on Mondays from 10:30-noon at the White Oak Recreation Center, and on Wednesdays from 10:30-noon at the Long Branch Recreation Center. In each case, they set up a gym with some balls, soft structures, toys, etc. -- but mostly, the appeal of these play areas is that they are both spacious and free. They do follow the county school calendar, so are closed on days that school is closed.

Playspace at the Wheaton Mall: Personally, I find the mall exhausting, so I've never gone just for this playspace. With that said, they've gathered quite a collection of "things to keep kids happy/bribe them with so parents can shop"): the free playspace, which is always crawling with kid, a little ride, a miniature train that goes through the mall, and there is also Bubble Bounce right near there. Of all these options, only the playspace is free, but the rest are pretty reasonably priced. [I'll post pictures when I get them...]

Dynamite Gymnastics: Dynamite Gymnastics Center in Rockville has open gyms twice a day, usually at noon and two o'clock; you can check the schedule here: http://www.dynamitegc.com/schedule/. Cost is $8 per child. Most of the gym is geared toward older kids (and older kids will love it), but there is plenty for toddlers to do, too.

Still to be explored: Bubble Bounce, Dynamite Agility Center, Playseum, College Park Aviation Museum

What have I missed? Please comment and recommend your favorites!

Adventure Playground at Wheaton Regional Park

This playground shows up on every list of the area's best parks -- and deservedly so. Jam-packed with cool, challenging climbing equipment, along with super-long slides, sprawling ramps, and a giant blue dome, this is the nirvana of playgrounds. It is designed with older kids in mind, and kids of all ages can have fun here -- as can adults (I tested this out personally, being the dedicated blogger that I am). The slides, dome, and blue web-climbers are the eye-catchers, but even the smaller climbing structures in the playground are surprisingly well-designed and challenging.

It even has bathrooms! And on summer weekends, the Wheaton miniature train and carousel are right down the hill. (They also share a parking lot, which you get to by going down Shorefield Road off Georgia Avenue.)

There are a few drawbacks. The layout and size of the playground make it challenging to keep track of children, which means that despite a very cool younger kids' area with an interesting sandbox, this playground is best for older kids who don't need constant supervision. With younger children, I would want a one-to-one adult-to-child ratio (and even then, it is a challenge to keep a kid in sight, especially if they're doing the slides). There is also not a lot of shade.

But overall, this is a justifiably popular playground, well worth a visit or ten.