Cummings Park

A few years back, I looked at an apt right across the street from this park so I recently revisited this playground with my toddler (20 months). The first thing that struck me about this park were the separate play areas for under 5 and over 5 kiddos. I tend to go to the park on Summer St but there is only one structure and when the bigger kids play Tag, I always worry about my daughter getting knocked over or off the structure.
The under 5 structure has only one opening through which there is potential for a fall; otherwise, the panels are closed. The structure offers opportunity to develop the gross motor skills through climbing and crawling through tubes. I genuinely appreciate the three baby swings as well as the sand (vs wood chips). Another big bonus is that Whole Foods is just a short walk down the street.
There is a small basketball court adjacent to the playground but doesn’t seem to be frequently utilized. This definitely seems to be a more family friendly park!

You know you’re entering a new phase in your life when you start writing reviews of playgrounds instead of awesome restaurants/​bars. That’s right, Unilocalers… parenthood and old age are staring you down.
Cummings Park Playground is the favorite playground for my 1.25yr old. The climbing/​play structures are built on large sand areas, so it’s like a giant sandbox (with clean sand no less). There are quite a few donated toys lying around (many of which are trucks), so there’s lots to play with. 3 toddler swings, 2 big kid swings. A small basketball court with one hoop. The whole park is nicely laid out. I feel perfectly comfortable just sitting back on one of the benches and letting him walk around and explore.
The best part is that its primarily used by 1−4yr olds, and there is almost always some kids there to play with (especially in the mornings). It can get busy, but it never gets too busy/​insane (like Alexander W. Kemp playground in Harvard Sq). Generally speaking, the big kids and teenagers keep away.
The worst part is that it has very little shade. In fact, there is no shade on the climbing structures, so they can get hot in the middle of the day. There are a few trees, but they aren’t positioned particularly well. All the exciting stuff that your kids will want to play with are in the sunny spots. So I would recommend it as a early/​mid-​morning playground.