Around the middle of the 19th century, doctors and educators in particular called for children in the growing cities to be able to play freely in green spaces, including the doctor and educator Daniel Gottlob Schreber, who campaigned for the creation of playgrounds in Leipzig. The "allotment gardens" that were later named after him were a modification of his ideas.

At the end of the 19th century, most children in Wiesbaden played in the city's streets, squares and parks. The street was the preferred place to play, especially for children from working-class households or other less well-off families. The children of middle-class families who had their own garden usually played there or at home in their apartments. There were rarely play areas specifically designated for children. Around 1900, there was little distinction between playgrounds and sports grounds for adults or older children, which were also used for gymnastics lessons or other sporting activities, and children's playgrounds for younger children.

In 1902, the heads of the two municipal grammar schools and the upper secondary school suggested the establishment of a "playground" in the Unter den Eichen forest district. In 1914, a distinction was made for the first time between "playgrounds" and "children's playgrounds". The Unter den Eichen playground had been completed in the meantime and had already been extended. Schools in particular, but also other groups, used it for gymnastics and youth games as well as for festive events. The approximately 2,000^m2 square above the Gutenberg School was also more of a sports field as we understand it today: it was intended to be used by the girls at the school for gymnastics. The approximately 10,000^m2 area in the Kleinfeldchen district was similar. A playground on what was then Nikolasstraße (now Bahnhofstraße) was also explicitly aimed at younger children. In 1913, a playground was built on Gartenfeldstraße.

The schools also had access to the old parade grounds on Schiersteiner Straße and Lahnstraße. Open spaces in the spa facilities, on Warmen Damm, at Paulinenschlösschen, in Dambachtal, in Nero- and Walkmühltal and on Coulinstraße are explicitly mentioned as children's playgrounds in 1914. There were also ten city squares in what is now the city center available for play: Luisenplatz, Sedanplatz as well as Blücherplatz, Faulbrunnenplatz, Luxemburgplatz and Elsässer Platz. However, they were not designated children's playgrounds, i.e. equipped with sandpits etc. A children's playground was also planned for Platter Straße in 1914; a "people's park" was to be set up here at the former shooting ranges.

Until after the Second World War, play equipment was rarely found on playgrounds. In most cases, the playgrounds were separate from the surrounding area and had a sand or gravel surface with benches for the supervisors at the edges.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the expansion and construction of new children's playgrounds in Wiesbaden progressed only slowly. An important reason for the creation of a play area at this time was the potential danger to children from the increasing road traffic. The city council therefore approved a playground on Sedanplatz in 1929. The children's playground was equipped with a drinking area, a sandpit with a play table and equipment such as a seesaw and benches. It was divided into two parts so as not to interfere with through traffic - the road ran through the middle. In the mid-1930s, there were four playgrounds in the town (Boseplatz, Sedanplatz, Schulberg and Mittelheimer Straße), which were supervised by an attendant until they closed at 7.00 pm.

After the Second World War, the children's playgrounds, almost all of which had been destroyed, were gradually restored. At the time, Wiesbaden had around 19,000 children between the ages of three and ten. There were only 21 public playgrounds available to them. They were usually equipped with a sandpit, swings and seesaws, and more rarely with slides, merry-go-rounds or climbing frames; all were supervised. Various districts were completely without children's playgrounds at this time; in addition to more rural districts such as Frauenstein, Heßloch or Kloppenheim, there were also no public children's playgrounds in the Kurviertel, the Nerotal or the Walkmühltal.

In the 1960s, the number of children's playgrounds rose from around 30 (1963) to around 90 (1973). The demands on the areas and their equipment also changed. In 1973, the city planned to set up or redesign 15 new children's playgrounds according to "pedagogical aspects". The play equipment was to enable children to "develop their imagination". Wooden huts, palisades, climbing frames and balancing beams were planned. In the 1970s, the city created the first "construction playground" in Bertramstraße, where children could work with tools under supervision. At the same time, a leisure park with extensive play areas and an "adventure playground" was created in the old cemetery. A "multifunctional playground" was created in the Parkfeld housing estate and a new children's playground was also built in Adolfsallee as part of the redesign.

In 2013, there were around 150 public children's playgrounds of different sizes and equipment in the city, covering a total area of 430,000^m2 (as much as in 1914). In addition to conventional swings, seesaws and sandpits, there are ropeways, balancing courses and large climbing frames. A special kind of "playground" is the "Biberbau" in Biebrich, which is run by a foundation. Since 2007, it has been offering children and young people free play in a green environment with fruit trees and small animals, as well as independent use of tools. Indoor playgrounds are now also available for younger children. However, children playing on the street became rare in 2017.