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By Stephen Press
Hometown Weekly Staff
Pssst…are the kids out of earshot?
Okay, good, because this is sensitive information. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could lead to days - maybe even weeks - of “Can we go? Can we? Can we?!?”
There is a oasis in Westwood. Not just any oasis, but a youthful, fun one. According to Boston Moms Blog, a collaborative blog written by local mothers, the finest fenced-in playground in the greater Boston area belongs to Westwood. “This park has some really cool climbing equipment,” enthuses the blog. “There is good shade in the afternoon and lots of benches for caregivers to relax on while the kiddos burn off energy!”
School Street Playground, just a turn off of 1A in Islington, is like the El Dorado of Boston area playgrounds. It’s the kind of place that children will ogle, jaws agape, from the parking lot, half convinced that this mass of colorful climbing equipment, swings and moving parts is actually a mirage.
But it’s real. It’s all too real.
“They were jumping up and down,” said Amy Creamer of her two kids’ reaction to being taken to School Street. “They were excited.”
Robin Shaw, who joined Creamer under a shaded structure while her kids ran in the sun, echoed the sentiment. “I was here yesterday,” she said, “and they were very excited to come back again. I think there’s more for them to do here than other playgrounds in our area.”
That might have been the understatement of the day. So numerous are the playground’s different attractions that even adults are inspired to envision themselves, years earlier, exploring School Street’s every corner.
“I would probably do the little rock wall thing that’s in the middle over there,” said Shaw as she pointed at a miniature rock-climbing wall in the center of the playground.
Yes, Westwood. School Street Playground features a miniature rock-climbing wall.
“I would go to the treehouse,” said Creamer, pointing at a lofted platform with “tree house” printed on the exterior in an appropriately childish font. “And the slide,” she added.
“My favorite thing is the blue things that you have to go to the next one,” said Noah Shaw, 7, attempting to describe a piece of playground equipment that resisted an easy explanation. He then obligingly ran off with his brother, Cameron, 5, to demonstrate. In turns, the two Shaw boys alternately made their way across the equipment, deeply concentrating, lest they lose their footing. Successful in traversing the “blue things,” the brothers ran off to another corner of the park where more and different diversions awaited them.
Back under the shaded structure, all Robin Shaw could do was smile as she looked on. “They love it here,” she mused.
The original post from Boston Moms Blog can be found online at http://goo.gl/IgH03E.
