Rotary Park Playground

Rotary Park is more commonly called the Dinosaur park and you can find it behind the Juan de Fuca Rec Centre on the Westshore. I had received lots of requests to put up some playgrounds that were further afield than Victoria City and so when a friend suggested we go to her favourite playground I leaped at the chance.

I originally gave this playground a 9.5/10 but have decided to change it to 10/10. I don't really see how they could obviously improve it. For a start, there is parking and a multitude of great facilities, including washrooms at the rec centre. Secondly, there is a great grassy area right next to the playground which our children rolled the entire way down and so I got some exercise piggybacking 'A' back up the hill- otherwise I would just have stood gossiping to my friend!

Thirdly, the playground itself is so well thought-out that whoever designed it deserves a pat on the back. It's pretty new but it isn't just flashy. It seems to combine new, good quality features with good old favourites, such as the two-lane track that circles the playground, old school metal digger-machines, and a magnificent tunnel. There are two parts to the playground, smaller and bigger but both halves could suit all ages as we saw in action. All of this is on a bed of good old woodchips.

In all there are eight swings. Five big kid, two toddler and one therapeutic swing. There are four slides on the smaller kid structure, one of which is a double and there are two slides on the bigger structure, one of which also is a double so all in all that makes eight slides! For the picky out there, I think that is three metal and the rest plastic. There is a plastic 'mountain' style climbing wall, a free standing actual climbing wall a bouncy dinosaur and (nice touch here) even a dinosaur fossil underneath the mountain wall. The tunnel is what kids want- long and fat and 'A' giggled his way through it. There are loads of things to climb up, to hang off and oh my, there is even a mini sliding rail though parents beware- I think I need to see my chiropractor after trying that out. What? I know, I know...I am over 12 years old......but if I am doing a review, surely you want me to test the equipment-right?

As a parent I am always trying to carefully balance the need to protect my kids with the need for them to learn for themselves, and this blog really isn't the place to debate how far parents need to supervise their children etc. Rotary Park Playground is surrounded by bushes some of which have pretty steep trails down from. If you had a child that was inclined to run headfirst into things, you might find yourself having to be extra vigilant around some of those bush paths- which may or may not add to your enjoyment of this fabulous playground.

Franklin Green Playground- 9/10

Okay, so Franklin Green Playground scores points because....wait for it.... it's featured online! How exciting I hear you cry!

Nestled on Mason Street behind Wellburn's Market, Franklin Green is a newer playground that has been well thought- out and is obviously an asset to the neighbourhood. When we visited it the weather was grey and threatening to rain and there was no one else there which delighted 'A' because he is going through a disliking of 'people' patch. We hope it's a patch.

There are great climbing frames here that are even labelled for their age group appropriateness. With a spongy floor tile base, there are two metal slides and a wavy plastic thing that might be masquerading as a slide or it might be to climb up (see glossary section for things with no names). There are numerous climbing features for bigger kids including a climbing wall and lots of things to hang off if you've got the upper body strength, which, as we discovered, I don't. I know that I violated the age sticker, but hell, there was no one around.

There is the normal two toddler, two big-kid combo of swings, a metal picnic table and an interesting bench swing over a sand pit which I couldn't photograph because a father/son combo came along to sit on it.

The floor tiles are great- a definite score booster and also there are two bouncy animal things that are a nice touch.

MacDonald Park Playground - 9/10

Yesterday we had our first visit to MacDonald Park which is officially on Ladysmith Street but for the sake of ease I'll say it's at Simcoe and Oswego in James Bay. It definitely helped that it was sunny and after the long winter people were taking full advantage of the chance to get outdoors, but this park scores on the feel of it's location. As soon as we arrived there was the feeling of community - people were happy, smiling and there was a faint buzz of summer in the air.

As I have mentioned before, A loves ramps. MacDonald Park Playground has this incredibly long wooden climbing structure which is low- probably aimed at the smaller children- and has ramps and a funky wavy ramp. A was all a-twitter with excitement and ran up and down for some time before we could even get him to consider the`rest of the playground. When he did, we found balancing beams that connected the two parts of the wooden structure, the second half of which has steps up to two slides- one metal, one plastic curly, which do not patronize their small users as many small kid slides do.

Between the wooden structure and the colourful metal climbing area for the big kids, there are a row of six big kid swings. The big kid area features a ton of climbing options, a tube thing that can be climbed up or slid down and a high metal slide. There is a climbing wall and the whole thing is on woodchips! There are fences to protect kids from the road.

MacDonald Park is well-kept and has a snack bar on the opposite side to the playground and presumably washrooms too, though I didn't see them. So to sum up, nice location, great climbing structures, swings and slides and lots of grass to run around on. You might ask where it loses the point (9/10)....well, if I am being picky- which is what this blog is about, then it lacks any imaginative features- it's good old climbing frames, swings and slides at their best.