Zombie Parent's Guide: Riverside Press Park Playground, Cambridge, Massachuesetts

Since it is near our Boston hotel, we visited the Riverside Press Park in Cambridge (which is just across the Charles River) which features a fun playground and a mysterious sculpture.

Our kids adored the playground, which had a little something for everyone.

Riverside Press Park Playground

My toddler enjoyed racing back and forth across a wobbly bridge. He demanded a parental audience, even when mom and dad were trying to make sure the other kids were okay and getting enough attention.

Ready to run

Crossing quickly

Kid Flash audition!

My older son and daughter delighted in having challenging courses laid out for them to follow. The playground has plenty of slides and climbers to make a spontaneous course interesting and varied.

The daughter climbs up only to slide down

Slide with a fun panel to make shapes and art

Our toddler has never experienced Q*bert until this playground. He didn't get the jumping but he also didn't have to face a bouncing snake either.

Toddler takes the Q*bert challenge

The older kids enjoyed the zip line which was popular with other children as well.

My daughter swings to glory

In the background of the above and below pictures is another fun feature of the park--a water sprayer. We visited after dinner on a semi-cool evening, so the water wasn't as refreshing as it would be at an earlier time or on a hotter day.

The toddler loves me swinging him on a toddler swing, probably because I swing him much higher than mommy does.

On the swing

Not quite maximum height

Just outside the playground is a statue, or maybe it's a sculpture, that was intriguing and inscrutable to our kids (and, honestly, to us parents too). We looked at it from many angles and couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation of what it represents. The light-colored objects are stone or granite; the dark-colored objects are metal. We eventually found a dedication sign that shed no light on the work.