Lenexa Playgrounds!

One thing we've done all summer so far is visit playgrounds! Lenexa Parks and Recreation has created a great map of all their playgrounds you can pick up at the Lenexa Community Center for free. Each playground has a temporary sign with a letter and number on it, corresponding to a word puzzle on the map. If you can visit at least 24 playgrounds and complete the puzzle by September 28th you get a small prize and are entered to win a larger prize. Reading at writing these letters has been great practice for Molly (5) and it's excited to find the "secret code" wherever we go!

So far we've visited 14 different playgrounds - many of them ones we've never been to before! Some of them have turned out to be great discoveries that we will definitely go back to! Here are pictures and reviews of a few playgrounds we've been to so far. I have grand plans to review every one of them for you,but I might have to save that project for a rainy day!

 

 

A GREAT new playground but it was hard to find! It's built to look like real wood and trees stumps. Park in the back parking lot of the Flat Rock Creek public pool at 103rd and Noland Rd. There is a HIDDEN bridge behind a shed which takes you across to this shady playground. Not pictured is a bench and swings.Flat Rock Creek Park, located at 103rd street and Hauser.

Here is another shady spot, nestled right in a neighborhood - that is someone's house in the left side of the photo! It's a nice playground though, with a bench, swings, and a nice little sand box. Gillette Park, located at 9010 Gillette.

 This playground is better for younger kids like Ben (2). It would be in the shade each morning or evening but when we went around noon it was too hot to slide. They have a bench and a huge sandbox in good condition. Also a plus for Ben, it had a view of the not-too-close train tracks! Scouting Park, located at 94th and Haskins, behind the Lenexa Community Center parking lot.

 Although I didn't see us returning to this old little playground, Molly (5) has asked to go back to the igloo playground! This picture literally shows the whole thing, sans a bench and a tiny basketball court for big kids. Green Prairie Park located at 92nd Terrace and Cottonwood.

Both of the above playgrounds are part of the newer Buffalo Meadows Park, located at Prairie Star Parkway and Lone Elm Road. It is very sunny and very windy so the best time to visit is early morning or later in the evening. They do have nice restrooms, a walking path, large field, and covered picnic tables, though, so it's a really nice one. I love that they have a big kid playground AND a little kid one... though my kids ages 5 and 2 like to play on both anyway. Also gotta love how close it is to my parents' house!