Playgrounds By Location

BROOKLINE PLAYGROUNDS

Coolidge Corner Area

Coolidge Playground
Lawton Playground
Griggs Park
Devotion School Playground
Pierce School Playground
Cypress Street (Brookline High) Playground
Longwood (Lawrence) Playground
Monmouth Street Park
Minot Rose Garden Playground

Brookline Village Area

Murphy Playground
Brookline Avenue Playground
Billy Ward Playground
Emerson Park
Boylston Street Playground
Juniper Street Playground

Washington Square Area

Driscoll School Playground
Schick Park
Summit Park

Cleveland Circle Area

Jean B. Waldstein (Dean) Playground
Daniel W. Warren, Jr. Playground (Warren Field)
Cassidy Playground
Heath School Playground
Runkle School Playground

South Brookline & Chestnut Hill

Soule Playground (& Splash Pad)
Larz Anderson Playground
Baker School Playground
Skyline Park
Lincoln School Playground
Clark Playground
Margaret E. Robinson Playground
Harry Downes Field Playground

ALLSTON PLAYGROUNDS

Stanley Ringer Playground
Penniman Road Play Area
Hooker-Sorrento Playground

BRIGHTON PLAYGROUNDS

Rogers Park
Artesani Park & Wading Pool
Fidelis Way Park
Shubow Park
Joyce (a/k/a Priscilla) Playground

CAMBRIDGEPORT PLAYGROUNDS

Old Morse Park
Fulmore Park
Dana Park
Alberico Park
Riverside Press Park

BOSTON/BACK BAY PLAYGROUNDS

Frog Pond/Tadpole Playground
Stoneman Playground on the Esplanade
The Esplanade Playground
Lee Memorial Wading Pool & Playground

FENWAY PLAYGROUNDS

Mother's Rest
Peterborough Street Playground

Billy Ward Playground

The newly-renovated William Billy Ward Playground is divided into two levels, both with new and cool equipment. The upper level is for toddlers, with a large sand-lot, train structure, wooden climbing structure, and large area with some pretty amazing (and high-reaching!) in-ground sprinklers. The lower level, which can be accessed via a ramp, stairs, or spiral slide (!), features a web-style climbing structure, swings, and a rock-climbing wall.

The toddler section has some tree cover, but the lower section has very little shade.

Joyce Playground (a/k/a Priscilla Playground)

Joyce Playground, also known as Priscilla Playground to locals (or so I'm told), is a bright, colorful playground that includes some fun twists on the typical equipment - especially for older kids - that I haven't seen at any other playground so far. The main playground section is fully enclosed, and outside there is a water play area with inground sprinklers, basketball courts, and some additional swings. It was decently shaded at 10 a.m., though I'm guessing it's the opposite in the afternoon.

I walked, so I can’t say for sure, but the parking situation seemed pretty grim – there are some patches of 2-hour parking on Prsicilla Street about half a block from the playground, but not much. If I read the signs on Union Street correctly, that street is resident-only parking on weekdays only, so your best bet might be to drive over on a Sunday. If anyone has any alternative suggestions, please let me know in the comments!

(Tip from a reader: “It might be possible to park on the other side of Chestnut Hill -- some of those streets are only resident-only during BC football games, and the rest are available anytime.”)

Shubow Park

Rabbi Joseph Shalom Shubow Park features a newly-renovated playground, set next to a grassy oasis of calm near the intersection of Comm Ave and Chestnut Hill Avenue. Set on three levels with gentle slopes between them, the playground features an older-kid section on the lowest level, swings on the middle level, and toddler equipment plus a sprinklers on the top. The ground is all soft foam, and there are several extremely comfortable built-in lounge chairs for adults (which also double as climbing equipment, of course).

Baker School Playground

Set at the top of a steep pair of ramps, Baker School Playground has a set of nice, fairly standard playground equipment, a basketball court, a large grassy field, and tennis courts. On the other side of the school, at street level, is a smaller toddler playground.

Rogers Park

Rogers Park is a fully-enclosed playground in the middle of a huge park in Brighton, with nice, colorful climbing equipment (though the ground, unfortunately, is somewhat littered with cigarettes). The park around it features large grassy spaces along with tennis courts, basketball courts, and lots of happy dogs.

Skyline Park

Skyline Park includes a fully-enclosed playground with two really cool sets of climbing equipment, lots of swings, and one of those twirly-platforms (technical term). There is zero shade on the play area, which is atop a large hill, but the picnic area is under a roof. There is also a large parking lot and – wonder of wonders – bathrooms! Midday in summer was the wrong time to go, due to the lack of shade and sprinklers, but we’ll probably be headed back for a fall afternoon sometime soon.