Aurèle-Joliat Park

Whew, third time’s a charm. We’ve been by this park so many times (two), but there are a few big daycares nearby and there’s always been too many kids to take pictures. This time it was a dreary, chilly morning so there were only a few brave souls in the playground.
It’s good that it was overcast as there is ZERO shade on any of the play equipment or even the surrounding space. Strangely, because it could be a good sledding spot, they planted a bunch of trees on the man-made hill.

There is no fencing, and the toddler climber and swings are quite close to the road. Though since there are no trees, at least the sightlines are good! 

Everything is on sand (with signs warning about the sand wasps), and there are four little sections with concrete borders: toddler climber and ride-ons, big-kid climber, big swings, and baby swings (with one uncomfortable looking adaptive swing).

Both play structures are by Quebec-based Go-Élan. The toddler climber is quite good with stairs, place to walk around, tic-tac-toe, the Stepping Stone Stairway, the Fredrock rock climber, and slides. Weirdly, two of the walls on the upper platform have doodads to turn and spin, yet they’re on the outside of the wall. So your toddlers need to be really, really tall to reach them! It’s like the panels were installed inside out.
The ride-ons are cute and include a turtle, giraffe, and a room-for-four kids dragon/sea monster teeter-totter. I like this design because it’s low to the ground and it’s perfect little kid size.
In the little section just beside are the baby and adaptive swing. They are set down in the sand but from the grass they’ve put a concrete ramp into the sand. Helpful for those with reduced mobility? Maybe.

We looked at the big-kid climber and it is big. And high. And a bit scary! There’s an interesting dragon/dino wall climber, lots of swinging stepping stones (that’s the only thing my little one could manage), a verrrrry steep rock climbing wall, high up in the air open bridge, a small vertical spider web, monkey bars and metal rungs and ladders. Just beside this are the big-kid swings.

There are some benches and picnic tables (though not many), and there is a drinking fountain.
NEW IN 2017: The city has installed “toy-sharing” bins in the playground where you can borrow toys while you play, or bring unused toys from home to share with others. You can read more about it HERE.