When it’s hot in Adelaide, it’s really bloody hot. So here are some great parks where you can find FREE shade, water play, and some playground fun to keep the kids happy and the electricity bill down. As always PLEASE be very careful with your kids around water. We love kids exploring, having fun in nature and having a splash but you need to watch them at all times! And don’t forget to slip, slop, slap and wrap!
Find it at: Mosley Square Glenelg The Glenelg Foreshore Playground is SO good and we have absolutely loved visiting (along with most of Adelaide!) over the past few years since it opened. With the recent seasonal addition of the Giant Wheel, from about October to April, it makes for a brilliant day out! It’s a great mixture of beach surrounds, fun for young and old kids, and the move towards ‘nature play’ areas. Highlights...
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Find it at: Saltflee Street, Port Noarlunga South Jubilee Playground is one of the biggest and best playgrounds in the Adelaide area. It’s an oldie but a goodie and most of the awesome play equipment that forms a castle is made out of wood which makes it even cooler! Jubilee Playground has HEAPS of things to keep kids from toddler to high school amused and has different sections for different abilities – from slides, swings,...
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Find it at: 4 Tobruk Terrace, Loxton This park was built in 2015 and has been a firm Riverland favourite for kids of all ages ever since. Little kids will love the toddler play area, numerous swings and smaller slides and older kids will have a great time climbing all over the giant rope tower and the 15m paddle steamer climbing feature (the PS Jolly Miller), zipping down the fast slide, spinning around on the mousewheel, riding the double...
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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: Brooker Terrace, Hilton West Torrens Memorial Gardens are one of the city’s beautiful green spaces and are situated off Brooker Terrace next to the Cowandilla (Hamra) Library, and featured a great upgrade in 2018.There are heaps of climbing and swinging options for those with little people who love to climb as much as ours do! We love the unique bridge which links the two sides of the playspace, allowing visitors to walk...
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The Adelaide Aquatic Centre will be closed from 1 Aug 2024 to make way for a brand new Centre! Here’s what we know so far… The new Adelaide Aquatic Centre will include: 50m, 10-lane indoor pool for swimming carnivals, water sports and recreational use 25m, 8-lane outdoor pool Dedicated indoor warm water rehabilitation pool Dedicated indoor learn to swim pool Lagoon outdoor pool Entry level diving amenities which can also be used to...
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Find it at: Killarney Street, Seaford Heights Located in the Vista Seaford Heights development, this 2024 built playground is a spectacular addition for new families in the area. With a huge climbing tower and tube slide the main feature, lets rattle off some of the key features here; Swings Shelter with BBQ Outdoor gym Partially fenced Pump track (at nearby reserve) Double flying fox Accessible roundabout Water play There are no toilets here...
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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...
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Find it at: Greenhill Road, Hazelwood Park Hazelwood Park Playground is a beauty for families of all ages and abilities. Upgraded in 2010 (and given a bit more TLC in early 2024), this shady park with plenty to do was one of the first (and still one of our fave) parks with a nature play feel. Set in the corner of the huge reserve there is plenty of space, plenty of shade and plenty of play equipment. In the summer the Burnside Outdoor Pool is...
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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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Find it at: Leonard Norman Drive, Waikerie Opened in December 2018 the Waikerie Water and Nature Play Park was the idea of local couple Clive and Donna Mathews who received a $150,000 Fund My Neighbourhood grant from the SA Government and also raised a further $100,000+ from the local Rotary Club, Council and Go Fund me campaign. (how good is that!). The playground also now includes an accessible roundabout for wheelchairs and an accessible...
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Find it at: Cowell Foreshore Precinct, Thompson Drive, Cowell Cowell Foreshore Precinct underwent a $9 million upgrade in 2023 with the addition of an aquatic playground featuring a Splash Park and Water Slides, a Basketball Court, a Jumping Pillow and increased car parking (including long parks) for all those caravanning families! Cowell is a beautiful coastal town situated on the Franklin Harbour, approximately 490kms (around 5 hours drive)...
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Find it at: Winchester Street, St Peters This wonderful playground upgrade, completed in 2023, includes new adventure-themed play equipment, toilets, picnic and BBQ facilities and park furniture. The Dunstan Adventure Playground is full of excellent equipment for adventurous kids. A lot of the equipment is aimed at older children though, so your kids will need to feel pretty confident, the slide is beyond huge and kids will need their balance...
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Find it at: Morialta Conservation Park, Woodforde The eagle has landed at Morialta Playground… in a 7 metre tall nest – and your kids can climb it! Yep, the Morialta Conservation Park playground is AWESOME! Best suited to kids aged 5-15years, it is great to see a play area perfect for older families. With over 100 car parks and walking trails to guide you, it makes a visit to the park even easier to navigate for families. The...
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Find it at: Mount Barker Rd, Bridgewater This stunning playground is just about everything we love about a day out in our beautiful Adelaide Hills. Coffee, stunning scenery and a fab playground for all ages. Located just below the Bridgewater Mill, the playground is fenced along the road and edges but NOT on the creek bed, which in my opinion is great because it allows kids to take there shoes off and go for a good explore in the creek bed....
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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...
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Did you know that Splash Town at Moonta Bay Foreshore on the Yorke Peninsula is an entirely FREE waterpark for kids and families? Think waterslides, tipping bucket and a whole heap of waterplay fun. It’s a fantastic community facility, open for every one to use. South Australia has some really great little water parks and water slides, however a lot of them are hidden in various tourist parks and only available for use of their customers,...
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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: 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: Stirling St, Tusmore Opening in March 2022, the Tusmore Park Wading Pool is fast becoming a favourite spot for visitors to cool down. The design features a fully fenced and shaded wading pool, lawned areas for picnics, a new creek style section, tiered seating and water play equipment for plenty of splashing and playing during the summer months. A few points worth mentioning: It’s fully fenced!! Hoorah! It’s unsupervised...
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Find it at: Solandra Cr, Modbury North Pack up the change of clothes kids, we are going to sand and water play nirvana! Solandra Reserve out at Modbury North has had a fab upgrade, with the space transformed into a brilliant community facility. Featuring the already mentioned sand and water play features (undercover too we might add!), chuck in a great little pump track and a range of equipment to suit the big kids and little ones, this one...
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Find it at: L’Estrange Street, Glenunga Glenunga hub playground opened in 2017 and quickly became one of our favourites – if you visit this summer you’ll probably see us there! As you may have noticed, many of our recent favourite playgrounds include those with ‘active’ options for kids – water play, sand play, climbing, nature play etc, not just swings and slides. Glenunga hub playground is one of these...
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Find it at: Maxwell Road, Para Hills West Well isn’t this a little bit sensational! The new playground at The Paddocks Reserve is OPEN and we must say, this is one of the best new playgrounds we have come across in a while, with some pretty spectacular pieces of equipment to keep the kids busy for ages! With access best via Maxwell Road, there is so much to talk about here its hard to know where to start. We have to start off with the...
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Find it at: Mary Lee Street, Two Wells Well isn’t this one totally worth the drive out north! The new playground, Freedom Park, within the Liberty at Two Wells development, is the latest milestone in a $1.2 billion residential precinct way out north. We absolutely loved it when we took the drive to check it out, with our intrepid playground reviewers claiming it as one of the best playgrounds they have visited. High praise indeed! Lots of...
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Find it at: Military Road, Taperoo With a $6.4million budget for the 2018 upgrade, the great thing about this playground is that it caters for ALL age groups. Something we love for Adelaide families as it keeps everyone happy oh and occupied. The equipment is quite spread out and has been zoned for ages . It incorporates lots of challenging climbing structures for the older kids and has a toddler play area along with sand pit and water play for...
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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...
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Find it at: George Street, Marion The City of Marion have opened up yet another fabulous playground (they are really setting the standard aren’t they), this time a spacious playground at George Street. With an in-ground trampoline, swing, sandpit, water pump and 2 historical-themed cubby houses, including a village store and a workers cottage, this one is really cool. There’s also a miniature fire pole, slide and logs to jump on and an...
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Renmark is the largest (and possibly prettiest?) town in South Australia’s Riverland and it is a great base for exploring the Riverland with kids. Renmark makes a beautiful family weekend or regional SA holiday break, with so much for the whole family to see and do, a visit with the kids is a must for your bucket list! We did the trip in around three hours from Adelaide. We recently spent some time enjoying the FREE waterplay in the town...
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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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