My son was born in the depths of winter, so by the time summer rolled around, we were desperate to get outside. I had a bike, a child seat, and a strange compulsion to visit as many playgrounds as possible.​

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We put a map of Toronto on the wall in his room, and every time we visited a new playground, we would mark it with a sticker.

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The more playgrounds we visited, the more I started to a) appreciate the little differences between them, and b) feel immense gratitude that I live in a city with so many parks and playgrounds.

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I'm a teacher, so I've been programmed to love pedagogy. One of the few things I like more than a good playground is a good rating system, and so, three summers into my son's life, and with his baby sister on the way, I decided to develop a semi-objective way to rate the parks we've visited.

 

Perhaps you'll find this site helpful in your own adventures. Or perhaps you'll thoroughly disagree with my ratings. That's cool. The important things is that you get outdoors with your kids before they're too cool to be seen in public with you.

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Questions? Comments? Hot playground tip?

dad@danforthdad.com