Park Hopping

One perfect hot summer day last week we were looking for something to do.  We go to the park often in the summer and I was tired of always going to the same parks.  There are three parks within walking distance three more if we go by bike and even more that I could drive to but we don’t go to very often.  So my activity that day was to go park hopping.  I packed some snacks and a lunch and off we went.

 

A little research goes a long way.  By going on the city website to find out where the parks were exactly I found out that there are free activities for kids in some of the parks in the area.  There are camp counsellors at one park who are paid by the city to organize activities for kids.  There is also a mobile library that sets up a tent in different parks for two hours at a time and the librarians read stories to the kids for as long as their attention span holds out or until the park calls them back to play.  

I discovered that we have a wide range of parks available to us.  There are the new parks, with the state of the art play stations and water games surrounded by new houses with baby trees planted in the front yards.  Those parks are full of little kids and young families.  There are the older parks, with the old swings and toys we remember from our park days as kids.  These parks are surrounded by old houses and older trees, plenty of shade and paths worn in the grass from generations of kids taking short cuts to the park. There are the parks with water games where whole families wear their bathing suits and run in and out of the water and sit in the sun. 

 

There is something about going to the park that brings you back to childhood and lets kids be kids.  As soon as we enter a park my son takes off.  He knows that here he can run and do what he wants to do.  There’s freedom at the park.  Parks are free and provide endless entertainment and room to explore and invent new games.  There is a world of possibilities at the park so get out there and explore.