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For the 0-5 crew) Music & storytime! Enjoy a coffee and/or some food while your lil one boogies on down! See my review here: bit.ly/2ibPd3b
When: Mondays, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m-ish
Where: Busboys and Poets, 5331 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville,
Cost: $5 suggested donation at the door.
Discovery Cart Days: Mapping Around
(All ages.) Explore the various ways pilots navigate both on land and in the air. Learn how to use a map, compass, and even a sextant with the College Park Aviation Museum’s Discovery Carts!
When: 11am-2pm
Where: College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive, College Park
Cost: $5/adults; $4/seniors; $2/children
Playground at University Hills Duck Pond Park
Pack a picnic, check out the duck pond and then have fun at 1 of the 3 playgrounds at this park! There’s one right at the entrance off of Wells Blvd but if you wander a bit on the bike path you’ll find there’s an even bigger, cooler one just down to the right with structures for the toddler and 5-12 crew.
When: Not on site – safe to assume sunrise to sunset…
Where: 3400 Stanford St, Hyattsville
Cost: Free!
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail – Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
This would be a great way to spend President’s Day for kids. Head to Bladensburg Waterfront Park (BWP) and explore the new 4-mile segment of the Trail now connecting the District with BWP! We packed lunches, parked at BWP and then walked the Trail all the way to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. It was lovely! No traffic – just folks outside loving this new addition! Grab a bit of respite at Kenilworth, maybe eat that lunch you packed and then head back to BWP, where the kids can play/climb/laugh in an old B & O caboose.
When: Sunrise to Sunset
Where: Start at BWP, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg
Cost: Free!
Watkins Regional Park Playground
This. Place. Is Awesome. Truly awesome Wizard of Oz-themed playground where you literally follow the yellow brick road under a rainbow arch as the Scarecrow shows you the way to your choice of six fun areas: Dorothy’s Farm House, Munchkin Land, the Emerald Forest, the Emerald City of Oz, the Balloon Escape, the Ruby Red Shoes. Playground, nature center and farm are free to explore and enjoy!
When: 9 am – 6 pm
Where: 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro
Admission: Free!
Paint Branch Parkway Park Playground
Get outside and check out this recently renovated playground, rivaling any great playground you’ve been to in DC, NYC or anywhere! Among other great things, its fireman’s pole use a fun hydraulic lift to boost kids (and adventurous adults…) up and down a log plank is a blast!
Where: 5202 Campus Drive (if old GPS, enter 5202 Paint Branch Parkway), College Park
Admission: Free!
Smaland at College Park’s Ikea
| Credit: Ikea |
Free, 1 hour, supervised, enclosed, safe & clean play area near the entrance. Enjoy some shopping or just relax/eat/peoplewatch at the restaurant upstairs while your young one(s) has a blast at Smaland. Children must be potty trained and be 37” to 54” tall (so children typically b/w ages of 3-6). Tips: (1) Best to arrive earlier on in the day as day progresses, so do the entrances lines; & (2) Join Ikea Family & kids get extra 30 minutes to play (depending on capacity) & you get free coffee!
When: 10:30am – 7pm
Where: 10100 Baltimore Avenue, College Park
Admission: Free!
**Lastly, while I’m all above local-lovin’, my good nature compels me to share that all National Parks will be fee-free on Presidents’ Day. This means no entry fee to any of these nearby National Parks and makes them a great destination on President’s Day for kids:
Maryland
Antietam National Battlefield
Assateague Island National Seashore
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
Fort Washington Park
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Virginia
Assateague Island National Seashore
Colonial National Historical Park
George Washington Memorial Parkway’s Great Falls Park
Prince William Forest Park
Shenandoah National Park
Thanks! That's a bummer about your attempts!! That precise thing happened to me the first time but entering the old (Paint Branch) address seemed to do the trick. If traveling north on Route 1, make right on Campus Drive, drive past the College Park Aviation museum on left, pass the ice skating rink on the right and keep going for about another .5 mile or so. Playground will be on the left, set in a wee bit. I'm going to take the kids there again soon so will try to see if I can add move to the above. It is a bit maddening though that there's not more precise info online – it's a great playground! Stay tuned!
Thank you so much for this blog!
We tried for ab an hour to get to Paintbranch Park Playground, using both addresses (we live in Mt Rainier) and gps kept throwing us in the middle of UMD campus. Is there another address or was my gps kooky?