Kinderspielplatz of Switzerland

Switzerland is a very family friendly country that also loves outdoor recreation so they put playgrounds in all the right places. It made the trip much more enjoyable to be able to always find a playground for Inga. She loves to slide and learned all about up and down on the teeter-totters. Her ladder climbing skills also greatly improved. It was an interesting cultural experience to see and talk with other parents. We were obviously the American, helicopter parents helping our daughter climb things too big for her and riding down the slide with her. The other parents just watched from the sidelines unless their child was really young (like 1 year old). Inga did a great job communicating with the other kids by being her extroverted self and teaching the other kids to say "jump" and "slide".

Here are pictures of some of the playgrounds we visited.

Family Car train (yes, a playground on the train):

Here is Sam being an American, helicopter parent.

The Intercity (IC) and nicer Interregio (IR) trains have family cars with a small playground. There is a short slide.

The boat was great for imaginative play.

The family cars are always at the end of the train and have a jungle theme painted on the outside.

Haute-Nendaz/Tracouet ski area:

There was a brand new playground at the top of the gondola from Haute Nendaz to Tracouet. This is a ski area in winter and hiking area in summer.

There was even a jump-jump! Inga played with a little boy in the firetruck for awhile, too.

 Gimmelwald (Lauterbrunnen area):

Gimmelwald is a tiny town above the Lauterbrunnen valley. It had the best slide we saw, in my opinion. This slide is located right next to the gondola station.

 Allmendhubel (above Muerren):

You can take the Allmendhubelbahn (a funicular) from Muerren up to this amazing view (that's the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau). There is a restaurant, hiking and skiing, and a playground. The slide wasn't as great because it had a flat spot in the middle.

 Muerren:

We went to the playground in Muerren many times since we stayed there four nights. Inga really liked the slide in teeter-totter although it was a playground designed for older kids.

 Winteregg (railway station/ski lift near Muerren):

The Winteregg train station/ski lift restaurant had just added a playground. It had a miniature "ropes" course, tunnels, playhouse, slide (of course), carved animal figures, and hammock swing. The restaurant also had toy trains inside to play with.

Lumberjack merry-go-round and wooden chickens.

Cow rocker with slide in background.

 Kleine Scheidegg (Grindelwaldbrick berghaus):

The redneck old chair lift swing at the Grindelwaldbrick berghaus playground. This playground is on the trail from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. 

Inga found a little to play with on the teeter-totter. The little Swiss girl just spoken German and all I understood her to say was "Jungfraujoch" as in she had visited the Jungfraujoch, I think.

Luzern:

This playground is in New Town not far from the train station. There was a water table with hand pump. It was messy.

The big kids side of the playground where Inga befriended the playground bully and got her to play nicely.

 Zurich/Oerlikon Migros restaurant:

This is the equivalent of a McDonald's play place. It is in the Migros (grocery store) restaurant.

Lauterbrunnen:

This playground is the near the cemetery and church in Lauterbrunnen along the main walking path out of town. It had a slide and tunnels built into the hillside. This water table thing drained into the sandbox area.

Other places with playgrounds we didn't take pictures of are:

• Montreux: in the central water front park near the Freddie Mercury statue
• Sion: a few blocks from the train station

All the playgrounds were principally made from wood. There were no monkey bars or large climbing structures. The sandboxes were filled with a granite type sand not the American play sand, but it worked just fine. There also weren't many toddler swing seats. 

The playgrounds were a lifesaver many days when Inga was begging to do something she wanted to do and to play with "other kids!".