Adventure Playground — Attraction in Berkeley

Mad Max + Sanford & Son + Survivor + those-junk-sculpture-things-that-used-to-line-the-­Bay-when-you-were-driving-to-the-Bay-Bridge-in-­the-1970s + a mild Lord of the Flies = Adventure Playground.

Meant for older kids, at least 7 years and up, this is what I witnessed:

Kids running around with saws (!!!) A kid who dropped a hammer from a treehouse - luckily no one was below A young boy dismantling a play structure with a hammer A girl who face planted in a dirt mound after using the zipline

However on the other side I saw:

No electronics! No one glued to their DS, Nintendo or anything. Lots of running, swinging, climbing, exploring Kids handling tools for the first time, learning how to work with wood Paint! Kids encouraged to paint anything they wanted; grafitti as art Working cooperatively with other kids, trying to construct sculptures, a bench, whatever you wanted with scrap wood Freedom to be kids - no one telling them NOT to do something

There are adults who do supervise this playground, but parent supervision is a must. Not the helicopter type who squirts hand sanitation gel every five seconds on their kids hands, but a parent who will kindly instruct a child how to hold a saw so they don't lose any digits.

Located next to the marina, you get a lovely view of the bay and the windsurfers. Loved the outdoor pianos and the fact that my daughter was the rogue Hello Kitty grafitti artist extraordinaire for...

When I was a kid we somehow had wood around and built some amazing forts: underground forts, aboveground forts, 3-story forts, forts in the creek, and forts in the trees. Probably the older kids did most of the heavy labor. I remember getting chances at the hammer and saw and moving around some seemingly hefty lumber. Somehow, the structures ended up being sound enough to hold our weight. Some stood the test of several years. We laughed and played in those forts. Some among us, ran and hid in those forts. We knew how to carry plywood and boards. We knew how to swing a hammer and use a saw. Now I live in the city and I guess kids here don’t get those kinds of experiences. But thanks to Adventure Playground kids DO get chances to hammer nails and saw wood. They’re allowed to build or destroy things, mostly with wood. Play structures already exist with ample possibilities for climbing and crawling, over and under, and such. We’re not allow to cut like, major support beams, but seems like we’re allowed to add on or remodel to our heart’s content. To get a tool, you gotta minimally help clean up by finding, for example, 5 nails. And tools are limited in quantity, so you kinda have to wait your turn, but they have hammers and saws, paint and brushes, aprons, and fun getting-dirty and building-muscles kinda toys. There’s also a zipline! It’s FREE! ! !

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This was my kids’ absolute favorite place to visit on our trip to Berkeley. It has something for every interest. Whether they are into construction and building, art, music, climbing challenges, treasure hunting, exploring, hide and seek, or even sitting quietly in a secluded spot, Adventure Playground offers it and more. While the zip line was an obvious favorite, there were so many other areas to play and explore that it wasn’t even listed as the best thing according to my kids. One loved the construction challenge and the other enjoyed pretend play and the slides in the large forts. It was actually so enjoyable that my kids asked to go back the next day because they hadn’t had enough of it. Even by the end of the second day, one of my kids commented that she hadn’t gotten to do everything. This is the type of place you could return to every week and find something new to discover each time. A must do in Berkeley for...