Stan Hywet Hall's Playgarden
While children get to scale a climbing wall, ride a spiral slide and partake in a game of lawn bowling at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens' new 5,000-square-foot interactive Playgarden, the structures were built to mirror the architecture of the historic main hall. "We wanted a garden that is playful and functional for the kids and ties into Stan Hywet," says Sean Joyce, vice president and chief financial offer. Kids can also take "Joe's Adventure," a scavenger hunt modeled after the adventures of the Seiberling family's St. Bernard.
Inclusive Playground at Hollstein Reservation
Traditional playgrounds aren't much fun for children with disabilities, who find it difficult to maneuver the structures or use wheelchairs on the uneven mulch-filled ground. The Inclusive Playground at Hollstein Reservation in Amherst, which opened last summer, allows anyone to use the space with a level concrete floor and equipment such as a splash pad, a teeter-totter, a treehouse with ramps and a swingset with four types of seats. "My kids like the swings and the merry-go-round," says parent Brenda Grimmett. "Anything that moves and goes fast, they like."
Cedar Point's Camp Snoopy
For little ones that aren't quite tall enough to ride Cedar Point coasters such as Top Thrill Dragster or the Millennium Force, there's Camp Snoopy. The children's area has two new pint-sized thrills this season: Woodstock's Airmail, a 20-foot-tall, Peanuts-themed version of Power Tower and the revamped Junior Gemini, now called Wilderness Run, which has been rerouted to run through Camp Snoopy. "What really defines our kiddie rides," says Rob Decker, corporate vice president of planning and design for Cedar Fair Entertainment, "is that the parent can get on with the child and take that first roller coaster moment."
