One part of the Mifflin Square playground has three parallel bridges.  That’s pretty cool.  Unfortunately, at least on the Sunday afternoon that we visited, there wasn’t a lot more to say about the playground portion of the park.  Sure, in other parts of the park, an extended family had a picnic, a heated basketball game was in full swing, a well-used volleyball court was very inviting, and a couple of guys were sitting on the benches having an uproarious conversation.  But if you’re looking for interesting, well-maintained playground equipment, Mifflin Square rates just a B-, I’m afraid.  Nevertheless, although much of the equipment is marred by often-profane graffiti, someone(s) have done a great job keeping the benches and equipment colorfully painted.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed October 2010)

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Visited: August 2013

There’s not much to the playground area of this mid-block rec center in South Philly.  It’s also awfully trashy.  But there’s a retro swingset and a retro sliding board.  And–aside from it apparently being across the street from the contractor that tattoos a good deal of the sidewalk repairs done throughout the city–there’s not a whole lot more to say about this park, I’m afraid.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed 1/24/12)

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Visited: August 2013

Zora’s kind of into a tic-tac-toe phase right now.  She gets the strategy–finally!–and is a lot of fun to play with.  Which means she had a blast at this playground because they have TWO tic-tac-toe games and a tic-tac-toe like animal-maker.  Not shown on this map is a curvy path on the rubbery ground surface beneath the playground structures that was a lot of fun to race along.  Shown on this map is the seemingly haphazard scattering of benches and trees.  Over all, this is a nice rec center playground that’s a little worn, but one that I’d be happy to live near.  But what’s up with all of that unused asphalt spread out on the other side of the gym?  Not even a basketball court but just lots and lots of hard, hot space.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed 8/15/2010)

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Visited: August 2013

This huge park takes up a whole city block.  The playground is just a small part of it.  Zora loved the metal sculpture in the first photo below.  She tried to climb it, but wasn’t so successful.  The other kids, who had a few years on her, seemed to have figured out the two secrets to getting to the top: (1) a running start; and (2) friends at the top to help pull you up.  There’s a spinner here with a conical rope structure that allows you to climb up while your friend (or, in this case, your daughter) spins it.  It’s a lot of fun.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited 8/15/10)

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Visited: April 2013

Herron Playground is such an unexpected joy.  It’s a wide open spot with modern equipment, great climbing rocks, different kinds of options to sit and eat, a few trestles over park benches, and lots of space to run around.  It may even be nicer in a few years when the young trees grow taller and the branches provide some shade.  Zora was a big fan of the sitting spinner.  I tried to keep up with her but just got dizzy and nauseous.  My one complaint?  It’s a lot harder to draw these new-fangled playground pieces than the old school plastic ones.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited: 8/17/2009)

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Visited: April 2013

This park is a small strip of land in mid-block that, according to this newspaper account, was renovated in 2010.  It’s very quiet and has several unusual features.  The most prominent is the 10 foot wide silver button in the middle.  It’s an odd choice: on the cool but sunny day that we were there, the button was too hot to touch.  And despite the signs warning visitors not to touch it, kids (and their parents) are hard-pressed not to touch it.  Do you know what this playground really needs?  A 40 foot tall elm tree spreading its branches across the park and providing cool shade to visitors.   But, you know, I’m from West Philly.  I think everything is better with trees.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited: 1/24/12)

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Visited: April 2013