Central Park Kharghar Timing: 6 am – 9 am and 5 pm – 8 pm

When there was an announcement of opening a Central Park in Navi Mumbai, a little over a decade ago, I was very glad. I didn’t have a kid back then but I knew that when I become a mom it would be a great idea to take my kid there every once in a while. After all, we really have very few open and nature-touch large spaces in Mumbai that we can visit for a day.

Of course, I became a mom after eight years of the launch of Central Park and Covid arrived around the time my kid started walking without the need to hold hands. So, our visit to the huge park for her to play was further delayed. And I don’t know if it was the same for you but we never managed to reach any place with our pram-baby without being terribly late. When she was a baby, we literally got late every single time we decided to reach Central Park, a 25-minute drive from our place. Feeding, changing, packing her stuff and my fibromyalgia flare-ups with all that always resulted in one of the following:

1. We reached there just half an hour before the closing time.
2. She fell asleep just a few minutes before we reached.
3. She needed to be fed / diaper changed just before we were about to leave pretty late.
4. I was miserably slow in packing for her (still am)… I still can’t figure out why but maybe because I am worried that I should not forget anything important at home.

Anyway, so last evening we managed to reach Kharghar Central Park the moment it opens in the evening – 5 pm? How? Well, we ended up having a late lunch in a restaurant in Kharghar, near the Central Park. Then we had some tea and voila… We were there in time 😆 TIP: If you tend to reach late to places, aim to reach much early, way too early 🤣

To our suprise, the Central Park was buzzing with kids and families within 15 minutes of its opening time. I read that it is spread across 290 acres… really huge space! We directly headed to the kids play area before it could get more crowded. Oh, the number of slides, swings and all are amazing! I have never seen so many slides together in a park or playground. There are many trees and well maintained grass so you can sit in the shade for long.

The constant sound of kids all around us made us feel so good as since Covid we didn’t get to hear lots of kids playing together, giggling, running and enjoying their childhood the way they should – playing in the open with many kids around.

Tips for Central Park visit with little children:

1. Carry enough drinking water.
2. If your kid still wears diaper, carry an extra set with disposal bag so you don’t have to go to the parking lot again.
3. Carry some snacks but please do not throw empty packets and empty bottles on the ground.
4. Carry a sheet to sit and keep your stuff if they feel ticklish on grass.
5. Click pictures, you’ll love to look at them years later.
6. Carry a ball, hoola goop, badminton set, frisbee, etc. to play with your kids.
7. If your kids have longer hair, it’s a good idea to tie them in a pony or pigtails so the wind doesn’t result in knots and they don’t have to adjust the hair coming on their face all the time with the wind.
8. Comfortable footwear makes all the difference. Also, encourage them to walk bare feet on grass, mud and sand.

I’ll share more about places to visit with kids in and around Navi Mumbai and Mumbai in the upcoming posts. Remember to subscribe to momandideas.com and follow us on Instagram – @momandideas