Beckwith Park Playground/ Frog Pond - Saanich

Funnily enough, you can find Beckwith Park Playground in Beckwith park on Beckwith Ave. This wonderful Saanich Playground was re-done recently and is hard to fault.

The Playground is in a couple of parts. There is a big kid structure that is joined to a smaller kids structure and a separate activity area with lots of things to climb or run through, twist, push, shout into etc. In this separate activity area, there is also a mock ships bow which seems popular with the little kids and 'A' got right on the seat there and started barking out orders to the crew.

The whole playground is brand-spanking new and the main structures feature a ton of climbing options, a double high metal slide on the big kid side, a double lower metal slide on the smaller kid side and lots of activity features scattered throughout. There is also a wavy slide thing, which I am still not sure is for going up or down on. 'A' went up it, but I saw someone come down and it looked painful to me but the child didn't seem to mind. There are lots of other 'things' for which I have no names, for climbing and playing on- far too many to photograph.

There are four swings: two big kid, one toddler and one therapeutic. If I was going to pick faults I would say that for how popular this playground is, there could be more swings. The whole playground rests on a bed of woodchips and there is a lot of grass in the park itself to run around on. If you add in the Frog Pond water park, which is buddied up next to the playground, then this park is hard to beat. There are picnic tables, benches, parking, a washroom block and the whole place has been landscaped nicely.



Frog Pond hours below- click to enlarge the picture.

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.

Central Park Playground

Central park is located on Vancouver Street tucked behind the Crystal Pool. We are lucky enough to have this playground really near to our house and so we know it well.

With a woodchip base, there are two sides to cater to the little and big kids. Speaking of big, I think that this playground might get the prize for the highest metal slide in the city. A four year old friend that recently visited the park for the first time with us almost swooned when he saw how high it was. It usually takes kids a while to work out which way they will get up to the high slide as there are not steps up but a choice of climbing wall, a sort of curved ladder or parallel bars.

On the little kids side there are fun steps, lots of things to climb on including a climbing rope wall and a toddler version of the climbing wall. There are three little kid plastic slides, one with a curve and two small straight ones next to each other. There are two baby/toddler swings and two big kid swings.

There are also a few extra 'things'- no idea what they are called, such as the circle shown in the photo. It spins around like a roundabout but I have never really seen anyone figure out how to really enjoy it because frankly, it's not easy to use. I know that the one time I really got it going I ended up covered in woodchips on the ground. Good job I like woodchips.

Central Park is pretty well kept and there is always a lot going on there between the sports field and courts. There are a few of the extra rides that have disappeared recently- not sure where or why. The playground loses points because there are no public washrooms nearby and the Crystal Pool people don't like you to use theirs.