DATE: Tuesday, April 29, 1997               TAG: 9704260084

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ANN BARRY BURROWS, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

CHESAPEAKE PLAYGROUND FUN FOREST HAS MAZES AND CASTLES AND SWINGS, OH MY!

THE FUN FOREST at Chesapeake City Park is the biggest playground I have seen in Hampton Roads. To get an idea of the scale, think of Kid's Cove at Virginia Beach's Mount Trashmore, and then add about three more neighborhood parks.

This play land is surrounded by a forest of pine trees. At the entrance are restrooms, and under the trees is a picnic area with some child-sized tables.

The play area itself is sunny. Seven - count 'em, seven - play areas encircle a covered pavilion. In the pavilion parents and babies can find some shade and seats, but good luck spotting the children in the play equipment from there!

The play area has two sets of huge wooden mazes containing castles, slides, crossbars and dangling bridges. There are swing sets off to one side, and more swings off to the other side.

A smaller play area for small-size kids is nearby with a plane, truck and slides and swings.

A climbing area contains life-size replicas of a whale's tail, shark's head and turtle's shell.

On a recent visit, my 5-year-old daughter and her friends spent time in every section - peering in mirrors, tossing the cubes of a tic-tac-toe game and overloading a tire swing - and then set up by the large sand pit called Fossil Dig.

Shoes and socks came off, and the children began to play contentedly. They enjoyed digging around the embedded ``dinosaur bones.''

A group of parents sat and talked on the low wall encircling the sand pit, while the children played tirelessly. Soon the kids discovered that a leaking water fountain could help them produce mud - and even more fun.

The best way to coax children to leave the Fun Forest - and this isn't easy - is to invite them to inspect the tile wall along the path to the entrance.

Each colorful tile bears a hand print and the name of a child and his or her family. These families helped build the play land in two phases in 1995 and 1996. There are a few paw prints of their pets, as well. MEMO: Ann Barry Burrows is editor of the ``4mothers'' newsletter, which

is written by mothers of young children. To suggest an outing, please

dial 640-5555 and press 4666. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Steve Earley

Fun Forest at Chesapeake City Park has seven play areas with lots of

equipment, a covered pavilion and picnic area, and restrooms.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu