My kids love playgrounds. We were a one car household up until recently so to be able to visit a playground whenever we want is something we are so thankful for.
When I first became a mom I would spend so much time researching parks and playgrounds, but was always disappointed with how little information I could usually find. I decided that since we spend so much time at playgrounds I would try to find a way to share about the playgrounds we had discovered in case any other moms out there were interested.
The Elizabeth Porter Park is a brand new playground and splash pad in Marietta, Georgia. The playground itself is HUGE! They have a smaller playground and a larger playground so it is great for all ages. There are several swings for the younger ages, including generational swings that parents/caregivers/older siblings can swing on with the smaller ones. There is also a gravity swing, which is like a zip line, that is very popular with the older kids. The large playground has several very large tunnel slides that were a big hit with my three year old.
The splash pad is very large and also has a part that is made for the younger children/children who are a little water shy. In this area the water comes from a main faucet and makes little pools of water through a waterway. The little ones love to splash through it and play with the water wheels. The main splash pad has all the large sprayers anyone could ever wish for at a splash pad.
Since the Park was brand new everything was super clean, and every time we were there it was being cleaned, and landscaped. There are family restrooms along with regular public restrooms. Again, all very clean.
The part I loved the most about this park was the history behind it. Elizabeth Porter was the director of the community center that once stood where the playground is now. It was during a time when segregation was still very much alive in Marietta. There was a separate hospital, a separate high school, and a separate community center….among other things. She gave the youth of the African American community a safe place to go, and to be kids, and had a hand in all of their lives.
My children are still very young, but I feel so thankful that we are able to come to this park, where everyone is welcome, and they can not only have fun but I can teach them real history about where they are growing up. I cannot teach them about racism from first hand experience, but I hope I can teach them about it, to the best of my ability, by sharing with them about real people and events. I hope I can teach them, as my parents taught me, that we are no better than any other human. It doesn’t matter where we are from, what are skin color is, what religion we are, our sexual orientation, our financial status….none of that makes us better than anyone else. I hope to teach them to always speak up for those being spoken down upon, and to be a friend to all even if it’s not the popular thing to do.
To read more about Elizabeth Porter see here.
If you are near Marietta, or planning a visit to the Atlanta area this is a wonderful park to checkout. Make sure to leave time to checkout the amazing mural that is a history of Baptist town. It is an amazing work of art & history.
For more about the park, and the splash pad rates for the 2019 season please see their website here.
Please check out this mom-made video of one of our excursions to the Elizabeth Porter Park so you can get a better view of all it has to offer:
To check out some of our other around Atlanta adventures please see:
A Trip to Tellus Science Museum
Free Museum Day at the Southeastern Railway Museum
Thanks for stopping by!
That Playground Life 
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