The Yard in
New York (NY)

This was a very strange and special little space for little folks. Lots of older children seemed to really enjoy their freedom to explore and adventure. No parents allowed! I could see myself getting worried about safety, but in a way this is a space for parents to learn how to relax and trust their children too. My son was too young (3.5) so we played together in the younger kids area. It’s nice that they have this option. However, I wish it was a bit more robust in this section, as I watched my little guy look hopefully over to the bigger kids area. Yes you will all get dirty here, but it’s part of the fun. I would recommend this space for parents of somewhat older children. In my opinion, it seems best for ages 7 to 12.

As an adult, we can only assume what its like to play here. Kids absolutely love it. Warning, this is a free play/adventure space. You should speak to your children before if you dont want them playing freely as children have done for centuries. Yes they can build, there are tools. They can dress up, there are clothes. They cand ride the zip line, they may fall. They will come out dusty and/or muddy, there's usually a mudpit. MOST importantly they will have fun. They can freely play and explore without the helicopter oversight of adults telling them they CANNOT. Closed toe shoes required!!!!!! This isn't the space for everyone and that is understandable. You are required to sign a waiver acknowledging potential risks. I have yet to see a kid leave unhappy from their play time at the yard, you usually have to beg them to come out and remind them they need water to rehydrate. The perfect place for a kid to be be outside and play! 10/10 def recommend.

Great playground on Governors island, just a ferry trip away from the busy Manhattan. The playground is built up with all kind of repurposed materials. The kids can really use their creativity and imagination playing there. Highly recommended (and a must visit for the locals) for families visiting NY and wanting to escape the concrete jungle!

My son has been going to the yard since 2015 and still wants to go every weekend! It is a wonderful place where he can build and do whatever he wants. The playworkers are all extremely caring and supportive and our family is thrilled that this playground exists!

The Yard is the only adventure playground in NYC! A wonderful space for kids to experience self-directed play with reasonable risks. A team of trained Playworkers are on site at all times. Kids can use tools and their imaginations to create their own play spaces, or simply discover what is already available on the site. Open to all age groups, but must be between 5 and 18 to enter the adventure play area. A separate space is open to all ages and parents. UPDATE: Parents of younger children can discuss with the staff whether their younger child can enter. They also may rotate groups to keeps the numbers at a safe level for the staff to maintain.

The place is truly unique. The kids get to explore their surroundings and use materials with tools under staff supervision to make something. It's best for sloghtly kids who have a good understanding of safety and self awareness. My 5 year old was knocked over by a kid on a swing and has nasty scrapes on his stomach and legs. It was partially his fault and partially the other kids fault so he learnt his lesson and was just cautiously walking around studying everything. He got on / in every contraption at the playground but is too young to build. As for dangerous things laying around, I was growing up with far worse "supplies". Again it takes kids to learn about safety. Bring some close toed sturdy shoes that you don't mind being ruined, a change of clothes. They have a bucket of water to flush a child after playing. You won't be able to go in with the child but you can watch through the fence if you so inclined to do. Most parents relax on the lawn by the playground. A small area for young explorers is on the side where parents have access. You have to fill vaiwers for all kids attending. The reception is somehow very poor there, so maybe you can do it prior to going there online, but I'm not sure.

For a supposedly free spirited place it's extremely rigid and bureaucratic! We had to wait 30 minutes for a slot to get in and in that time we wanted to explore not just sit and wait so by the time we had our time slot we were at the other side of the island and it was impossible to get back in time. Trying to get into this place basically ruined our time at the island as we were always rushing around instead of enjoying our time. There's so much fun stuff to do here without trying to get into this place that's more heavily policed than Fort Knox (and for no reason - there was basically no one there!). Total waste of time I recommend you skip it!

Can't keep my kid away. He says that is favorite part is that he can do whatever he wants without any adults telling him what to do (or what not to destroy). Yet somehow the kids are all remarkably polite and cooperative with each other. I've spent many hours outside this playground and have yet to see a single tantrum, misbehaving kid, or injury. Bring a good book for yourself to pass time. A change of shoes and maybe a full change of clothes are a good idea for the kids. There is mud. It gets busy on summer weekends but usually rather quiet before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. The big kid area is 5+, with a smaller area for under 5's where parents can be present too.

No one forces your kid to play here. And you have to agree to the rules and acknowledge the risks involved with letting your child play with unconventional items. I feel bad for the children whose parents decide for them that they cannot play here.

Fun spot for kids to explore tools and non-plastic toys. Note that adults are not allowed inside the space. It’s built to develop autonomy and exploration without parents hovering. Not good for the tiny ones. I believe there’s an age limit.

I witnessed a child hitting their hand with a hammer. While they have never had an injury this doesn’t mean an injury in the future is not impossible. Hammers are dangerous and a course should be taught in proper technique. The issue is the claw on a hammer and release. Also i saw a kid swinging a broken golf club in the smaller kid area. I believe in free play and unsupervised play. But there are always risks, especially with children not being awash in it like our previous generations. I fully support the yard and its philosophy. But i also dont want to have a child with a head or eye injury, especially on governors island where getting to a hospital takes a little longer. I wish this concept the best. Also from a legal standpoint, a waiver does not grant immunity from a lawsuit.

It’s cool. Kids love it. It’s not for everyone, especially parents who hover (you know who you are). If the idea of signing a liability waiver then letting your kid out of your sight to go play in a junkyard full of potential injury hazards like building materials, tools, a garden hose with running water, scaffolding and various ramshackle structures bothers you, you might want to skip it. There are many other things to do on the island. But if you trust your kid and want to give her the opportunity to have a wildly imaginative play experience beyond the sanitized, helmeted, seatbelt-wearing confines of kids’ normal life in this day and age, you should go for it! To a 5 or 6 year old, this place is a mysterious wonderland unlike anything they can experience growing up in New York City. For our daughter it represents tremendous freedom and independence, and it’s just so incredibly packed with interesting stuff and different things to do. Yes it’s somewhat unnerving to lose your kid in a big junk yard full of weird looking things and other kids you don’t know. But there’s only one exit, and they all pop back out eventually! The fact that a place like this is willing to exist today is nothing short of a miracle for kids. It’s absolutely worth a little risk to have this kind of fun.

You have to catch the ferry to travel to Governors island. The ferry is free before before 12pm. Volunteer work is available at the lavender garden. Activities for kids at the park

We and our kids LOVE the Play:ground on Governor's Island! My 7 yr old son went to call there this summer for 2 weeks and said it was his favorite camp ever. We've also visited independently with him and our 9 year old. Maybe I have a different attitude towards risk because I grew up in Europe, but to me this is EXACTLY what kids should be doing in their playtime. The one star reviews clearly don't understand the purpose and benefits of unstructured, unsupervised free play with kids of multiple ages. Yes, they have real tools there, but the staff are there to show the kids how to use them. They also have so many other things to spur their imagination and creativity as they play. This playground is a gift to children, allowing them to grow in independence, judgement, social skills, imagination, and more. Who wouldn't want that for their kids? Thank you to everyone who made this playground happen and continue to keep it running!

Very dangerous, do not send your kids here. I don't know why this camp is allow to exist. Young kids are "playing" with real hammers, nails, etc. My child fell from 6 feet "under adult" supervision. Camp counselors couldn't be bother to inform me about the incident. I had to hear it from another parent. They were quick to yell at me via message and face time about some other kids pickup not checking in. When I called the camp office to ask what happen all they can say is it was an unfortunate accident.

We love Play:groundNYC - This camp is great. Kids learn to be more independent, develop interpersonal skills, and get to be super creative, all while having fun. It's a great time!

Imagine you are trying to create the most dangerous environment possible for kids. This place would hard to beat. Literally, there are kids going down slides with saws, swinging hammers at random objects wildly, climbing 15 foot work ladders, and running around with real pitchforks! I cannot believe this place actually exists. Watching from a socially distanced location outside the fence for "safety" reasons, parents can watch the horror story unfold and then scream in terror to retrieve their kids as fast as possible.

My daughter has been going to summer camp here for three summers now and loves her time at The Yard. It's full of tools and materials, risk and experimentation. Aside from trained playworkers, there are no adults allowed in the space at all. The hardest thing is trying not to stand at the fence so I can watch her play with joy, unfettered from adult guidance.

This is an interesting concept, but the people who work here are militant and won’t respect differing views. My kid turned five last month and we headed over to try out the playground. Our son is very confident and not risk adverse. We decided that the area designated for older kids was not right for him yet; kids were chucking sheet metal and hammers off the side of a one and a half story scaffold with only a thin rope or metal bar running around the sides. We also have a 5 month old. We were chatting with friends and tending to the baby when our son crossed over to the older kids’ section. We saw him go and tried to go after him to bring him back to the younger kids’ area. He immediately headed for the scaffold, grabbed a hammer and headed to the top. We were not comfortable with this and politely asked staff if we could retrieve our child. The staff said no, we weren't allowed. I then politely asked if a staff member could get our child for us. The staffer said no, she wasn’t comfortable infringing on our child’s freedom in this way. I told her I was concerned for his safety and she told me that was my issue, not my son’s and I shouldn’t punish my son for my hang-ups. By this time, he was leaning head first over the scaffolding and I was worried. I again asked if someone could let him know that I wanted him to come out of the play area and again, I was told no, that the staffer would not “do that” to my child. At this point, my husband walked past the staffer and over to our son, asked him to get down and walked him out of the play yard. The staffer followed us out of the playground basically telling us that we were disrespectful, that we made her feel that she was doing a bad job and that we are, essentially, bad parents. We apologized, said she was doing a fine job, but that this just wasn’t for us. She kept at it telling us our son was perfectly safe and that my husband and I were the problem. We essentially agreed with her, again apologized, and tried to leave, but she would not let it go. At this point it got comical. Bottom line: it’s not for everybody, and if you don’t think it is for you, don’t try it. They literally refused to give me access to my 5 year old! Ironically, you have to sign a waiver (even though it is perfectly safe and we are apparently paranoid nutjobs). Also, we were bad parents because we weren’t watching our son closely enough to keep him from running to the dangerous area…except the whole point is to encourage kids to be independent and free from the watchful eye of the helicopter parent. Head over to the awesome slides and ropes playground instead. It is still an adventure and you won’t feel judged and shamed...and your kid won't leave Governor's Island with a concussion.

I can't say enough good things about The Yard at Governor's Island. It's probably my daughter's favorite activity in NYC. She's in 6th grade. Also, we dropped off the kids and rode around the island. Super fun.

My nieces and nephews love this place. No adults getting in they’re way, just the freedom and willingness to build and interact playfully with others. I have recognized a positive growth in the kids. We come back as much as we can!

Proceed with caution! I’m all about allowing kids to experience different things, but this place is just plain dangerous. Kids swinging hammers near the heads of others. Running with saws. Tall rickety ladders without suitable anchor points. A 15 foot platform with only a rudimentary railing, which the kids have to climb under to get to an improvised sliding pole. I finally pulled my son out when some of the older kids were on top of the “tower”, dragging up a heavy metal chain with hooks on it (easily 15-20 pounds) and throwing it down from the tall platform. The person (1 only saw one) who is supposed to be monitoring the safety of the children was oblivious to the hazards, and told me to leave when I walked in to make sure my child wasn’t injured. Also note, parents are not permitted on the junkyard side of the playground. If this were an actual worksite, OSHA would have shut it down in a minute! If you value your child’s safety, please avoid this place.

This place is amazing! Giving NYC children an opportunity to play as they please. They can choose different levels of risk to engage in on a social, emotional and of course physical aspect. The team of playworkers works hard to support the children. The only problem is that this is far from most families and not in anyone's neighborhood. We need to have more places like this in the city!

A different playground experience, where kids can play and explore on their own! In the British style of junkyard playgrounds, and the spirit of free range kids. Helicopter parents, this is not for you! Or it is, if you're willing to learn to let go :-)

Amazing golden place. I take my six years old daughter to this park very often. Kids get to build and use their imagination limitlessly. Thank you for having this type of creative, real life type of playground.

It's about the size of two Brooklyn brownstone backyards and is literally just a bunch of junk behind a rickety wire fence. The signs for entry with rules etc seem inspired by the homeless. It's certainly fun for kids but it's about as barbones as it gets, requiring constant supervision and no place for parents to sit. I appreciate the thought of freedom and wild imagination but this place is definitely not a reason to go to the island. Go further south to the giant slides and rocks for something unique that young and old alike can enjoy.

A one of a kind space! Junk playground for kids where parents are told to "sit back and relax." I've seen amazing things happen in this space where kids are allowed to run free. Great buildings, total destruction... Kids have access to loads of materials and hand tools. Free to the public and summer camps happen here (it's run by a non profit called play:groundNYC). You HAVE to take your kids and we need more of these in NYC where kids lives are so overmanaged!