Doncaster School Playground- Saanich

I've said this before but many of the best playgrounds around belong to schools. That comes with a down-side of course- they can only be used when school is out and as a result of that there are no facilities such as washrooms, but nonetheless, there are a lot of great playgrounds that can be used by the public during evenings, weekends and during holidays.

Ecole Doncaster is located on Cedar Hill Road at Rowan and for those that have driven past, it has a pretty exciting looking playground out front. This is just one of two playgrounds at the school and it is primarily aimed at bigger kids. There are two log and bar climbing constructions with a huge variety of things to climb up, down and to hang from. They are both original in design which is always nice to see in climbing frames and although there are no slides or other 'frills' here, there is a Rope-cone roundabout and this playground, which is on woodchips would offer a ton of exercise and entertainment to any child.



It was while I was trying to get 'A' to play on this side that he caught sight of the other playground which is down the right of the school and this front playground was discarded to the wayside. The second playground is bigger, more colourful and caters to a wider range of kids. It's a strange mix of old and new, with the older apparatus being wood, bar and tire like the front. There are several of these offering a range of playing activities, mostly climbing options, but they also include a metal tunnel, metal slides, and lots of hang off.

The newer additions to the playground include a decent sized climbing structure similar to some of the newer ones you see around town. It has a curly plastic slide, a couple of towers, a bridge, lots to climb up an some activity wall features.



There is a separate climbing wall and wavy climbing ladder which must be very popular at break-time and I wonder how many times a week an over-enthusiastic climber yells to be rescued from the top. This side is also on a bed of woodchips and there are large grassy playing fields to take advantage of when, of course, school is out.