When going on a long drive with my five year-old, I’ve realized it’s absolutely necessary to have a pit stop along the way. Not like your typical bathroom stop at a gas station; but somewhere to get out and walk around to stretch our legs. About half-way through our trip happened to be a notable playground in the DMV area: Watkins Regional Park. It is located just outside of Washington D.C. in Prince George’s County.
The Wizard of Oz themed playground at Watkins Regional Park has to be one of the most creative and elaborate playgrounds I’ve ever come across. The entrance to the playground welcomes you with a yellow brick road to follow. You are greeted by two wooden totems of the wicked witch and the scarecrow. The ground of the playground uses rubber playground flooring that you see on other playgrounds, but with more eye catching designs. The yellow swirls together with red to create the spiral design of the yellow brick road. A tiny bridge, that looks just like the one from the movie, crosses over rubber designs of a pond with lily pads.
A key feature of this playground are the ruby red slipper slides with ladders on the back of the heels. Kids can play in a rustic “Aunty Em’s” playhouse that has landed upon the wicked witch, and there’s even a dog house for Toto. There’s a field of poppy talk tubes and if you look closely within the play trees, you can see flying monkeys. One of the largest parts of the playground is the Emerald City which offers a variety of climbing opportunities.
It was raining when we went to this playground, so there were a lot of things we couldn’t play on. We will definitely be going back on a nicer day! Check out all of my photos below to see more of this amazing place.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The details of the bench are so great
