Ancient Playground, Central Park

It’s a trite point, but it’s amazing how oblivious one can be to the many many playgrounds in Central Park if you spend a scattered decade of visits to the park without a toddler in tow. Anyway, as you probably realize, Central Park has a ton of amazing playgrounds, and this is one of them. It’s got all sorts of things I dreamed of having in my playgrounds when I was a kid — spraying water, an underground tunnel, tall rough slopes to clamber on, etc. I was happy to have a kid leading me around here as an excuse to explore it.

Nothing makes you a connoisseur of playgrounds and kid-​friendly public spaces like having a toddler, and boy do those little offspring make it a quick learning curve!
During a recent visit to the Met, we stopped by the adjacent Ancient Playground (I think I wanted to check it out even more than our munchkins did.) and were thoroughly impressed.
Upon first arriving, it was curious to what looked like an adult seating area just outside the playground gates, as if to suggest: «Grown-​ups, keep out.»
The sheer amount of kinetic energy emanating from the playground structures was amazing (and a little startling). It was as if «Lord of the Flies» had been the design aesthetic!
Arguably the finest example of public works projects for the under-​4-​foot-​tall crowd, the Ancient Playground is built as a veritable fortress for the active child. Its structure is rather adult-​unfriendly, with its sloping-​wall entrances on which occasional bricks protrude to provide footholds for little ones — a great climbing surface for kids, but not so much for an adult looking to traverse the magnificent concrete structures and integrated water park.
Swings, slides, bridges, a tire swing and enough physical challenges for a mini Tough Mudder contestant made it a treat even for us to check out. Our 2-​year-​old ran under low bridges, ducked into narrow tunnels and climbed down ladders I could barely even see. It was such a wonderful exploratory diversion that I would likely come here on a daily basis if it were closer to home.
Does it get any better than this?

This is a great playground which can hold your children’s interests for hours. Once you drag your children to the Met (down the block) it is a great way to have the kids blow off steam.
Be sure to go in the summer when the sprinklers are on.

Pro: the bathrooms, obv.
Con: the lack of shade around the playground area
More suitable for kids older than my 13-​month old, who just wants to climb stairs, toddle around, and bang stuff. It wasn’t that cool today (85 degrees), but play surfaces were uncomfortably hot (granted, it was about 2 pm, which is the hottest part of the day).
Don’t miss: the Paul Manship gates — beautiful.

This is a nice little playground with a unique design. It was very clean; even the bathrooms were way cleaner than most of the ones I’ve been to in the parks. Although I feel that most of the areas were more for toddlers and preschoolers, there were sections appropriate for slightly older kids. It wasn’t too crowded when we got there, however, a catholic school from across the street uses it to (probably their recess time). There were just too many classes there at once. Plus these children were older (probably at least 8 – 12 yrs old), which I don’t think this playground is appropriate for them. Overall, my toddler definitely enjoyed it, especially without the crowd.