Adelaide in summer is H-O-T, but that doesn’t stop our kids from wanting to get out and about to their favourite playgrounds. A shaded playground is always a winner in our books, and shade or lack of, is one of the main topics of conversation whenever we post a playground review. So to make it easy to find a spot with lots of natural shade from trees, or great shade sails over the play area we’ve put together a list of our top picks for shaded playgrounds in Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Have we missed one? We’d love to know about it in the comments below.
Find it at: Esplanade, Semaphore South (Opposite Arthur Street) In 2023, Port Adelaide Enfield Council have opened this fabulous $400,000 playground at Semaphore South foreshore. The beauty of this one is the consultation phase invited local kids to draw what they wanted to see in the new playground, with some of the entries inspiring the boat themed elements! How great is that. Don’t forget to check out the fabulous Shelly’s Kiosk...
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Find it at: Wigley Reserve, Genelg The incredible upgrade at Wigley Reserve at Glenelg is an outstanding attraction for an already pretty awesome area. Sometimes fantastic photos do a far better job at telling a story and this is absolutely one of those occasions. Check out how good it looks! The old playground is long gone and has been replaced with this impressive looking structure that really does catch the eye as you approach Wigley...
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Find it at: Watahuna Avenue, Hawthorndene This park is a beautiful leafy, shady spot and great for kids of all ages really. Heaps of space to spread out, play ball games and run around AND it’s fully fenced! Yahoo! The playground features areas for the little people, and the bigger kids with swings, slides, firemans pole, monkey bars, flying fox, see saw and a cute little pretend ‘shop’ area where the kids made pretend...
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Find it at: 43 Jervois Street, South Plympton Jervois Street Playground in South Plympton is up there with Morialta and Glenunga as one of our favourite playgrounds in Adelaide. Some of the Jervois Street Reserve highlights are: Fully fenced junior playground with lots to keep the little ones happy including double slides, a ‘bird’s nest’ swing, regular and baby swing, sandpit and a water play feature with pump action water...
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Find it at: Heron Way, Hallett Cove This is a great playground with amazing views over the ocean. The reserve includes a 5-way swing, tunnel slide, water and sand play, nature play, fitness equipment, shade sales, toilet, seating, shelter and BBQ facilities. The playground is unfenced, and there is a drop down to the rocky beach that parents with fast moving smaller children will need to be mindful of. There is parking close to the playground,...
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Find it at: Everard Avenue, Keswick We stumbled across this fab little fully fenced playground and found out later that was upgraded in 2024. As it stands this place is a fantastic local facility, with a shaded modern playground full of unique climbing areas for the kids to explore. The whole playground is shaded by sails in fact, with a number of play areas with a range of equipment to suit most ages. Throw in a fantastic oval, basketball...
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Find it at: Esplanade Largs Bay The Largs Bay foreshore play space redevelopment in 2024 brought to life an amazing concept which feels like came straight from the imagination of us as kids! This one is a very popular site with local and visiting families and the new ice cream themed playground is sure to make it even more popular. We love when councils and designers think outside the box to create imaginative play areas for the kids. This one...
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Find it at: Aldridge Avenue, Plympton Park Located in Plympton Park Aldridge Ave Reserve is a great little local playground and suitable for the nearby community or if you happen to be in the area. The playground suits toddler and early school age kids but also has 2 sports courts to cater for the older ones. The curly slippery dip was certainly our favourite and was definitely the reason our stay was extended just that little bit longer with a...
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Find it at: Corner Old Belair Road and Norman Walk, Mitcham This ripper was upgraded in December 2018 and we absolutely love it! The new playground updates are a credit to Nature Play Design and the City of Mitcham with a great mix of the nature play elements alongside more traditional equipment. On the larger side of the park (the Northern side) there is the highlight of the new upgrade to Mitcham Reserve with a double story ‘elf...
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Find it at: Kapinka Parade, Riverlea Opened in April 2024 in the heart of the enormous Riverlea development in Adelaide’s north, this fantastic playground offers something for all ages. It doesn’t have toilets and isn’t fully fenced, however is tucked in the suburbia so that might not be an issue for everyone. A lack of decent coffee nearby was something we noticed, but as the development grows we expect this will change....
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Find it at: 325 Strathalbyn Rd, Mylor Located near the Mylor Oval, Sherry Park boasts an exciting interactive playground with slides, climbing sections and swings, a ninja obstacle course, and a bike track! We particularly love the stopwatch ninja course with it’s very own slanted steps, rope climb and even a mini sized warped wall!There’s loads of energy to be burnt off here! It’s located right near Mylor Oval with plenty of...
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Find it at: Protea Cres, Crafers One of our favourite little Adelaide Hills playgrounds has had an upgrade! The Protea Reserve Playground is hidden away at the end of Lesley Crescent in Crafers. It’s by no means the biggest park in Adelaide BUT it’s in such a gorgeous quiet location that it’s well worth a visit. ESPECIALLY in Autumn to see all the gorgeous trees in all their different colours. New equipment includes a new...
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Find it at: Julian Terrace, Gawler The $190k Inclusive playspace at Gawler opened to the public in May 2024, is a fantastic addition to the popular Gawler family hotspot. Chosen by the community, the playspace design derives from the three Rivers that run through Gawler, reflecting upon the importance of water to the area, both past and present. The new accessible walkway represents Para River, connecting the existing two main entrances to four...
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Find it at: 58 Railway Tce North, Lameroo (but you really can’t miss it!) If you are on a road trip through the Mallee region, a stop to stretch the legs and have a play at the Lameroo Town Centre Playground (and Dog Park if you have a pooch with you!) is a must. Our eight and five year old LOVED this playground and definitely wanted to stay longer! You’ll find some fantastic playground equipment, shade sails, a pump track next door plus...
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Find it at: Ballara St, Mile End Mile End Common is just off Victoria Ave and Bagshaw Way, Mile End. Tucked away just off Sir Donald Bradman Drive, it’s a lovely green space with great play equipment for youngsters. With equipment aimed mainly at the over 5s, you will find a large climbing tower with tube side, swings, climbing rope pyramid and in-ground trampolines. There are also plenty of trees and open space to play around on in the...
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Find it at: Adelaide Road, Mount Barker Keith Stephenson Park had been upgraded and re-opened in December 2023! Keith Stephenson Park is the premier district reserve for the Council area. It hosts major events such as carols by candlelight and is a meeting place for families across the district. It is located on the Laratinga Trail, a shared use path that is the spine of the open space network and links as far as Newnham Estate and the Summit...
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Find it at: Hamilton Terrace, Paradise Thorndon Park playground has been voted Australia’s Best Playground (Winner of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects award for best play space 2023) The upgraded (in 2023) playground at Thorndon Park is amazing! A hen (water play sculpture), wren (climbing structure) and crane (swing) now call the park home and don’t forget the biggest bird, a heron (slide structure), which takes...
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Marshmallow Park on Glen Osmond Road, in the Adelaide Parklands is a firm favourite with our families from the 2 year old to the 10 year old. With its huge new renovation, there is now heaps more to explore at this site – also known as Pelzer Park or Pityarilla Activity Hub! The renovation includes some brilliant new nature play features, alongside more traditional swings, slides and climbing frames. There is a great water feature hill...
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Find it at: The Parkway, Fulham Garden Located directly behind Target at Fulham Gardens this playground can’t be missed with its bright orange play equipment. With a little something for everyone, the favourite and most obvious piece of equipment is quite a steep tubular slide with the BIG smiley face at the end. Located either side of the tubular slide are 2 more slides with slightly gentler slopes, leaving the kids with a lot of sliding...
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Find it at: Fowler Terrace, Price We have found the perfect stop for the kids to stretch their legs, get some fresh air and have a snack while you are road tripping on the Yorke Peninsula. Price is on the eastern side of the leg (back of the thigh, if you will!), about half an hour before Ardrossan. It’s not a huge town, it’s known mainly for its salt processing plant but the playground sits on the edge of the town adjacent the salt flats and...
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Find it at: Essex Crescent, Croydon Park Following its partial closure for the South Road upgrade, Polonia Reserve has re-opened into a magnificent new playground, which features one of the most eye-catching designs of any playground in the state. The Polonia Reserve upgrade includes an open kick about lawn, play space and storm water detention area. The huge 7-metre-tall, 12-metre-wide soccer ball playground sculpture, built by local business...
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Find it at: Cormorant Drive Hallett Cove A new playground and reserve has opened at Cormorant Drive down at Hallett Cove and it is very cool (especially for dino lovers) This reserve has an interesting history with a Diprotodon (Giant Wombat) fossil remains found here in 1992. This Australian megafauna was the world’s largest marsupial and lived between 15,000-10,000 years ago. A playground includes: Diprotodon sculpture climb Diprotodon...
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Find it at: Port Rd, Adelaide What a beautiful playground for kids of all ages! Renovated back in late 2012, the Bonython Park Playground has a some very cool features not found in the typical suburban park. Some of the best equipment includes two 25m flying fox lines fun for kids of all ages and an extensive water play area complete with pumps, gates and a watermill. Kids love playing and experimenting with water and this...
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Find it at: The Parade, Magill What a fabulous playground and reserve this one is. Talk about a stunning location, you will find this if you head east on The Parade far enough til you think you are about to drive into the front garden of the fancy houses in the foothills. The playground has had a huge upgrade in December 2022 and is set a little way back from the car park, which is great because you get to walk across a beautiful little stone...
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Find it at: Bilyara Rd, Tanunda Huge news out of Tanunda with the opening of their fabulous new inclusive playground in December 2022. The new Playground has been made possible by State Government grant funding of $330,221 and a Council contribution of $782,800, making it a total budget of $1,113,000 Features of the Inclusive Playground include a flying fox, trampolines, climbing/elevated play, slides, swings, sand and water play, barbecue...
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Find it at: Hugh Johnson Boulevard, Sheidow Park The Hugh Johnson Boulevard Reserve upgrade is complete and we love it just as much as the locals. There are multiple areas for play including a sports area complete with netball and basketball rings and soccer goal. There’s some great equipment for older kids as well as a smaller shaded area for little ones with climbing area, swings, seesaws and more. And if that’s not enough...
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Find it at: Fairbanks Dr, Paralowie Fairbanks Drive has had a huge upgrade with the completion of a fabulous playground to accompany the recently completed rage3 cage. Not sure what a rage cage is? Its an all-in-one sporting…..cage (funnily enough) where kids can play a variety of sports including basketball rings, soccer goals, cricket stumps, a climbing wall, hopscotch and ball target holes. This playground is a paradise for older kids,...
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Find it at: Stanley Street, Glengowie This one will have your little crew buzzing (little bee humour there…you will see why in the pics), with this bee hive themed playground. This has jumped straight into some of our favourite playgrounds, with some very unique pieces of play equipment and a real commitment to the bee theme (even if the ride on bees do look sort of like they will appear in your nightmares at some point) Lots of shade, no...
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Find it at: Battunga Road, Meadows Not every playground needs to cost a million bucks and have every whizz bang feature to be a memorable day out does it. Sometimes it is all about the serenity and a relaxing moment in a busy day, where you can sit and the kids can play. Well the Meadows Playground, about 20 minutes south of Mt Barker, is one of those spots. Fully fenced, and with some absolutely beautiful natural shade (Trees. Lots of trees),...
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Find it at: South Parklands, Lightsview A fabulous adventure playground has been added to the Lightsview development, which is well worth the trip! Opened in April 2021, the nature play themed park includes water play, a huge number of logs and balancing beams to test out kids and parents alike! Throw in a climbing hill with slide, a basketball court, sand play area, in-ground trampolines, swings and even more slides, we love this park for...
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