Annie Young wrote: > Thanks to Joan for mentioning that each park has its own > different type of play equipment. I have my grandson for > a couple of weeks and guess what we do almost every day - > go to a different park - talk about the great > equipment we have been putting in the last few years.
> He loves it, so with over 60 tot lots and playgrounds seems > that is at least two months of activities - just visiting > each park and see if you can find all 178 pieces of parkland > if you need something else to do and visit, Well there goes one vote. I and others suggest that indoor parks and play areas are something that the Park Board should consider and the wise and reasoned suggestion is that we could visit all 178 existing pieces of parkland in the city. Gosh, why didn't I think of that before? The first reason might be because it's been winter and those 178 pieces of parkland have been covered with snow. Okay, call me a Reganite, but if you've seen one swing set you've seen them all. Well almost, but after the 40th set of playground equipment I think that the novelty will have warn off. Besides the fact that I don't see the overwhelming educationally value visiting multiple playgrounds. I will admit that this might be a beneficial activity for a Park Board member and in fact as soon as I'm elected as a write-in candidate I'll make it my goal to visit all 178. Meanwhile, as a parent, I'll continue to suggest that having a large open and engaging space for my children to play during the winter might be a valuable goal for our Park System. Joan Thom wrote: > There are stairs at the new Park Board Offices, you could > always take the kids their and let them see haw many times > they can climb them while timing them with your watch. This might have been funny, but it's a day too late. > We use the Stone arch Bridge year round as great free > entertainment. In the summer its great to watch the boats > come and go through the Locks. You can climb the stairs or > take the elevator in the observation tower also. "In the summer..." We don't use indoor play areas in the summer. I am looking for a warm safe place for my children to burn off energy during the winter. For the summer, as other posters have pointed out, there are plenty of parks in Minneapolis. We normally use the playground next to the Como Zoo so we can combine a playground visit with a trip to the zoo. > Minnehaha Falls also makes great entertainment. If you just > have a short time we stay up on top and watch the Falls. > Or if we need to burn off a lot of energy we take the stars > down to the bottom. There are some nice cool place down below > to play when the weather is hot. Each Park has its own different > type of play equipment so each park is not the same. Also some > have great shade BELTRAMI Park off Broadway & Taylor Is under > great Oak trees. LOGAN has a great ship for younger kids to > play on. Let the kids pick a park off a map and go on an adventure. As I mentioned we do use Van Cleve. It's got a wading pool, ship, a truck, train, and lots of slides, swings, and monkey bars, none of which are usable in the winter. > One of my granddaughters best memories is of a creative movement > class we did at Pratt school when she was 4 she still talks about > it and she is now 9. This was an Community Ed Class, for early > childhood. Great a class during the week in the middle of the day. :-| It must have been created without working parents in mind. The classes we've been able to take as a family are on weekends. And, for all of you who believe that Atherton hates Arts, we've already enrolled them in a modern dance class that they hated and we had to give it up. They do like the gymnastics classes which are offered on the weekends in St. Paul and the beginning class allowed us to participate as a family (I couldn't find anything like it in Minneapolis). > I may live in Hawthorne that has never stopped me from exploring > the entire city with her. That summer we would leave the house > after breakfast and not return until late afternoon. Grandpa was > working deep nights and sleeping days. Yes she was my full time job. Living in Minneapolis has not stopped us from exploring options in Minneapolis, but as I've said most of the activities my children prefer are outside the city. This is not really that complex. I am just suggesting that the Parks Board consider funding an indoor playground similar to those in the suburbs. I don't think that it's too much to ask for the $3000+ in taxes that we contribute to the city. I would hope that out of her responsibility as an elected official, that Ms. Young would at least explain why the Park Board does not appear to be interested in providing the kind of service that I am requesting rather than suggesting that we spend our time visiting all 178 pieces of park land. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. 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