Middletown Township with kids comes down to a handful of short drives, most of them ending near a creek. Queen Anne Creek, Mill Creek and the Neshaminy cross the township from west to east, and the small walk-to playgrounds sit in the green strips beside them. The places that charge admission are out on the highways at either end.
The first thing worth knowing is that the library families here use is not in the township. It stands at 301 South Pine Street, where Route 413 meets Flowers Avenue, and that corner belongs to Langhorne borough. Middletown wraps around the borough, so the drive is five minutes and the address is somebody else’s.
The second is that one township park sorts its play equipment by age. Lance Corporal Harry J. Simmons, Jr. Memorial Park on Brownsville Road keeps one playground for two to five year olds and a separate one for fives to 12s, which settles the argument before it starts. The full list of 19 township parks runs longer, but for a toddler that split is the useful detail.
The free mornings are at the library
Penn’s Little Village occupies part of the Langhorne branch and is built for children from newborn to five. Inside there is a firehouse, a school, a market, a library, a filling station and a camper, each shrunk to a size a three year old can climb into. Babies who are not yet walking have the Baby Garden, a corner set aside for them and whoever is carrying them…