Playgrounds

It is summertime, and we are spending a lot of time visiting various playgrounds and splash pads. My kids used to look forward to playing at the playground near their grandparents' home in Oakville, but the play structure was totally revamped last month. It seems as though all of the parks in Oakville were overhauled, regardless of whether or not they needed to be. My kids miss the spiral slide from the old park. The new park is supposed to be handicap accessible, but they replaced the tunnel slide with three shorter bumping slides.

They put in a couple balancing toys, a wake board, and a skate board. My daughter barely weighs anything, so it was quite easy for her to balance. She also liked the climbing wall leading to a fireman's pole. In fact, she said she did not like other play structures as much when they did not have a pole.

There are other parks nearby with shorter spiral slides, but they are not within walking distance from Grandma and Grandpa's. My son was particularly amused with the bouncy bridge at one of the further parks. This park was good for when we, the parents, wanted to play some tennis because the park was close to the courts.

In Mississauga, just off of the Lakeshore, there is a very interesting park called Lakeside. They have the closest spray pad to us. At first, the spray pad looked boring because it was just a series of fountains coming out of a cement pad. However, the kids loved it. I always said a bidet would be a hit at home. My kids love water that spurts up. Plus, the fountains will go on together, following a programmed pattern. There is even a misty vent. My biggest gripe is that the other misty vent, the one the kids can contriol, is at the top of a flight of stairs. Not well thought out. Makes me wonder if someone has gotten seriously injured yet.

The play structure part of the park is quite fun. Lots of spinning things, and a first nations, exploration, musical theme going on. At first, I was leery about the large climbing merry go round, but as my husband pointed out, it requires cooperation on the part of the children, and encourages communication. Often, the kids would try to recruit an adult to turn the merry go round, but with ten kids trying to get into place, it got quite tedious. I let the kids figure it out for themselves, and they usually did.

I think I was having more fun on the other spinning structures than my kids. It was one of those parks where it felt like it was giving the children the chance to explore and try out things. It was not too sanitized, but was safe because the smaller kids could not get on the bigger structures. Having just listened to a podcast asking if playgrounds are too safe, it was neat to see some innovative ideas for new parks. Listen here to the Q podcast.

Our playground explorations concluded with a rec centre in Burlington. For $3, kids had access to a splash pad, a wading pool, a big pool, and a playground. Plus, there was a bigger playground outside the fenced in Nelson Park, and a BMX jumping area. It looked as though there were sports fields in the back too.

I wish Sudbury had shallow pools for younger kids, either indoor or outdoor, but something other than just sprays coming out of the ground. I suppose we have all our beaches around town, but there is no truly family oriented swimming area for us. I was extremely jealous of my friend in Edmonton. Their rec centre had an indoor playground, plus two pools. One for laps and diving, and a family pool that was very warm, with a lazy river, and a waterslide. Also, there was an even warmer mom and babies area. Amazing. Of course, Edmonton is much bigger than Sudbury, but Burlington is about the same size. We have no outdoor pools in Sudbury nor indoor playgrounds, unless you count McDonald's or Burger King.

Have you found any fun parks in your neighbourhood? Where do you live?

 

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