Stead Park

Great little park near Dupont!
During the month of July, the Friends of Stead Park are hosting free Saturday morning concerts on the big lawn for little ones with local kids’ entertainers. I love community things like that!
The playground itself is split into a few different areas. There is a play area for little ones, and another play area for bigger kids (although the age recommendations are a little strange… my 2 year old was very comfortable on the «big kid» playground equipment, but it said the suggested ages were 6 – 12 years). There is also a very small but baby and toddler friendly splash area. Like most DC parks/​playgrounds, I wish there were more shaded sitting areas for parents!

Park close to DuPont circle. Fairly new. It has sections for smaller and older kids. One great feature on both is that it has sun cover canvas, meaning you can play in hot sun and light rain. There is also small field to play with balls or scoters, a basketball field and a big grass field. Great place to take kids.

Back in the day, when I used to live 2 blocks away from Stead Park and before I had a kid, I always thought this was a woefully underutilized piece of real estate that might be better used for other purposes. Maybe, given the demographics in the area, something more grownup (like restaurants, not grownup like strip clubs). Then the breeders who’d been slowly moving into the neighborhood started, well, breeding, and lo and behold, rugrats everywhere! Now that I have a kid of my own but live about a mile away, I get intense playground envy whenever I walk by. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a soft, rubber surface that’s not covered with dirt and mulch! No gasping in horror when he takes a tumble! No fishing out random pieces of debris from my son’s mouth! No stripping him of his filthy clothes the second we get home!