Tot lots HC15 & HC16

We visited tot lots HC15 & HC16 on April 18, 2017. Since these are right next to the Swansfield Mini Water Park, I wanted to make sure to visit them before the pool opened and it would be super busy.
Parking is easy because there is a lot off of Cedar Lane for the Water Park/Neighborhood Center. These tot lots are also directly across the street from Swansfield Elementary School.
A note about the Harper's Choice Tot Lots. When using the CA Pathways app on an iphone only 2 of the Harper's Choice tot lot list. On a different type of smartphone, the app seems to list the HC tot lots. So, if you're searching for them, you may just have to look around on the map a bit!

HC16 is a great tot lot, the only downside being that there's no shade. It's actually more like the park playgrounds. It is divided into 2 sections - one area for kids ages to 2-5 and another for kids ages 5-12.
In the area for ages 2-5 there are 4 benches around it to sit on. There's a very nice, full sandbox (but no toys). There are 2 bouncy cars, although as my daughter pointed out, one had a lot of sand in it. There are 2 baby swings. There is a very nice jungle gym type thing with 4 slides attached to it. 2 slides are right next to each other, going straight down, the third slide has bounces going down, and slide number 4 curves. My daughter was in heaven :)

  

sand box

slides/jungle gym

There is a separate section that has 3 big kid swings, and one special needs swing with a harness. All of the swings are a nice height, not too high off the ground, so fairly easy to get on, even for a small child.

The play area for ages 5-12 has a large jungle gym with 2 slides attached. These slides are both plastic, but much taller. One was about 5 1/2 feet tall, and the other was 6 feet or higher. There's a plastic 'mountain' to climb up as well as a swinging ladder. There are all sort of other climbing apparatus attached as well. Additionally there is a small 'zipline' type thing, and one other small climbing thing. I don't know what it is called though.  There are 3 benches around this area to sit on.

jungle gym/slides

zipline

My almost 4 year old enjoyed playing on both sections of HC16. Since there were only 2 other kids there while we were playing, I didn't mind. However, I suspect on a busy day, the area for ages 5-12 could be a little rough for a smaller child.


HC15 is on the other side of the Water Park/Neighborhood Center. It also backs up to an apartment complex. It is much smaller. The plaque was also missing, but based on the map, I knew it was HC15.
Although this tot lot was smaller, it did have some nice nature-y architecture. It was more shaded at this tot lot. There are 2  benches to sit on. There was one (sad looking) bouncy animal. Two big kid swings, and one baby swing.  There was a sandbox here as well. There was a cool ladder to climb up to the slide, which was metal and about 4 feet high.

Tot lots OB21 & OB22

OB22 is visible from the street. It's right where Morning Walk and Calm Sunset meet. This is right in a nice cul-de-sac of townhouses. It's a small neighborhood tot lot. There are two big kid swings, which aren't too high off the ground, and one baby swing. There are 2 bouncy animals. The plastic slide is about 3 1/2 feet high and goes straight down. There are steps going up to the slide.

We walked to OB21, using the neighborhood sidewalks. It was about a 7 minute walk.  Alternatively, there is parking on Gentle Shade (right near Oakland Mills and Snowden River Pkwy), in the Stonehaven Apartments, parking right across from the Leasing Office. The tot lot is next to a basketball court and a tennis court.  This is a nicely spread out tot lot. There are 2 baby swings, a tunnel, and 2 bouncy animals in one area. The sandbox is also here. There is also one bench here.  In the other area are the 4 big kid swings and the large slide platform. There are actually 2 slides attached to the platform. Each slide is close to 6 feet high and plastic, one goes straight down and one has a couple of bounces going down, the bottom of each slide is rather high off the ground. There's a chain link ladder to  climb up to the get to the slides too. Attached are the monkey bars. There are three benches to sit on in this area.  It's not very well shaded here.
Both tot lots visited on 4/13/17.

KC04 & KC05

We visited tot lots KC04 and KC05 on Monday, April 10, 2017. We parked in the circle on Deep Smoke Rd to get to KC04. The path is visible from the road, and the tot lot is just down the hill. This was a nice, quiet tot lot. There are 2 benches for adults to sit on. There is one baby swing and one big kid swing, on the same set. The big kid swing was a bit high off the ground.  Most toddlers would need to be lifted up to get onto the swing. There are two bouncy animals that are a little high off the ground. The plastic slide is about 4 1/2 feet high with a couple of bounces going down. The bottom of the slide is a little high off the ground. There's a fun ramp going up to the slide. We saw a lot of butterflies at this tot lot too. There wasn't a lot of shade at this tot lot.
From KC04 we walked to KC05. To walk there we did have to cross the street at Polished Stone. It's about a 10-12 minute walk - depending on the speed of your kids.
At KC05 we found a sandbox with some toys in it. There are two big kid swings, but no baby swings here. Two bouncy animals.The plastic slide is about 5 feet tall and goes straight down. There's a nice ramp up to the slide. There's also a little ladder on the side to climb up, however, the landing is a bit uneven with the ladder. There is one bench to sit on, which is in the sun. This tot lot backs up to Vollmerhausen Rd, and at times seemed a bit loud and close to the street. Although it's several feet from the side walk, it still seemed close, so keep an eye on your littles.