Annie Stevens playground

If you’ve got a toddler and you’re tired of squinting through the heat at some shadeless concrete slab, this little spot is worth knowing about. The trees here actually do their job — you can find a shady corner without much hunting, which in Dallas summers is not something to take for granted. Little ones go nuts for the fire engine and excavator equipment, the kind of stuff that keeps a two-year-old busy way longer than you’d expect. It’s quiet, it’s low-key, and honestly that’s exactly what you want when you’re wrangling kids under five.