Parveen MagheraTravelling with children is not an easy task, especially when you are keen on visiting places where your child will clearly not be entertained. We cannot forget that they are kids after all and they deserve the same amount of playtime they always look forward to back home. During my trip to Melbourne, I learnt so much about the way Australia catered to the children of the country. Not only are they extremely creative in their school curriculum, they are also as dedicated to providing for them out of school with designated interactive play areas in public spaces.
Now, if you’d ever thought of taking the route slightly off the ordinary track by delving into how the local families actually lived their lives with their children, one of the best places to first explore are the playgrounds! Here is our pick of the top five playgrounds around Australia where your children can enjoy a unique and captivating form of play. And… you can join them too!
1. The Pod Playground (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
Image credit: njcull
The unique and captivatingly adventurous playground is designed especially for the child’s fantasy – with its giant acorn cubbies, nest swings and banksia pods, the children are able to widen their imagination and create a form of play that leverages on their creativity and inquisitiveness. The Pod Playground can be found at the National Arboretum Canberra.
2. Royal Park Nature Play (Melbourne)
Image credit: D Hannah
This award-winning playground in Melbourne is the perfect combination of rocky terraces, slides, swings and climbing ropes spread across a sandy platform on a patch of green. “Nature Play” is exactly what this playground is made for.
Image credit: thenewnorth
Apart from the three metal slides, there are huge rocks and logs, hand pumps and water channels flowing down towards sandpits, and a steep grassy hill – all used as play elements. Kids will surely experience a nature escapade each time they visit!
3. Fairfield Adventure Park (Sydney)
Image credit: Dushan Hanuska
If you’re in Western Sydney, you can head down to the Fairfield Adventure Park which caters to children of all ages with its mix of traditional and modern play elements. From rope-climbing and tyre walls to balancing beams and flying foxes, children will always be captivated at every corner of this playground.
Image credit: Dushan Hanuska
And not to forget the 11-metre climbing net that also comprises a sky bridge and three different slide choices. This is, in fact, one of the highest in the country!
4. Glenelg Foreshore Playspace (Adelaide)
Image credit: Sweet Lime Photo
Ever thought a trip to the beach can be more than just the sand and the waves? Well, in Glenelg, a beach-side suburb in Adelaide, children will experience a transformative beach experience in innovative and imaginative ways. With both elements of nature and risk-benefit, the playground is a safe space for children with physical, sensory, cognitive and intellectual disabilities. The timber log climb, rope balance and boardwalk reflect the indigenous vegetation of the area, especially the mangroves, with its intertidal environment reimagined as a space for water play in the sandpit.
Image credit: landezine
But the playground isn’t only much of play – the children are encouraged to challenge themselves with the different obstacles throughout the play area and be able to make decisions and face different levels of risks to help them gain confidence.
5. Rio Tinto Naturescape (Western Australia)
Image credit: Perth Tourist Centre
The Rio Tinto Naturescape located in the Kings Park and Botanical Garden in Perth brings the “play” to nature itself. And it is huge! While its website clearly states that the park is not a playground, it is nonetheless an avenue for children to immerse into nature and experience the environment of Western Australia.
Children can climb the 40-metre-long and seven-metre-high Python, a bridge that navigates into the tall treetops in the bush. They can also wade through creeks, swing like a ninja and explore cool tunnels on all fours. There is still so much more!
Image credit: Perth Tourist Centre
Australia has an abundance of playgrounds that are quirky, unique and attractive, and our top five only scratches the surface. On your next trip to Down Under, regardless of which state you visit, we suggest locating the playgrounds around the vicinity to take in a dose of the creative and innovative Aussie life!
