Even when there’s a chill outside, I try to take the kids to the park at least a couple of times a week. As an apartment dweller, we don’t have a backyard so we visit quite a few parks in the area. Our hands down favorite is Martin Luther King Recreational Park in Silver Spring, MD.
There’s something for everyone at MLK, as we locals call it. The playground is huge. There’s even a toddler area, with pint sized slides and bucket swings. One thing this park has that I have yet to see at another: an old fashioned merry-go-round (aka roundabout). All the kids, young and old, gravitate to it. Kids of all ages, as well as parents, take turns spinning it around and round.
For those with older children, or no kids at all, next to the playground is the blacktop with 6 basketball hoops. On the weekends, you’ll see several pick-up games of basketball. In the summertime, there’s kids kicking around a soccer ball in the large open field.A short walk away from the playground area is a pond with a walking path. At 2 miles long, the marked path is perfect for walking or jogging. The pond is dotted with ducks and geese all year round.
A short drive around the other side of the park also lies the swim center with an indoor pool and an outdoor pool that’s open in the summer. Though we haven’t taken swim classes yet, I’m excited for a heated pool!
One bonus about this park is that it has real bathrooms! Any mother who is potty training knows that a portable toilet is not an idea place for their child. We’ve been at a park with no bathrooms, and when nature calls for a little one, it’s very stressful!
Head over to the Martin Luther King Jr Recreational Park while the beautiful leaves are still on their branches!
Thien-Kim Lam is glad that her toddler can play almost independent at the park so she doesn’t have to watch like a hawk. You can find her blogging about multicultural parenting at I’m Not the Nanny, her foodie obsessions at Cup of Creativi-Tea, and her binge reading at From Left to Write.
