What’s it like to go to the playground Engelsberger Hof in Solingen?
Actually, Lyons Cub sat on my lap while we were looking on the Internet where to find a very cool playground in North Rhine-Westphalia, and we happened upon this playground, which was almost like a tiny version of Irrland, where Lyons Cub traveled last summer. A rather long and hilly drive and a cumbersome search for a parking space along a forest path were rewarded with a variety of activities. This is considered the best playground in Solingen:
There it was!!! A vast clearing with a multitude of climbing activities, swings, sandboxes, slides, balance beams, etc. In addition, it was allowed to have barbecues there, so lots of families had gathered around their grills and it smelled wonderfully in the cool afternoon air.
Here are the attractions:
- First, Lyons Cub went on a wooden climbing construct with a hanging bridge.
There was a second kind of hanging bridge; this one had a black rubber mat instead of wooden beams:
2. Then, he climbed on a high pirates’ tower:
3. After that, he climbed onto a teepee that was part of a little village with a totem pole in the middle.
4. Then, he ran towards a climbing tower with a long metal slide:
5. Next, Lyons Cub tried out a blue rope climbing tower, a cable car, and a series of wobbly balance pods.
6. Then came some metal climbing rods and the swings:
The coolest swing set, however, was the metal rod with a single truck tire, which swung quite a distance back and fro:
7. There were two different kinds of rotating disks (they are probably for bigger kids, because they were quite wild and made him and mommy dizzy):
8. A fun thing to do was sit on either a camel or donkey and almost get knocked off when trying to ride it wildly:
9. In addition to the balance animals, there were blue, red, and orange motorcycles to ride on:
10. There were also some gymnastics rods to try one’s skills:
11. Not to forget the two ships, one of which was wobbly:
12. We saved the best for last: A huge locomotive, donated to the playground by Mannesmann Röhrenwerk, which was covered in broad and fine nets to climb on. Every child’s dream!!!
This locomotive had appeared on our Internet search when my son exclaimed: “That’s where I want to go!” I admit, if there hadn’t been so many kids around that day, I would have climbed on it, too… For toddlers and babies, there was a tiny locomotive right next to it, so they wouldn’t feel left out.
All in all, this playground was well worth visiting, and my son forgave me for not going to an indoor playground (I had told him that those were reserved for winter and bad weather, and that in summer, we would play outside).