I am new to the area and would like a nice playground to go to with my little girl.
Try Mohegan Park. It's a huge park with walking paths, two playgrounds (with baby and big kid swings at both), a beach, and a huge rose garden. I take my kids all the time, and they love it!
There is a nice playground on rt 163 heading to Bozrah. The easiest way to get there is to take Rt 2 West, get off exit 23 and take a left. Follow that road for a few miles and the playground and ball fields will be on your right. They have swings for little ones and slides. I have been taking my son there since he was about that age.
Depends on where in Norwich you live (I'm assuming Norwich CT). You have two suggestions already. I like driving to the Preston park at the intersection of RTE 117 and 2A. One of my favorite parks is Fort Shantock - off of rte 32 in Uncasville. It has really nice bathrooms, walking trails, nice playground, picnic area, open field for kites, ball field and is patrolled by Mohegan Tribal security (they own the land). The playground is partially shaded and has a nice breeze for most of the summer (not so nice breeze on cold spring and fall days though).
Both parks have playscapes for older and younger children.
DO NOT use the playground near the adult ed building (an old school on Washington). NOT safe environment for children (equipment is shoddy, lots of bees, and bio-hazard trash from the previous evenings activities).
I'm not sure where in Norwich you live, but by far the nicest playground around is on Rte 12 in Groton. It is a bit of a drive though depending on where you are coming from. I live on Rte 12 in Norwich and it takes me about 20 min to get there going straight down 12. I know all the other playgrounds mentioned too and they are pretty decent too.
