Feb 11

42. Murphy Rec Center Playground

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06 murphyCompared to some rec center playgrounds, this one is a little wanting.  But on its own, it’s just fine.  All the basic equipment is here and it’s far enough away from Oregon Ave, that you don’t feel like you’re in the middle of traffic.  There are two cool things about this playground: one, the extraordinary mural on the side of the rec center building featuring inspirational quotes from students describing their heroes, and two, the subtle beauty of a sidewalk that splits and goes around a tree.  You don’t understand what I’m saying?  I guess you have to see it to understand.

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Philadelphia Playground Project review (10/9/10)
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Visited: January 2013

Feb 11

41. Chew Playground

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01 chewJust off the chaotic hustle of Washington Ave, Chew Playground (home of the Sigma Sharks) is a big playing field, baseball field, swimming pool, basketball courts, and an impressive playground.  You’ve got the standard two structures, and the infant and kids’ swings, of course.  But you’ve also got a really cool twisty climbing structure and some grassy area set aside next to the playground.  Plus, there’s a beautiful mural painted on the building next to the playground.

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Philadelphia Playground Project review (visited 11/25/09)
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Visited: January 2013

Feb 11

40. Marian Anderson Rec Center

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02 marian andersonOn the sunny Saturday afternoon that Zora, Zora’s friend, and I visited this playground, we were serenaded by the tight harmonies of an a capella group inside the rec center.  It was a real treat.  The playground, though, is pretty standard.  It’s sandwiched between the outfield wall of the baseball diamond and the rec center building itself.  But if you have a kid–or you’re one yourself–that just wants you to spend 20 minutes being pushed (and pushed and pushed and pushed) on the swings while you giggle with your friends about going higher, this will work just fine.

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Philadelphia Playground Project review (visited 11/24/09)
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Visited: January 2013

Feb 11

39. Seger Park Playground

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03 segerWe visited this park on an otherwise unremarkable Saturday in January, and the place was packed.  Only when I returned home and looked it up on the internet did I learn that it was the second day this renovated playground was open.  And oh! the renovations are so beautiful.  This quickly became one of my favorite playgrounds.  There’s an amazing rope climb in the middle, three hills in the infant lot, the slides are tall, the landscaping is impeccable, there are plans to put in a sprayground, there are plentiful benches, and there’s an extraordinary rope cone spinner unlike anything thing I’ve ever seen before.

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Friends of Seger Park Playground

Philadelphia Playground Project review (visited 2008/09)

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Visited: January 2013

Feb 11

38. Palumbo Rec Center

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04 paumboZora, Zora’s friend, and I were playing a mean game of tag at this playground.  I was ‘it.’  Suddenly, I realized that our game had been joined by all 10 other kids on the playground.  Usually, I nod to other parents on the playground, they nod to me.  But we don’t have a whole lot of interaction.  But at Palumbo, everyone was talking and playing with each other.  Maybe it was an aberrant Saturday afternoon, but I kind of got the feeling that’s how everything was here at Palumbo.  The playground is standard, but felt really neighborly. Also: there are easily accessible bathrooms.  Both are huge pluses.

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Philadelphia Playground Project review (visited 8/26/09)

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Visited: January 2013

Feb 11

37. Barry Rec Center Playground

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05 barryZora and I and Duckie visited this playground on a brisk Saturday afternoon.  I looked away for a few seconds and Zora had clambored up a rope climbing structure and was 3 feet in the air.  Not that tall?  It is when you’re less than 3 feet yourself.  But Zora’s favorite part of the playground?  Watching the kids play street hockey on the tennis courts.  She could have watched those kids all day long.

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Philadelphia Playground Project review (12/24/11)


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Visited: February 2013

Feb 11

36. Jacobs Playground

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Man, it must have been 110′ when we visited this playground.  It had a lot of really cool equipment, but it would have been awesome if the swimming pool were open.  It wasn’t.  This is a playground worth going out of your way for.  On the one side is the Torresdale Boys Club.  But on the other side is some kind of business that looks to rent trucks and cranes and all sorts of awesome machinery.  Zora was pretty psyched to check those out.


Philadelphia Playground Project review (8/11/09)


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Feb 11

35. Playground at 35th & Pearl St (Powelton Village)

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After I wrote about the playground across the street from this one at Powel Elementary School, someone wrote me asking why Zora and I didn’t go to this one.  The truth is that I hadn’t noticed it.  But it’s a nice little spot right tucked into a small well-manicured spot in Powelton Village.  The yellow double-humped climbing thing is the coolest piece of equipment.  I showed Zora how to do it, but she was too scared to do it herself (for now.)
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Visited: August 2012

Feb 11

34. Pleasant Hill Park Playground

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I had no idea that we had a boat launch in Philly.  Now if only we had a boat.  This playground is pretty great.  It’s on a hill overlooking the river.  One of the structures is about 12′ tall which means the slide is awesome.  And it’s got this extraordinary wire climbing tree in the middle.  Zora was too small to climb it, but other kids in the park seemed to love it.



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Visited: August 2012

Feb 11

33. Pennsylvania Avenue Playground

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This is a small playground overlooking Kelly Drive behind the Art Museum.  There’s just the one play structure and four swings.  Zora and I ate lunch on the hill watching the bike race.  The playground was almost an after thought.  It’s not worth going out of your way for, but if you’re in the area, why not check it out?

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Aug 20

32. Wharton Square Playground

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This playground was one of the more litter-y ones we visited–even by South Philly standards.  So it was a real treat to find a lovely rose garden just inside the gate with mosaic-ed concrete benches.  The rose garden has sadly seen some better days, but with the right person with a green thumb, could be brought back to its original beauty quickly.  Otherwise, the playground has not that much to distinguish itself.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/7/11)


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Feb 05

31. Martha Washington Elementary School Playground

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This is a great playground.  It’s an almost duplicate of the nearby playground at Alain Locke Elementary School.  The afternoon we visited, the sun shone bright in the sky and a rambunctious group of four kids played a spirited game of dodge ball among the playground.  But what makes it really welcoming are the four picnic tables and gazebo surrounding the play area.  That plus the nearby basketball courts would make for a great place to host a family reunion or large gathering.  And although the trees aren’t that big, there are six of them, and they’re growing.  Just give them a few years.  The only downside is that, even by Philly standards, there was an unseemly amount of trash littered about.

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Visited: January 2012

Feb 05

30. Mill Creek Playground

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This playground, at Mill Creek Rec Center, is marked by one piece of awesomeness:  an old school monkey bars just like the kind that used to be in my elementary school.  Zora was summarily unimpressed by it, but perhaps she’ll change her mind in a few years.  There’s a swimming pool, basketball courts, and a baseball field next in this rec center, too.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (8/3/2011) 

 

 

Philadelphia Playground Project review (7/24/11)

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Visited: January 2012

Feb 04

28. Bryant Elementary School Playground

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This looks like an awesome playground, right?  But unfortunately it was locked on the Saturday afternoon that Zora and I went out to visit.  Major bummer.  We were, however, able to look at several of the beautiful murals, including a really vibrant one, seen in the second one down below, of a kid riding a bike.

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Visited: January 2012

Feb 04

27. Sayre-Morris Rec Center Playground

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This is a great playground with two playgrounds in one.  The bigger one is a little too big for Zora, but she loves the smaller one.  On one of the days that we went to visit, the Girl Scouts were selling cookies at the playground so that was a big bonus.  Plus, the playground is really close to the Sayre Health Center, just a few hundred feet to the north so if you get hurt, bandaids aren’t too far away.  The one downside: some of the graffiti is pretty vulgar.

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Visited: January 2012

Feb 04

26. Sherwood Park Playground

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This is a beautiful little park on Baltimore Avenue.  It’s also sometimes called Angora Park. And the church that fronts on the park is really lovely to look at, isn’t it?  On one of the panels of the playground, looking south, is a neat depiction of the Philly skyline in relief.  I wish I had taken a picture of that.  The one thing missing from this playground?  They should have put in one of those serving counters underneath.  Otherwise, it’s a fine, functional playground in a beautiful park.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (11/11/12)




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Visited: January 2012

Feb 04

25. Christy Rec Center Playground

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This was an unexpectedly great playground.  There’s a rocking horse and a rocking pelican (!) plus a little kids’ playground and a big kids’ playground and lots and lots of swings (probably the most of any playground we visited?) so there should never be any wait.  The rec center has a pool and tennis courts and playing fields and on the Saturday afternoon that we were there, the joyous sounds of a basketball game inside echoed throughout the playground.  And the murals–including the one of the dancing kids seen in one of the photos below–is really well done.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (10/31/10)





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Visited: January 2012

Feb 01

24. Clark Park Tot Lot

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This was Zora’s home field playground from the time that she could walk until the time that her friend, Jai, taught her how to go up the climber at Cedar Park Playground.  It continues to be a hit for two reasons.  One, Zora loves the dinosaur climber (which is one of only two that I’ve seen in the neighborhood; the other is inside the membership-required University City Swim Club.)  And two, it’s a rare visit where we don’t get to talk with someone that we know from the neighborhood.  The playground is so social, that it has its own email list.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (7/28/10)


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Visited: January 2012

Jan 28

23. Belmont Charter School Playground

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This playground has seen some better days.  Bad graffiti adorns most of the structures.  But there are some great features.  It has an old school double rainbow monkey bars seen at no other playground we’ve been to, a rope climber just like the one at the University City High School playground, and a purple climber similar to the ones at Malcolm X playground.  The real surprise, though, was seeing the turtle climber, just like the one in Clark Park.  Surrounding the playground are two tennis courts (in need of repair), a basketball court, and lots of open asphalted playing area.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (not yet reviewed)


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Visited: January 2012