When we think of the playgrounds for toddlers we think of fences, swings, toilets, lots of tiny equipment and, even better, a nice shaded space. These things are not always possible (why can’t ALL playgrounds have fences ALL the way around?!), but check out these playgrounds around Adelaide that we think your kids – and you – will love
If you want a short list of our all time top 10 toddler playgrounds (say that three times quickly) here’s the ones we think are the very best.
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: 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: 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: 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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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: Maldon Avenue, Mitchell Park The Maldon Ave Reserve Playground is a hidden gem! Upgraded in late 2023, we discovered this little beauty when riding along the Sturt River Linear bike path. Located between Marion and Sturt roads (or find it in a car as the Maldon Ave Reserve). It’s a relatively well shaded area with play space for a good range of ages, including a slide, swings (incl birds nest swing), a few climbing options,...
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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: Lefevre Street, North Adelaide Better known as Helicopter Park to many, Glover North Playground is located on Lefevre Terrace in North Adelaide. With a large helicopter as its centrepiece, smaller kids can slide out of the chopper’s belly as one of the many pint-sized highlights located at this much loved playground. There are also plenty of swings, see-saws, climbing frames and sand play equipment including the popular...
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Find it at: Marine Parade, Port Vincent Firstly….check out the view! Located right next on the beach front on Marine Parade, the location is sensational. It was a fun playground with many play options to keep the kids busy after a big day exploring Yorkes. It has pebble flooring, 2 public bbq’s, plenty of seating and an incredible beach view. Oh the view! The park boasts fencing on 3 sides and an easy to supervise access point of...
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Find it at: 120 East Terrace, Adelaide Set among the existing trees, along with some new ones, the city council did an amazing job back in 2018 revamping the existing Ityamai Itpina East Terrace Glover Playground also known as Park 15. We love that this playground caters to a variety of ages and has something for everyone. The main stage of the play space are the wooden houses located in the middle of the playground. These are awesome cubby...
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Find it at: Fiveash Drive, Pasadena This upgraded playground situated off of Fiveash Drive just near the Pasadena Shopping Centre is a fantastic new improvement to the area! Beautifully shaded by heavy greenery, this playground has something for everyone. Although not fenced off, yet situated near a main road, the steep sloping beast of a hill heading up towards the busyness of Fiveash Drive will stop anyone in their tracks. With a mega...
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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: Stirling St, Tusmore 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 which means there’s...
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Find it at: Whyatt Street, Glenelg East As I rocked up to this playground my first reaction was WOW. This recently upgraded playground is huge and would appeal to a variety of ages. This playground is fully fenced and has lots of different styles of climbing equipment for the kids. The play equipment has enough to keep the big kids and little ones entertained, with the flying fox a real hit here (at least the kids get a decent ride!) The tower...
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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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Name a better combo than a ripping playground and a strong cup of coffee? There is none. Sitting back with a quality coffee while the kids play at a fabulous playground, allowing you a moment to close your eyes and just recharge, is one of parenting’s great pleasures (That and getting kicked in the ribs at 3am by a restless toddler….isn’t that just so fun!) With that in mind coffee lovers, we have scoured our epic playground...
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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: Stansbury Rd, Yorketown Yorketown Playground is absolutely massive and there is something for everyone. When you arrive you’ll notice there’s plenty of parking, there’s an information booth for the area and some unique art around the place. Once you’ve parked you’ll see a large playground area, a toilet block, a bbq with a shaded seating area and a short walk away, a big lake. We decided to check out...
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Find it at: Sturt Ave, Colonel Light Gardens Mortlock Park in Colonel Light Gardens had a fab upgrade in 2021. Located right next to Colonel Light Primary School and across the oval from the Goodwood Baseball Club. With equipment perfect for toddlers to upper primary school kids there is sure to be something to suit most. Lets scroll through our highlights from the upgrade…. – Lots of climbing webs/ nets, monkey bars & swinging...
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Find it at: Maitland Road, Minlaton Ah Yorke Peninsula! One of our favourite places in the state, if not the country. Full of so many wonderful experiences for your family adventures, including some pretty sweet playgrounds to check out as you hit the small towns. This little beauty is at Minlaton, which was the ideal stop for us while staying across the road at the Minlaton Caravan Park. Before we get to the playground, first you need to have...
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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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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: Bandon Terrace, Marino Ahoy all want to be Pirates your tower awaits you. Bandon Reserve has had an ENTIRE UPGRADE finished just in time for the warmer weather. It looks awesome and has been inspired by a nautical theme. Overlooking the beautiful coastline of Marino, the reserve stretches out down a slope towards incredible ocean views. The reserve has a large grassed area, with a little hill in the middle that has now been...
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Find it at: Railway Terrace, Beachport The fantastic playground upgrade at Beachport is complete and it is fantastic! The playground is headlined by easily one of the best playground pirate ships in the state, with plenty of sand play, climbing rope equipment, flying fox, slides and swings. There really is so much to do for all ages and how about the view! Just a stunning attraction for families in the region and all those from the city who...
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Find it at: Shepherds Hill Road, Blackwood Huge news for the new year with work finished on a new nature play space at the Wittunga Botanic Garden!The play space is a fun way for children to learn about the environment and has been designed with help from local primary school students. We popped down for a visit after the opening (to be honest we have been popping in to watch the build progress as well!) and we had a ball! We loved exploring...
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Find it at: 4 Fisher Crescent, Craigburn Farm The name says it all and YES it is a BIG slide. This playground is a hidden gem tucked away amongst houses in this quiet suburb but well worth a visit. This playground is FABULOUS to burn off some energy and it suitable for a few different ages . It is certainly for the more adventure orientated kids and due to the steep decline and NO fence you need to keep a close eye on the little ones all the...
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Find it at: Spring Crescent at Banksia Park What a cracking little playground, tucked away in the backstreets of Banksia Park near the Tea Tree Gully Footy Club. With a great treehouse style fort and slide combo, mixed in with swings and lots of climbing equipment for younger and older kids alike, there will be something for everyone here. No toilets sadly but we reckon there will be some at the nearby sporting clubs, however there are BBQ...
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