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 tower’ made of wood with a weather vane, horse and cart, spiral slide, double slide (which has a ramp access), double swings, rocking horse, stepping logs and climbing logs.
Across the little foot bridge on the southern side of the creek there are more swings, balancing ropes, awesome carved animals, aboriginal artworks and more!
With the new upgrade, Mitcham Reserve is even more of a beautiful park with the great new play equipment and wonderfully kept grounds. There is plenty of space and shade for large groups to spread out and enjoy a picnic. There are also BBQ’s available, plus a lovely creek to add to the ambience. Kids will enjoy the opportunity to run around and kick a ball or play chasey in large reserve. It is not fully fenced to the road or creek, but does have wheelchair access, toilets and plenty of parking. There are also lots of different locations with play equipment, which creates a lot of space for groups and different areas to play!
The park is a 3 minute drive from Mitcham shopping centre so you can always hit the movies before the playground or grab some picnic food and enjoy it in the park.
My local fave: The Edinburgh Pub is very close by and has a big beer garden. It’s a family friendly place, but can get quite busy with 20-somethings sometimes so if you’re planning on taking a large group make sure you book ahead. Great food though!
Find it at: Rugby Street, Malvern Tucked away is this cute Elephant themed nature play space, complete with sandpit, wooden and metal musical instruments to play and a whole lot more to explore! (Can't ruin all the surprises can we). There is a lot of climbing equipment which the kid will love, slides, balancing equipment and don't forget the basketball too with courts here as well. (located at the school, so after hours use only). No toilets here sadly unless the school toilets are open, but there is some shade and plenty of lovely trees.
Find it at: Barrage Road, Goolwa Another one to add to the Nature Playground list! This $600,000 project was opened in late 2015 and is located in a beautiful big waterside park, right near the yacht club in Goolwa. On the weekend or in the school holidays you can often see people taking their boats out or having races on the water nearby. It's location is the first point I'd make. It's a gorgeous spot but it is right near the water and it's not fenced so please make sure you're watching your kids, especially little ones who might wander over to the water. Generally speaking the water area next to the Goolwa nature playground is suuuper calm and very child splash-time friendly - but it's still unfenced and you'll need to keep that in mind and monitor. The main feature of the park is a beautiful 10 metre long restored wooden fishing boat to climb and hide and play on. If your kids like climbing, balancing and touching they'll love this park! There's climbing nets, ropes, spiders web and balancing logs. There are also timber swings, a nest swing and an accessible swing designed for wheelchair-bound users. On a…
Find it at: Wheatsheaf Road, Morphett Vale The amazing $2.2 million nature playspace, located on the corner of Wheatsheaf and States Roads at Morphett Vale, has been designed for people of all ages to get outdoors and engage with nature. Nature themes are featured as a tribute to the site’s importance for Kaurna people, and the site’s history as a working farm from the 1840s to 1960s. Stunning public art by local Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Yankunytjatjara artist Allan Sumner is scattered throughout the playspace. There are two main areas, one for toddlers and younger kids and one for older kids, making it a great spot for the whole family. The junior space is fully fenced (YES!) and features a Hills to Beach creative sand and water play area and a play farm area complete with wooden tractor and sheep rockers. This area also has a number of different swings, slides, seesaw and lots of sensory hands on play that we LOVE. Older kids will also love this park with some very decent climbing structures, ropes course, awesome slide tower, wooden forts and a double flying fox. One of the seat is a bucket style for younger kids so siblings can…