This is one of the the kids’ favourite “home” parks. It’s usually super quiet, it’s pretty chill, and it seems to constantly be getting new equipment. Last year the awesome rocket ship play structure was added, and they’ve JUST redone the baby swings, added in the very, very cool Friendship™ Swing, a stand-up bouncer, and the Merry-Go-All spinner.
We’ve always called this the “firetruck park”, and the kids are always relieved to see that the old-school metal firetruck structure is left intact. We always spend quite a while putting out fires, take turns driving or hanging onto the back.
The new rocket ship structure by Jambette is aimed at kids 18 months-12 years of age, and has two sides connected by a tricky open bridge. On the toddler side are easy-to-climb stairs as well as steps to scamper up. My little guy LOVED the space ship/plane cockpit with its steering wheel. Zip down the slide and there’s a ground-level ledge that can be a restaurant, a space garage, or an intergalactic drive-thru window. Bigger kids can climb across the bridge to the (very) high side with a tall slide. Or climb up one of the multiple steps or ladders to access the middle of the rocket. It’s great that both toddlers and older kids can play together.
We’ve almost always had this park to ourselves, and this was the first time we’ve seen so many kids! And everyone was having a blast. Ha, pun!
The whole rocket thing got all their imaginations going.
There’s also “hang on!” overhead zipline (the kind that feels like my arms will rip off), a multiple sided rock climbing wall by Playworld, an ATV spring-rider, and big and baby swings.
We THEY really enjoyed the new merry-go-round, and I got to run, and run, and then I sat on it while they ran and spun it, and then I felt like puking, so they spun some more while I lay in the grass. “SPIN US SOME MORE!”
The Merry-Go-All can accommodate a whole whack of kids, both sitting and standing, and is a great inclusive play product, except that it’s in the sand here, and impossible to get close to with a wheelchair or walker 🙁
What I’ve been most excited to try, and have been staring at every time we’ve driven by this park while it was under construction, is the Friendship™ Swing. We looked at it for a minute, figuring out how we were both going to get in (“Will you be my friend and swing with me?”), then both settled into the comfy rubber seats. And sat. And then it took us another minute to figure how to actually get some momentum; I scooted down and shoved off with my feet, and then we stayed swinging for quite a while. The nubby rubber was surprisingly not too hot considering it was in full sun, and the hammock-type seat fit us both equally well. Kids over 2 can swing with their friends, siblings, parents or grandparents 🙂
A hidden perk of this park is the view when you go to the north side of the Westwood Arena. Climb the daunting hill and voila! The best plane spotting place around. Depending on wind direction, the planes may be using runways 06L and 10. (You can check which runways are in use at THIS LINK). We watched them fly right over our head and you can see the terminal and all the trucks buzzing around. My aviation photography sucks, but it was really, really cool. If you’re interested in more plane watching spots, check out the “plane spotting” tag on the home page or read through the Jacques-De-Lesseps Observatory Park post. Some are playgrounds near the airport, and Jacques-De-Lesseps is a dedicated plane watching “park”.
And then we all rolled down the hill and lost our hats.
Things to note:
-The different apparatus are all in the same area, so you can keep an eye on all the parts, but there is NO fencing.
-It is quite sunny over the play areas, but has mature trees and shade around the edges. Picnic tables, benches, a drinking fountain, and a soccer field for running around make it a nice spot to spend a while.
-The park is pretty hard to find unless you know where you’re going, but follow the signs for the Westwood skating arena and it’s RIGHT beside it.
-Come back in winter and try out the SLEDDING!