Playground Buzz

*NOTE: Type "playground review" in the search bar for a quick list in this category.>>>

After a winter that alternated between heavy snow accumulation and sub-zero temperatures -- seriously, we had the coldest February since they started recording temperatures -- my 15 month old son and I had a serious case of cabin fever. We couldn't wait to get outside.

However, we have a problem. Several, actually.

1) Safety. We live in the city on a pretty busy street and we don't have a fence for our very small yard.

2) Poor Sidewalks. Our very small yard has recently been torn up to replace the water main line and install a new gas line. This construction has been happening all over our neighborhood, so the sidewalks that were already difficult to navigate with a stroller (or Radio Flyer 4 in 1 trike) are even worse than they were before.

3) Too Young. My son is 15 months old. Not all activities are suitable for his age group. He's kind of at an in-between stage. He is too old to just sit happily in his stroller while I push him around. Don't get me wrong, he will do stroller walks occasionally, but he has been walking since he was 10.5 months old and he just wants to get out and run around most of the time.

A lot of the kid-friendly festivals, museums, and other activities are geared toward children at least 2 years of age. There are activities such as gymnastics, swimming, etc. that we could participate in, but I really wanted to find free activities, since our family is currently saving to buy a new house.

I decided that I wanted to check out area playgrounds. Being me, of course I turned to Google. I wanted to find the *best* ones. I wanted to see pictures. I found a blog that was pretty useful -- the blogger intended to rate 100 playgrounds on a scale of 1 to 10 and provide pictures and feedback. The problem is, the latest updates were from 2012. Things have changed since then.

So... I am borrowing the idea, but specifically tailoring it to toddlers. I plan to rate each playground on its own on a scale of 1-5. I will add a pros and cons section and an "Extras" section that will highlight features that might appeal to a larger audience (adults, older children, etc.), but the rating will be on how good I think the playground is for toddlers.

I hope to have a wide range of locations around the Rochester, NY area.

Here we go, we're ready to swing our feet at the playground! (you know...)