Summer 2021 is finally here and NYC outdoor public pools in all five boroughs will reopen Saturday, June 26, for all to enjoy. However, there are some rule changes (grrr – dang, COVID-19!) to know before enjoying these free treasures.

All pool goers will be required to wear a face mask at certain times, according to the NYC Parks pool page (you’ll find the locations of all the pools there). These are when:

• Entering the pool facility
• In locker rooms or bathrooms
• When on the pool deck

Masks are not to be worn in the water, thankfully.

And that’s it. Although the city’s indoor pools remain closed and many aquatic classes have been cancelled because of the pandemic, much of rest is the same as in recent years when it comes to swim fun in New York City’s boroughs.

NYC outdoor public pools, which are free, will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for open swims, with a break for pool cleaning between 3 and 4 p.m. Early morning and late night adult lap swim hours are also available at some locations. The city may still host free “learn to swim” programs but many other aquatic programs are definitely off.

Rules for outdoor water fun – sunscreen included

The big things to know, mask requirements aside, are:

• You must have on a swimsuit to enter the pool area.
• Men’s swimsuits must have a lining, and yes — you might be ask to prove it.
• If you need a shirt or hat to protect you from the sun, they must be plain WHITE. No shirts with colors on them on the deck.
• Swim diapers required for babies and the yet-to-be potty trained.
• Most places have stroller parking but getting a space is not guaranteed.
• No floaties or water toys.
• No food, glass bottles, electronic devices, and newspapers, either!
• If you plan to use a locker, bring a sturdy lock. No luggage locks.

Free, broad-spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen will be available in dispensers at all the city’s outdoor pools, thanks to the American Academy of Dermatology’s SPOT Skin Cancer.

NYC public outdoor pools are open through Sept. 12, 2021.

Check out the NYC ‘Cool Pools’

The Cool Pools initiative has upgraded 16 NYC public outdoor pools in recent years that hadn’t had major renovations since being built in the 1970s. These spruced up facilities have:

• fun summer-themed wall art
• lounge chairs for sunbathing and relaxing poolside,
• cabana-style shade structures to help keep you cool, 
• plantings to make our pools greener, and
• fun and free poolside activities, including games, sports, arts and crafts, and fitness classes

You’ll find Cool Pools in each borough, but new for this year are the Van Cortlandt Pool in The Bronx and Bushwick Pool and Howard Pool in Brooklyn.

The coolest family attraction to hit the New York/New Jersey Metro Area in years has finally arrived. After years of delays, the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, N.J., opened in November 2019 and it includes an oasis of thrilling entertainment including Nickelodeon Universe.

Why is Nickelodeon Universe a must see? Let us count the ways:

1. Easy, convenient access

Nickelodeon Universe is less than 30 minutes away from NYC by car or bus (they have an express bus leaving the NYC Port Authority station every 20 to 30 minutes). If you drive, parking is free as long as it’s not game day for the Jets or Giants who play football next door in MetLife Stadium. We stayed in the theme park longer than normal just because we knew the ride home would be swift and easy.

2. Record-breaking thrills

If you’re a family of thrill seekers, make sure the TMNT Shellraiser roller coaster (must be 48 inches tall to ride) your top priority. The 138-foot drop, at an angle of 121.5 degrees, is the steepest in the world! We loved this coaster and its eight inversions so much we rode it three times in a row. If you don’t have fear of heights, strap on your harness and climb Legends of The Hidden Temple Challenge. You’ll navigate a labyrinth of obstacles, beams and ladders as you scale terrifying heights in the world’s tallest, indoor adventure ropes course.

3. Skyline views from all angles

Love the Manhattan skyline? You’ll have jaw-dropping views from the top of the Skyline Scream drop tower. You soar up 200 feet and do a 360-degree spin so you see the city from every angle. You’re also treated to perfect cityscape views while you pause for a few seconds on the TMNT Shellraiser before plunging down the world’s steepest drop.

4. Meet your favorite Nickelodeon characters

Get hugs, smiles and photo opportunities with Paw Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dora the Explorer. This was one of the highlights for our 4-year-old daughter who was telling everyone that she met Skye from Paw Patrol.

5. A modern, bright and clean universe

Nickelodeon Universe is a bit like a new car — gleaming, inviting and bright with colors, backdrops and rides that pop. The best part is that the weather is perfect year-round under the soaring, indoor shed. Sanitizer stations next to every ride are a bonus!

6. An amusement park all ages will love

As a parent of a tween and toddler, my biggest concern was would there be enough attractions to satisfy both children. Mission accomplished. We enjoyed several rides together like the popular Nickelodeon Slime Streak Roller Coaster, tranquil Dora’s Sky Railway and Paw Patrol Ferris Wheel. My 4-year-old had great fun for her size on Ren & Stimpy’s Space Madness drop tower and Shimmer and Shine’s Jumping Genies magic carpet ride. Bigger kids and adults will enjoy the dazzling Shredder roller coaster and timeless flying swings.

7. Encouraging kids to take risks, safely

Several attractions will nudge your kids out of their comfort zone. For example, my 4-year-old surpassed all expectations by climbing and traversing her way around Legends of The Hidden Temple Challenge ropes course to keep up with her older brother. Then, both children cast their fears aside when they stepped onto the 70-foot ledge and literally leaped (fully harnessed via rope pulley system) down to the ground. It was a monumental experience that our entire family enjoyed.

8. Have Nickelodeon Universe all to yourself

Not literally. However, you will certainly feel like a VIP if you arrive the moment the place opens. The lack of crowds in those first two hours resulted in no wait times at rides, meaning we went on our favorites several times. Unlike traditional theme parks, the condensed space in the venue keeps you immersed in the action and near all the rides. This enabled us to maximize our experience during these early hours as well as conquer the most popular rides that usually have a long queue.

9. Get slimed!

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Nickelodeon Universe features a mesmerizing Slime Time Live game show on its main stage. Two teams from the audience face off in a variety of silly competitions including bobbing for marshmallows (in slime), putting on dozens of pairs of underwear, answering trivia questions and tossing water balloons. The winner gets the ultimate prize — Slimed! We were randomly selected to participate in the game show. My son said getting slimed was a “life changing experience” and it enabled me to live out a “Double Dare” fantasy from my childhood.

10. American Dream offers much more

We absolutely loved our adventure at Nickelodeon Universe, but that’s just the beginning. The American Dream complex offers a variety of unparalleled entertainment. You have options like:

• Big Snow, North America’s first and only indoor, year-round snow-filled ski resort.
• The Rink, an NHL regulation size ice rink for hockey, figure and leisure skating.
• American Dream mall: Home to over 350 shopping experiences and featuring more than 100 dining destinations.

There’s also more to come at American Dream. Dreamworks Waterpark is slated to be North America’s most massive indoor water park including 40 water slides, wave pool and loads of other attractions. Also coming soon: a Merlin Entertainments’ Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center, CMX Luxury Movie Theater, Kidzania, and a 300-foot observation Ferris wheel.

A few recommendations for Nickelodeon Universe as they continue to evolve:

• More restrooms. It only had one centralized restroom facility.
• More food. There needs to be a wider assortment beyond snacks and “grab ‘n’ go” sandwiches for families wanting to spend the entire day inside the theme park.

When leaving Nickelodeon Universe, our family already started debating our next visit. Do we return to Nickelodeon Universe or strap on our skis at Big Snow?

Disclosure: NYC Dads Group received complimentary passes to Nickelodeon Universe. The opinions and thoughts expressed in this article are authentic and 100% our own.

During spring break, my family and I hopped into our car for our latest road trip adventure. Less than two hours after leaving our Manhattan home, we arrived at a wonderful oasis in the middle of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains: Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, a dreamy, fun-filled, action-packed, indoor getaway.

Families will want to maximize their overall experience at the recently opened Kalahari. After all, it has America’s largest indoor water park! So, here are a few helpful water park tips and other ideas.

1: Stay overnight at Kalahari Resorts. Arrive early for the awesome water park

The indoor water park is truly the crown jewel of Kalahari Resorts in the Poconos. The tropical, 84-degree African-themed paradise will give you jaw-dropping glee.

The water park reminded me of something out of a fantasy world with rivers and pools of swirling, sloshing and gushing water. Visualize a room the size of a baseball stadium. A welcoming labyrinth of soaring, zigzagging water slides; a three-story safari tree house equipped with a gargantuan bucket ready to soak us to the core; a wave pool, lazy rivers, tot-play areas, water basketball pools; and more. There was something for everyone at every age to enjoy.

Even though room check-in isn’t until 4 p.m., I recommend you preregister as a hotel guest. Then arrive as early as 9:30 a.m. when the water park opens to get a full day in. Our primary goal was to play in the water, not relax in the room! We arrived at the park’s opening to spend the entire day getting soaked.

Don’t forget to pack a small day bag. Include a change of clothes and extra bathing suits so you can keep your luggage in the car.

2: Let your children plan the Kalahari activities

Before our adventure, we went onto the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions website. Here, we analyzed photos and descriptions of the attractions as well as viewed YouTube videos of their major water slides. This gave my 10-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter several ideas for our daily agenda.

They developed an action plan to go on the water rides that excited them the most first. As a parent, it’s nice to have a “just say yes” policy for a change. Letting our children dictate the schedule for a day and masterfully navigate our flow of rides — including which ones deserved a second, third or 12th time — was fun for all.

For the record, Anaconda, The Smoke That Thunders, Flowrider and Barreling Baboon were all worthy of repeats from my older son. My 4-year-old daughter spent countless hours within the Splashdown Safari confines – a massive “sprayground” filled with water slides, tunnels and interactive water toys.

Our ultimate favorite was Cheetah Race. It’s a fast-paced set of four tunnel slides that whisk you into the darkness where you can race each other as you cascade to the finish line. With relatively short lines, we must have tobogganed down on our water mats at least 20 times. It was pure, edge-of-your-seat awesomeness!

3: Go early AND stay late to beat the lines 

The best way to avoid lines at the water park is to arrive exactly when the gates open for the day. The first 90 minutes before the crowd arrives let you soak it all, so to speak, with minimal crowd hassles. Plus, you’ll be able to snag a nice table as a home base to put your belongings and towels down.

You can ride the most popular water slides several times before the queue begins to build. Hit the  Anaconda, The Smoke That Thunders and Flowrider during this time because they seemed to have the longest lines during the peak of the day.

Additionally, we learned the crowd thins out during the last hour before closing. Some families head to dinner, journey on the road home or need to put little ones to sleep. So, if you can, take full advantage during the late evening hours to hit the attractions you’ve been drooling about all day, without the long wait times.

4: More to Kalahari Resorts than the indoor water park

Beyond the nation’s largest (and coolest) water park, there’s so much to a complete Kalahari experience. During our entire weekend, we never had to leave the property.

Entertainment: The massive arcade, escape room, bowling, mini golf, fitness room and treetop adventure climbing course all offer unique attractions for your family.

Buyer beware: Las Vegas hotels have you meander through their casinos to get to your room. Kalahari has strategically placed its expansive arcade with flashing lights, bells and sirens so you have to pass through it to enter the indoor water park. My kids absolutely loved their time in the arcade. It featured a wide range of games similar to Dave & Busters and Chuck E. Cheese’s, but it was like a vacuum cleaner to your wallet.

Treats: Next, your family is faced with some interesting and sweet options. Get sucked into The Last Bite candy factory offering a mouth-watering assortment of caramel apples, chocolates — and our favorite — chocolate dipped Oreo Cookies with mini M&Ms. The family weekend provided ample opportunities to spoil my kids so we dabbled in their ice cream as well as slurping frozen pina coladas poolside in our refillable coconut cups.

Food: We enjoyed the bountiful breakfast buffet at Great Karoo Marketplace. It featured quality options even for the pickiest of eaters: a top-notch spread with an omelet station, crispy bacon, fresh croissants, pastries and more. With full bellies and feeling refreshed from a great night’s sleep in their hotel, we were ready for more non-stop adventures.

We spent our second day at Kalahari relishing in all of the wonderful water attractions that we’d come to love inside the indoor water park. We’d hoped to replicate the joy from the first day – mission accomplished.

Things to note: To be candid, we have a few minor suggestions for Kalahari worth pointing out. First, the bathrooms are far from the action. It’s very inconvenient if you’ve got a little one in tow that needs to use the potty often. We frequently paused for snack, drink and lunch breaks in the water park and would appreciate hand sanitizer dispensers around the grounds. Lastly, the wave pool was a highlight for us and was so thrilling when you heard the alarm sound that signals the waves will start up. However, my kids said that they would love to see a countdown clock on the wall to provide advanced notice for the waves.

As we journeyed back home to New York City, my children had glowing smiles across their tired faces. They said that Kalahari was even better than Disney, and rated it a 10 out of 10.

This was our maiden voyage to a Kalahari Resorts & Conventions property, and can’t wait to make plans for a return visit this summer to frolic in their outdoor water park.

**Disclosure: The folks at Kalahari Resorts provided complimentary hotel accommodations for our family for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions included in this article are our own and have not been swayed by the free stay.

You’ve been cooped up with the kids long enough, mom and dad! Spring means it’s time to start venturing outside, in and around the NYC area, for fun ways to entertain and even educate your children.

We compiled a list of several of the best kids’ spring activities you can find in the boroughs (and few farther out) to help you exercise your child’s body and brain.

Best kids’ spring activities in NYC: Nature in bloom

New York Botanical Garden — Head to the Bronx to see the azalea gardens and hundreds of cherry trees coming into bloom. Don’t forget to check out the amazing annual indoor orchid show. The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden offers 12 acres of fun just for little ones. If you can’t make it to the Bronx, visit the city’s other beautiful botanical gardens. The ones in Brooklyn or Queens also have nature trails and special children’s programming.

Macy’s Annual Flower Show (click link for dates) — You don’t need to brave chilly weather or muddy paths to indulge in the beautiful blooms of spring in New York City. For two weeks every March/April, Macy’s Herald Square flagship store puts on an amazing indoor display of floral and plant life tied to together by a theme like fairy tales or space adventure. Best of all — it’s free.

Visit your local park — Every NYC borough offers a little slice of nature amid the concrete and steel jungle. In addition to greenery for play and chilling, New York City parks offer tons of programming for kids of every age. Go to the NYC Parks website, click the Kids tab and find some fun for the family.

Best kids’ spring activities in NYC: Animals (and more!)

Visit a zoo — Beat the summer crowds and heat at any of the four NYC zoos (Bronx, Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Queens) or the New York Aquarium by Coney Island in Brooklyn. Better yet see all of them or visit your favorite multiple times at a great discount by becoming a member of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Queens County Farm Museum — If your wee one loves animals, but the zoo can be a bit overwhelming, head over to these historic 47 acres in Floral Park, Queens — home of NYC’s last remaining working farm. You can roam the grounds, visit the petting zoo and feed the chickens, pigs, geese, goats and other creatures anytime, but the weekends are when the fun really happens. The spring brings hayride season (for a nominal fee) and events such as an Apple Blossom Children’s Carnival, Sheep Shearing Festival, Easter egg hunt and a season farmer’s market.

Best kids’ spring activities in NYC: Outdoor thrills

Adventures at Governors Island — Governors Island is just one big playground to begin with: great biking, walking trails, playgrounds and amazing water/downtown views. But now it has Adventures. Literally get lost in the challenging Amazen’ Maze. Play 18 holes of mini-golf. Scale one of three 25-foot outdoor climbing walls. Zipline at 21 mph down a 300-foot long cable while taking in sensational views of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and downtown Manhattan. Check website for age/weight restrictions and hours.

Bronx Zoo Treetop Adventures — Little Tarzans (age 7 and up) and their parents will love this climbing park, with aerial courses for all abilities, and a 400-foot-long zipline that crosses the Bronx River. Check website for age/weight restrictions and hours.

Fly a kite — The spring winds and less-crowded parks and beaches make this the perfect time to let children test their aviation skills. Kite flying is allowed anywhere in Central Park but open areas like the Great Lawn and North Meadow are obviously the best. Any of the beaches in the NYC boroughs are also great. Also consider Liberty State Park in New Jersey, just across from the Battery, for spectacular views of the harbor; the enormous Freshkills Park in Staten Island or Long Meadow in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Best kids’ spring activities near NYC: Ice cream!

The Museum of Ice Cream — What kid, from 1 to 100, does love ice cream? This imaginative, multi-sensory experience features 13 installations across three floors in the heart of SoHo. You can slide down an epic three-story slide, take a celestial ride on a pink MOIC subway, dive into the largest Sprinkle Pool and, of course, sample its signature flavors and ice cream treats. Reserve tickets in advance, kids age 2 and under free.

Best kids’ spring activities near NYC: Indoor water parks

If the unpredictability of the spring weather makes you nervous, look into one of the many indoor water parks in our vicinity.

One of our faves is Great Wolf Lodge in Scotrun, Penn., (that’s the Poconos, folks) It’s about a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.

If you want to stay in state, maybe head to the Monticello in the Catskills for The Kartrite, also 90 minutes. Opened in March 2019, it’s New York’s largest indoor water park at two acres. It features 15 water slides and coasters, a wave pool, lazy river and indoor beach.

See our full list of area indoor water parks and helpful tips for other locations, ways to save money and have more fun.

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You can also check out our friends at New York Family magazine for updated lists of seasonal events and Mommy Poppins NYC for other great suggestions for things for families and children to do in and around NYC this spring.

Photos: Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Governors Island

My family was stressed and tired. We needed a break.

My house was undergoing a major renovation. For several months, all six of my family members slept in the living room because of the mess and debris scattered around the house. It finally got to us. We needed to get out and get away fast. We wanted to do something fun together.

I have extended family in the Allentown, Penn., area and used to visit Dorney Park as a kid. It had been about 25 years since my last visit, but I have wonderful memories of riding roller coasters and wasting money while trying to win prizes. With the memories at the forefront of my mind, we loaded up the car and made the two-hour trip from New York City to Allentown.

Dorney Park: Day 1

We split the park up into a two-day, fun-filled mini-vacation. Our first day was spent splashing around at the water park area known as Wildwater Kingdom. All four of my kids loved playing in the water, and my wife and I had equally a good time. Wildwater has great toddler areas for my 1-year-old and the older ones entertained themselves by going down the many water slides. My 4-year-old spent most of his time in the wave pool. We spent the whole day either relaxing in the water or flying down the slides. Once the water park closed, we ventured over to the other side and spent the rest of the evening in the Planet Snoopy area of the park, where my 4-year-old could ride everything.

Dorney Park: Day 2

The next day was all about the roller coasters. My wife and I took turns riding the coasters and other rides with the older kids while the other one would wait with the smaller kids. My family is an adventurous lot, and we took advantage of all the thrills Dorney has to offer.  At the end of the day, we tried our hand at winning prizes and everyone went home with something. My son won the day by escorting a giant pink cobra out of the park.

My family needed to have fun together. We needed to escape from the stress of our daily lives. Dorney Park was just what we needed. In fact, we had such a great time that we are considering buying season passes for next year.

For ticket information, click here.

For directions, click here.

Disclosure: Dorney Park provided my family with passes in exchange for a review. The words and thoughts are my own. A version of this first appeared on One Good Dad.

Several indoor water parks and resorts have popped up with a few hours of NYC in recent years (see the list at the end) and they can be extremely fun. However, a good time can be ruined by lack of planning. Here are a few tips to keep the good times flowing (like a lazy river) at your water park adventure.

Use early check-in

Many places allow guests to check into the resort several hours before their room is ready so you can use the facilities for longer. Each resort has different policies, but three to four hours of bonus time at the beginning of your trip is a great stress relief after a long car ride. Also look into the policy for water park usage on your check-out day. During a recent trip, we checked out of our room at 11 a.m. but had access to the water park and all the attractions at the resort until 10 p.m. that night.

Leave the water park for food

Like an airport, many an indoor water park resort will kill you with its exorbitant pricing and limited options on dining. Basically, they hope people will be too lazy to leave  to search out cheaper alternatives. But with the free parking available at most of these facilities, it is very convenient to dry off, jump in your car and bring back any number of choices of food. While you may have to eat in your room, since outside food and drinks are usually not allowed inside the park, it helps break up the day and give parents a few minutes of rest time when they are not ankle deep in water.

Arcades are not cheap

It is a fact that arcades are expensive and your kids can blow through a huge chunk of change (usually loaded on a card) in the pursuit of prize tickets. They will see someone who just won a jackpot holding an obscenely large pile of tickets and want in on the action. Put some money into your trip budget for playing in the arcade and stick to it. And remember that that off-brand Slinky and finger skateboard was well worth the $30 your kid used to “win” them.

Don’t change swimsuits

Even if you are staying for a few days, I recommend keeping your whole party in the same swimsuits. It makes it easier to keep track of your kids, especially for those of us who aren’t wearing our glasses into the water. If you get separated it’s better to describe your kid as a 6-year-old boy with sandy hair wearing a white, yellow and orange bathing suit rather than he is a 6-year-old boy with wet hair. Most resorts have laundry facilities but if they don’t, a quick rinse in the shower and hanging to dry will make them good as new.

Know if you must bring towels 

If the resort doesn’t have water park only towels, bring your towels from home. You will not want to use your room towels for drying off. Because all of a sudden you have no towels to dry off with after showering.

Pace yourself at a water park

With all-day access you don’t need to be in the water all-day long: 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. is an awful long time and eventually everyone will get bored. Take a break for a few hours, go find some local sites. Hang out in your room and take a nap. On our last trip, we went for three hours. Broke for lunch. Went back for another two hours or so. Dinner. And finally I took one of the kids for another two hours until they closed up, while my other one hung out in our room and watched Nickelodeon.

Indoor water parks in the NYC area:

• Aquatopia at Camelback Resort — Tannersville, Penn.
• CoCo Key Water Resort — Mount Laurel, N.J.
• Great Wolf Lodge — Scotrun, Penn. — Read our review!
• H20ooohh! Split Rock Indoor Family Waterpark — Lake Harmony, Penn.
• Kalahari Resorts — Pocono Manor, Penn. — Read our review!
• The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark — Monticello, N.Y.
• Rocking Horse Ranch — Highland, N.Y.
• Sahara Sam’s Oasis Indoor & Outdoor Water Park — West Berlin, N.J.

A version of this first appeared on Great Moments in Bad Parenting.

Editor’s Note: This is part of our ongoing series reviewing parks and playgrounds in the NYC area. This one is written by NYC Dads Group member Niel Vuolo.

Isn’t it funny that children who hate showers love playing in the sprinklers?

That isn’t specific to Poppenhausen Playground in College Point, Queens, but it was the case as we pulled up to this small park, known to us as being that park that is a few blocks away from one of our Target stores.

The park with the funny name has an awesome sprinkler right in the middle, nestled between two climbing areas. The sprinkler, which sort of looks like a Vega-styled fountain, shoots water in every direction, there are enough sprinkler heads so multiple kids can be stepping on them, but there would still be water everywhere.

One of the climbing areas was pretty standard. Lots of ways up: ladders, stairs and climbing poles. And, of course, a bunch of slides. There was a lot of running room that was mostly in the shade while we were there.

The other one was more complicated. All climbing, no slides. Considering that the kids were still a little soggy, it was safer to spend very little time there.

Overall, the Poppenhausen Playground was quiet. All you heard was kids laughing, the water, birds chirping and the occasional ice cream truck. It wasn’t crowded, so that was a good thing.

A weird thing happened as we visited. The police were called about a woman who was getting too comfortable near children. She left after the police spoke with her, but it’s a reminder that we as parents always have to keep a vigilant eye on our kids.

Poppenhausen Playground features

Shade – Lots of trees around the edges.
Water feature – Yes
Bathrooms – Yes
Sand – No
Grass – Not really.

Editor’s Note: This look at Triassic Playground in Queens is part of an occasional series reviewing parks and playgrounds in the NYC area.

There is nothing better to do on a hot summer day than put your kids in their bathing suits and head out to a park to play in the water. Not wanting to brave the Thunderdome-like atmosphere at DUMBO’s Pier 6, we instead went to the Triassic Playground in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.

My kids call Triassic Playground “the alligator park” because the slide looks like an alligator. And I guess alligators could come up through the tall marsh that surrounds Meadow Lake, which forms one boundary to the playground (Jewel Avenue and the Van Wyck are on the other sides).

Even without the water area, which is designed like an oasis with palm trees and plenty of room for water balloon fights, the Triassic Playground is fun. They have two sets of swings and there are three sets of climbing and sliding areas: one for smaller children and the other two for slightly older kids. My son likes to take his scooter on the one that is basically a long ramp and scoot all the way down. He’s going all Led Zeppelin, driving motorcycles inside the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles, and I’m having a heart attack.

It’s a nice park, never too crowded and the breeze off the water is really nice.

Triassic Playground features

Shade – Not so much

Water feature – Yes, a large area in the middle of the park with fake palm trees that water shoots out of and fountains that shoot from the ground.

Bathrooms – Yes

Sand – No

Grass – Very little in the playground itself, but the park is surrounded by grass and the banks of Meadow Lake.

Photos: Niel Vuolo

The nicer weather motivates me to venture out for new playground experiences.  We have combed the entire Upper East Side the past few weeks, and stumbled upon some favorites:

1. The newly remodeled Ancient Playground (85th & 5th) near the MET has some great pyramid-like climbing structures and a cool water area to get wet. 

2. The new Asphalt Green playground (91st & York) has a modern sand pit, a child-sized house for the kids to play in, swings, and more. 

3. The Lab School Playground (96th & Lexington) is a learning experience – themed around the longest rivers of the world, this sprayground has water shooting up through a large-scale map of the world, sending the water down a river that navigates the entire length of the playground.  Of course, I am biased toward the playgrounds in my hood.

That said, for those of you adventurous enough to take a playground tour of NYC or take a staycation this holiday weekend, check out New York Magazine‘s special feature on Playgrounds Gone Wild.  The article provides a menu of options of 19 different playgrounds, for kids with all tastes.  Interestingly, the theme of most playgrounds these days is that they have “rediscovered the joys of risk.” They have become “less predictable, more imaginative, and more complex” resulting in more thrills for the kids! 

Of course, the article highlights the overhyped, Union Square Playground.  However, the one that captured my attention most is the brand-new, Pier 6-Brooklyn Bridge Park Playground. It’s Good To Be A Kid makes it sound like a paradise:

Short of the actual beach, you won’t find another sand-and-water-scape this big and enticing in New York. The newest park on the Brooklyn waterfront features a 6,000-square-foot plot of gust-resistant sand interspersed with climbable tortoises, frogs, and chickens, child-size houses, a “town well,” and a water-spitting boulder. There are also some fantastic swings — 21 of them, in fact, including planks, tires, and circular-spinning Tarzan fliers.

Reading an article like this and enjoying the current weather in New York City, gives me the itch to get more creative in planning my playground destinations.  I have no doubt that the NYC Dads Group will have to heed the call and venture over to experience Pier 6, Hechscher Playground, Teardrop Park, and more in the coming weeks.