Maddy's Guide to Playgrounds in Burlington - Regan Park

Basics:

Date of visit: September 2nd, 2024

Where can I find it? Hiding at the end of Sumpter Road.

Bathrooms? 1 standard port-a-potty

Parking? Plenty

When open? Daylight hours.

Review:

Regan Park is a playground designed around the idea of, "There is a lot of space available here, and we want to keep it that way!" It is a setup that emphasizes openness and provides an opportunity for parents and kids to inhabit their own spheres of influence and minimize potential frictions. 

These are the time out swings

 Aside from the solitary swing set, the rest of the playgrounds structures are densely consolidated in a single patch of ground padding, with lots of open space around it for children to run, for parents to talk out of earshot, or for parents to chase down children who don't want to leave just yet.

Same place as previous photo, just 180 degrees. As you can see, it is pretty easy to take in.

The playground structure itself is a clever piece, with plenty of creative challenges for children to test their balance, and parents to test their anxiety attacks. 

The blue climbing piece to the right is a regular 4-dimensional chess set

My brother could navigate the platforms to the left. I could not. Thankfully, the padding below is soft.

Sadly, the park presented yet another one of those chicken fighting pens. I have expressed my grievances to my father, who strangely resists bringing them up at town hall. It makes me wonder where his allegiances truly lie!

It is NOT a finger licking good time!

The most unique aspect of Regan Park is its spider web. Unlike the black widow mesh of Rahanis, this utilizes a more conventional orb web like that of a corn spider. As a structure, it is interesting enough to climb upon, but it also generates one of the more interesting challenges to parents with kids who do not want to leave. It is sufficiently large that you can reach through and grab a child who is running away, but not large enough to pull the child through. It is also big enough that you cannot simply reach around, meaning the parent must let go, and continue chasing around and around. The game is lost if there are two parents, so children take heed of your strategy in advance!

Look at me, dad! I'm a Argiope aurantia!

As a mainstay playground, Regan park's options are sadly limited. But, it does make for a nice change of pace, especially if one has a lot of energy to burn in a game of keep away. I give Regan Park 4 spider webs. 

Madelyn Hope Lewis is the senior playground tester of Lewis Developments, and a connoisseur of playtime activities. When she's not exploring Massachusetts fun time architecture, she can be found scouting out where is exactly "the line" with her parents.