2|42 Community Center - Ann Arbor — Attraction in Scio Township

Great place for kids to come and play when Michigan is being Michigan. Nice open area, cafe available for snacks and drinks, overall a great concept.

Pros: Its FREE! with ample parking - something unheard of anymore. Coffee is great, cookies looked amazing, and a great place to have a birthday party if need be.

Cons: the jungle gym is a place for older kids 4+ to play, but the younger ones can run around the field, play with foam blocks, etc. With that being said, I'm no helicopter parent but there's definitely areas that concern me where a child could get hurt. For example: the stairs leading up the light game have huge gaps on the sides and your little one could slip through. Not to mention, lack of gates at the stairs to potentially stop a smaller child from going up these. The foam pit is impossible to get out of as an adult - the edge was up to my chin and I don't have that much upper body strength. I actually needed a chair to get out because I just kept getting sucked in with all the foam. There definitely needs to be an addition of a ladder, step stool, anything for us parents not naturally gladiator-like. The "grass" is great but incredibly slippery with socks on and there is a bunch of hills with this this material covering them. The smaller slides are tougher for little kids to climb up to due to this material and the incline.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper because this is a great addition to the community, but I foresee some instances where improvements are needed. This of course with watching your child at all times is always a no-brainer. We definitely will be back, but probably when my 1.5 year old is a little bit older and can enjoy more of...

The structured play ground is very impressive and actually very well designed.

It is easy to see all of it, from almost any spots. It is helpful, as you can keep supervising your children without having to run around all the time. As often, kids like to wander, explore by them self.

The only entrance for the structured one make independent playing with supervision very easy.

The flat play area is nice, how ever very very very wide but the good point is: Kids can run a lot!

The café is nice, proposing the usual thing you would find at any local place as well as some warn classic food. Price is fair and comparable to any coffee place.

The staff is extremely helpful and joyful. The bathroom are always clean.

You can tell the community space is very taken care of.

My only down point would be what I called the "Mafia of the chairs". Parents come and take out all the sitting space by putting bags and jackets on them... And NEVER used those chairs until "snack time" where they used them just for a very short moments. I have seen family of 3 taking up to 6 chairs and 2 tables... They often stay so far that is near impossible to find who's belongings are there.

It is not very nice, as often the only place where you can comfortably seat with the younger siblings for feeding is in the café where supervision of the older one is near impossible. The older one who wants to stay away of the playground for few seconds. Yes Dad, also need space to give a bottle.

I often end feeding the baby standings in the middle of the space, where no one cares to proposes me a chair. Yep: That is the mafia...

Love their free playground! Super fun slides and climbing structures! Love to reserve birthday parties here. The coordinators can be worked with. The day-of volunteers were very nice and helpful and even gave my daughter a little birthday card and free pencil.

The play structure is generally clean of litter and trash but could use some deep cleaning. The stairs to the button light game is caked with dust and dust bunnies/webs. Some of the climbing platforms look like it has some permanent food spills on them. The little empty ball pit could use a few repairs on the PU material. It has a few tears in them.

They should also better enforce the socks only, no shoes policy. I see some people and their kids/grandkids walk in bare feet or with shoes on. Whenever we leave, the bottoms of my kids’ socks are just black and don’t come off in the wash while my black sock bottoms are white.

Unfortunately, the cafe food was not good. The grilled cheese was cheap white bread and sliced cheese in a panini press. The broccoli cheddar soup was bitter (maybe overcooked?) and tasted like cheese whiz with broccoli florets. For the prices l, they could do better with food quality. The lady serving us was really nice though. They do offer packaged foods like yogurt and string cheese and lunchables. The hot dog was basic but decent.

The bathroom has a clean large diaper changing station and is wonderfully stocked with free diapers of all sizes and wipes! Extremely helpful and considerate if you forgot your own.

Despite some of the issues, we still love...