Maple Leaf Playground

We visited a new park this morning, Maple Leaf Playground. The whole park was recently redone.  I miss the beauty of the reservoir, but I suppose that's the price you pay for protecting the water supply.  Our morning adventure was the perfect opportunity to break out the kids' nature investigation kits. 

Linus found a small worm in the cave.

The kids and I looked at nature and talked about what we saw as we walked around the park.  I liked the butterfly garden.  Supposedly, there are 13 stone and glass butterflies around the park, but we only found six.  The kids collected what they found to be the most interesting, pods and leaves from big leaf maples and shamrocks.  They were excited to be able to identify them using the plant id guides I put in their packs.

The kids taped the pods and leaves into their journals.  We dated the entries.  Linus labeled his findings and then wrote a sentence about what he liked about this park.  The kids were really into hunting for things for their journals.

I give Maple Leaf Park 5 out of 5 stars.  There is a nice flat track for running/walking around what used to be water.  The playground is really nice and has an easy to use zipline (not too high that the kids can't do it by themselves or with only a little help).  There are tons of paved paths that are perfect for little bike riders.  There are shady areas for adults to sit in with good viewing of the entire play area.  My only criticism would be the that the play area is geared toward a younger set, age 8 and under.  Older kids would probably get bored.  I currently see this as a plus since it means I don't have to deal with the frustration of trying to help a little kid play on a something they aren't big enough for, especially since I generally have a baby strapped to me.