The HIPPO Playground

In Riverside Park, near Riverside Drive and 91st St., there is the "Hippo" playground, so named because of the ground level statues of hippos that occupy the park.  It is great fun!  During the summer months, they even spout water.  There are swings, climbing equipment, a sand area, and lots of other activities that can occupy kids for hours any season of the year.

Here are some photos:

There is even one large hippo that kids can climb into.  They enter from a passageway on the ground, climb though, and emerge from the large hippo's mouth!

In the background, you can see the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument which is just south of the Hippo Playground on 89th Street.  Dedicated in 1902 and desingated a municipal landmark in 1976, the Monument commemorates the soldiers and sailors who served the Union during the Civil War.  The architecture is very interesting and many details can be pointed out to grandchildren -- the pillars, the surrounding walkways, and steel door entrance, etc.  

My own grnadkids like to sit atop the canons, but be careful during hot summer days as the surface of the canons can get quite hot!

  

A visit to the Soldiers' and Sailors' monument offers a good opportunity to introduce young children to the sacrifice that servicemen and woman have made to their country.

In the summer, Shakespeare performances on the back steps of the monument.