MLK Jr Day and the kids’ preschool was closed. I planned on meeting a few of my older son’s classmates at a playground and when one of them suggested the one at Terramar Park, the largest park in Parkland, we decided to check it out.

There are a few things I like when I visit a playground. With a two and a half and almost four year olds, I want the tot lot to have enough for both of them to do. My youngest is still too small for some of the more challenging climbing apparatus  so there has to be enough safe stuff to keep the little guy occupied and also some more challenging terrain for my older one.

Terramar Park‘s playground fit the bill perfectly. There were two main pieces of playground equipment. The first one was large and varied. It had many different types of slides, things to climbs and places to step. Best of all it was completely shaded with awnings.

Playground at Terramar Park

When we first moved to Florida this past August we were so excited to be able to take our kids to the playground year-round. After about five  minutes in the hot summer sun at a nearby playground we fled for the shade of the indoors and inactivity. There’s just no drawback to a shaded playground in Florida as far as I’m concerned. Even on a cooler day it’s still nice not to have to be worried about sunscreen, squinting or sunglasses falling off while you chase your monkeys.

This is just one view of the very cool main apparatus at this playground.

The especially unique aspect of this playground is the smaller piece of equipment about 50 feet away called the “No Limits Playground.” It was designed to be handicapped accessible so it has extra wide aisles and is gently sloping. This means a wheelchair-bound friend or grandparent can get on the equipment and join in the fun.

The special needs equipment at Terramar playground

Even my folks, who although they are hardly wheelchair bound are definitely not that agile with my kids, could walk onto this. There is a slide at the top of this so be aware that what goes up may come down a different way.

There is also possibly the safest and most boring see-saw of all time a few feet away from the equipment. The 3 and 4 year olds we were with literally couldn’t get it going. It just wouldn’t move fast enough to give them that flying up and down feeling which is kind of the whole point.

The other great thing about this park is it’s set back far enough from the parking lot that you don’t have to constantly be worried about a wayward child running towards the cars. The playground is surrounded by a huge grassy area, set far enough back from the parking lot that you can keep an eye on more than one kid at a time.

The playground is just one piece of this 50 acre park. We also saw paved biking trails that I’d love to visit with my mini riders and there’s also a tennis center, basketball courts, baseball and softball fields and open space areas.

Terramar Park is located at 6575 NW 75th Dr. Parkland, FL 33067. For more information, go to http://www.cityofparkland.org/Facilities.aspx?Page=detail&RID=7