This may seem an odd spot for a playground, being right smack bang amongst the hustle and bustle of busy South Road, but if your kids love a mix of playgrounds, ball games and a spot to ride the bike or scooter, then this will suit you to a tee!
You will find lots of shady trees, but no specific shade other than 1 table and chair set undercover near the BBQ area. There is a drink fountain and a dog bowl too. The toilets are public but located behind club rooms at the other side of the oval.
There is a kids playground area, for early primary aged kids predominantly. Sport area with goals for pretty much any sport you want, which also double as monkey bars. There is a full height basketball ring, tennis courts, netball courts, bike/scooter area with line-marked track. It has it all really!
Don’t forget the oval space with footy goals too. Lots of people walking dogs when we visited, so be careful if your kids aren’t dog lovers. Would be a perfect place for a birthday party or family bash where kids can run and play and adults can BYO chairs. Electric BBQ onsite too!
Find it at: Trimmy Terrace, Unley The City of Unley consulted with the "playground experts" to help them upgrade the Unley Oval playground. During community consultation with local residents, the City of Unley specifically sought suggestions from children in the area about what they would like to see incorporated into the improved playground, atop the northern mound at Unley Oval, known as the ‘Hilltop Playground’. 93 children from local schools and kindergartens offered their suggestions with most popular ideas including an aeroplane, haunted house, castle, pirate ship, nature play and incorporating animal designs such as elephants, spiders, cats and unicorns. (YES! playgrounds DEFINITELY need more unicorns we say!) The kids love the new multi-story structure with giant 3m tube slide, a toddler slide, climbing wall and a bird's eye view across the whole oval. There is also a great 'balanced swing/see-saw' that both kids and adults can enjoy at the same time.
Find it at: The Parade, Kensington Park With a recent development (Opened September 2020) of the existing playground, this has been transformed into such a beautiful toddler playground. Nature play is the theme here with the playground sitting nicely with the local scenery, but the trade off for this is it probably is only a playground for the up to 5 years crowd. There is shade, toilets, a water fountain and tables, but it isn't fully fenced which isn't too much of an issue as the road side is fenced. The nearby Kensington Oval was in immaculate condition when we visited (no doubt it always is!) so feel free to bring a ball or frisbee to have a muck around. Parking isn't too bad either, so we just parked on The Parade next to the oval. There is a reasonable amount of play equipment, with swings, balancing logs, and a small tower and slide which will keep the young ones happy enough. Coffee wise (always the most important playground feature!), it is on The Parade....you could pick anywhere and it will be good!
Find it at: Brighton Road, Brighton (Highet Avenue is a side street nearby) Fully Fenced Playground! That is usually music to the the ears of a lot of people, because knowing your little tacker can run around and not actually escape is just bliss. Thankfully the newly developed Gladys Mathwin playground at the Brighton Oval sports complex is fully fenced and with a load of other must haves for parents (except toilets which weren't readily visible but would be in the sports complex buildings nearby) including lots of free parking, drinking fountain, seating, picnic tables, shade and a fully sheltered BBQ. What a great spot! The playground is fantastic and has lots for kids of most ages, with a big tube slide, lots of climbing equipment and swings and some beautiful brightly coloured smaller equipment for the under 5 crowd. We loved the bright colours, lots of shade, easy access to the oval for a kick of the footy and proximity to all the coffee spots of Jetty Road at Brighton. They have used bark as the major ground material so it may cause an accessibility issue at times but paths and soft surfaces have been used amongst the bark…