The summer is here and we’ve started our adventures in parenting to travel the state of Maryland in search of many a playgrounds. So, this past week we planned our first outing and made a pretty solid day of it. We drove to Fallston, Maryland, approximately an hour north of our home in Baltimore, and we headed to Annie’s Playground.

Along with slides, this place has balancing obstacles, monkey bars, swings, and a lot of different passageways to get in and around the playground. The only thing I noticed that wasn’t available to play with was one slide that had been boarded up to prevent kids from sliding down. Other than that, there were various places to sit, including a pavilion that we used for the lunches we brought with us. We arrived around 10:15am and stayed for about two hours, including our lunch break. We were fortunate to have overcast early, with a lot of wind, because once the sunshine came out, the kids seemed to heat up quickly.

For future visits, we definitely recommend packing a lunch. It gave the kids a nice break to catch their breath and get some of that energy back that they burned through. Also, there’s a very cool replica fire engine play area for kids 2 through 5, with slides and a place to sit and drive the fire truck. In addition to the kids having fun, it’s easy for parents to understand the benefit of visiting such a place. There are a couple fields available where we saw some families playing soccer and others flying kites. Although we weren’t feeling adventurous, they do list various walking trails nearby.

Also, the walking surface of this playground was very cushiony. Yes, there are standard walking paths and bridges connecting one play area to another, but a good portion of the area is covered by recycled tire chips. So, if your kid likes to run full force and trips onto the ground, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a lot easier on them than being at home on the sidewalk.