Adventure Playground

(A post - about what we did and some ramblings of my own....) 


What we did:


This past weekend we went to the Bay area for an extended weekend to visit Great Grandma / Auntie Nedra and to spend some much needed fun time in the City. (I call it the City - because even after travels to many many cities, it is still THE CITY to me - the best, most favorite, wonderful San Francisco). :-)  


While we did visit one of our "old" favorite places,the Discovery Museum,we also spent some time at some new locales, one of which was the Adventure Playground. I had read about it in past, but we had not had the chance to go nor was Morgan old enough yet - but this time.... we had some time available and the age of six in our favor. 


Monday afternoon we traveled over to Berkeley Marina from "The City" to the Adventure Playground. I was hoping it would live up to the hype and description I had read online from reviewers (minus the need for a tetanus shot) and it did! The minute we walked in Morgan was instantly thrilled. It looked just like a real-life Tom Sawyer's Island, or a fun junk yard for kids - Forts / climbing structures / a building area for hammering and sawing / kids with buckets of paint adding to the aesthetic of the existing structures / a giant spider web climber / and a kid-powered zip line. 


A fantastic shanty town all for their use. Morgan was first drawn to the saws - she just REALLY wanted to saw because while she had used a hammer, she had never been allowed to saw! It turns out that sawing is kind of hard, so we sawed for a bit and then moved on. :-) 

She ran around touring all of the forts that kids had built, climbing up and down the giant spider web, hanging in the pseudo hammock swings, sliding down the "extended" slide, etc. The zip line caught her eye toward the end of the day, however there was a big line and I think she was hesitant to try it (next time though I see her flying through the air on it).  


We were only there for about an hour and a half (they closed at 5) but not a moment was wasted. And, with close proximity to the water - she was able to take a quick trip to the water to wash off paint on her pants and shoes. ha ha 


We will definitely be back!  

And now, the ramblings: 


When I first read the reviews for this place I saw many positive ones, however there was also the looming comment of this place is dangerous - have your tetanus shots in the car! 


The reality is this, yes kids are using real hammers, nails, wood, saws, etc... These things do have a hazard level associated with them, however this is what I think. A) If you watch your kids then the possibility of harm should be greatly decreased B) the things we let kids play with on a daily basis could be considered / are dangerous to them in one way or another, and C) I have never been so impressed with a place and loved to see kids free - free to explore / create / use their motor-skills and imaginations. Not one kid was bored - all were outside running around - it was fantastic. AND, every parent there kept commenting on what a great place it was. I heard them  talking to each other / talking on their phones - all with the same shared comment, this place is fantastic! 


I think it's too bad we've (I use we as a collective society) have created these hand-sanitizer bubbles where our kids play on plastic and in virtual worlds versus having simple real-world fun. Don't get me wrong, some safety improvements are well-warranted and I am a fan, I just think some old school infusion is much needed. 


ps - Morgan did not need a tetanus shot as a result of our visit, however she did get a splinter.  She looked it over quickly to assess, and then went on playing. :-)