Kingsgate Park Yate – “The Fat Duck Adventure Playground”

Great for: Older children, feeding the ducks, scooting, water play, all ages, picnics.

Yesterday we found another absolute gem of a playground in Yate. It’s got everything you could want. It has amazing equipment for all abilities, catering amazingly well for older children.  It has a lovely pond with ducks to feed, though they weren’t hungry.  It has an amazing looking cafe  with top reviews on tripadvisor though we didn’t get to try as we’d been organised and bought a picnic and when we went to check it out for a hot chocolate the queue was a bit too long for us – must be a good sign though. There’s also a fabulous looking water play area which is not yet open but we shall return to check it out. It even has toilets though I use the term in the loosest sense as they were disgusting (the toilets in the cafe are apparently much nicer but there was a big queue).

It was a bit of a challenge keeping an eye on three kids in the enormous play area by myself but it was worth it! We had a fantastic day out.

Properly challenging equipment for older children.

Beautiful pond with overfed ducks

This waterplay area looked amazing. We’ll definitely be back to check it out.

This little river (currently dry) has damns to play with. It looks amazing

A very unattractive picture of the playground but it shows some of the equipment for little ones which my 3 year old really loved.

Properly challenging monkey bars!

Cafe! It looked really lovely and gets fantastic reviews.

Pitsville Playground Cheltenham – “The Boating Playground”

Great for: a family day out a bit further afield, all ages, water enthusiasts, duck lovers, sunny days.

Today felt like the first really nice day for a while so to mark the occasion we took a bit of a gamble and following a recommendation from a friend (thanks, Vicky!) we drove over an hour to check out Pitsville Park in Cheltenham. I have to say, I was hugely impressed.

We went straight to the main playground on arrival which was pretty amazing, if a little overwhelming. It had tons of well maintained equipment for all levels, including sand, double zip wires, swings, trampolines, monkey bars, water play for the summer (not working in February) – almost anything you could think of. It also had a lovely little cafe kiosk as well as an aviary with rabbits, chipmunks and, of course, birds.

Awesome, if a little manic and, it turns out, quite hard to capture!

Kiosk selling drinks and ice creams

The aviary which also included rabbits and chipmunks

I love these seesaws!

Water play for the summer looked awesome

Hot chocolates…hmmmm

Even my 9 year old approved of the equipment

Awesome climbing frame

To be honest it was probably awesome enough to make the trip worthwhile by itself but then we wandered down to the pond nearby which was really beautiful and peaceful  and not far beyond we found another lovely little kiosk serving really nice paninis. We then found our way to the other side of the road (via a tunnel – could this park be any more fun?) where there was yet another pond/lake complete with pooh sticks bridge, boating lake (with another cafe), golf, more play areas and a lovely obstacle course. We didn’t take out a boat as it was too cold but it would be a lovely thing to do.

It really is a lovely park and well worth the trip though I would say it would be worth going on a sunny day as none of the 3 fab cafes have indoor space. I love that it’s got the manic playground bit to please the kids and then the calmer lakeside bit so everyone is happy!

Such a cute machine for getting bird feed. Shame it was empty!

The Boathouse cafe where you can hire rowing boats and get drinks, snacks and more ice cream

Beautiful obstacle course

One of our favourites!

Another fave – so much fun!

Victoria Park Cardiff – “The Giant Bucket Playground”

Great for: water play for all ages, a fantastic trip further afield. 

After being slightly underwhelmed by the splash pad in Mundy Playing fields (but otherwise very impressed by the park) we thought we’d try this park in Cardiff on a visit to my neice on a hot day. I have to say, if you like splashing this park is amazing! Obviously it’s not a Bristol playground but it took just over an hour by car so a very doable day trip and it’s FREE!

Set in the middle of a beautiful Victorian park, the splash pad opened this year at a cost of a whopping £485,000 and it shows. 

It has different zones depending on just how drenched you want to get. You can choose from a gentle sprinkle to a giant bucket which fills up for about 5 minutes then chucks gallons of water down onto the cheering waiting children below. 

Loads of the water features are interactive – you can sit on them, spin them, run through them and fight with them. It felt like every child in Cardiff was there but there was still plenty of water to go around. 

The water went off for about 5 minutes every 20 minutes which was not a problem. 

There’s quite a lot of very decent normal play equipment too which caters for all ages including a large nexus for the older kids. 

There is a cafe on site which had enormous queues so we didn’t check it out. Just over the road we found a fantastic little place called Park View cafe where we got 5 main meals including free drinks and ice creams for the kids and a delicious home made cake for under £20. The staff were unbelievably friendly. 

All in all it was a fantastic day out. Highly recommended. 

Beautiful fragrant flowers

It’s difficultto do the splash pad justice – it is enormous!

This bucket was just awesome and when it emptied out it filled a little stream which the kids ttied to damn with their bodies

I may have nightmares about this one

My 18 month old just LOVED this

A great piece of equipment for older children called a Nexus

We had hours of fun with this too

Fantastic find! Do check it out.

Mundy Playing Field – “The Damn Building Playground”

Fantastic stream. I imagine it’d be great with wellies too

Great for: paddling, splashing, picnics, all ages, running around, rolling down hills, appreciating different playground styles

Address: Mundy Playing Fields, Kington Lane, Thornbury BS35 1NA

The weather was gorgeous so we finally made it all the way out to Thornbury to check out their fabulous playground. It was well worth the trip.

They had a new splash pad installed in September 2014 (similar to the one at Weston Water Adventure Play Park – “The Splash About Playground” only FREE) which we were eager to check out. In the end it was slightly disappointing as it’s only on for a few minutes every 15-20 minutes and it was packed but to be honest it didn’t matter. It would have probably been great if my kids weren’t a bit Italian when it comes to getting wet because you had to be quite confident with being splashed to really enjoy it. We settled down for a picnic by the stream next to a stunning weeping willow. The stream couldn’t be better for kids which made the splash pad almost superfluous.
The playground is notably different from a Bristol City playground. Firstly, it’s not fenced off which means dogs are allowed in on leads. This gave it quite an open feeling. Secondly there was equipment from all eras which made it quite interesting. There was a solidly build piece of 80s engineering in the middle which my youngest loved. Plus a fabulous metal rocket (of a similar style to the helicopter at Canford Playground if you’re familiar with that) which must have been at least 20 years old. It was great fun to watch the children pretending to lift off and imagining how many generations of kids had done the same. Then next to that you had the fantastically modern splash pad and even adult exercise equipment. And of course the timeless little stream where kids were building dams and splashing happily and the slopes which my kids loved rolling down.
The location is just gorgeous and there’s tons of varied equipment so I’d highly recommend a visit.

My 18 month old just loved this retro piece. Lovely to see it still there.

This rocket was really lovely. I saw so many kids pretending to blast off

There was tons of space for charging around as well as rolling down hills

This was the splash pad. Pretty awesome

They even had these gorgeous carvings

They even have equipment for adults

Hengrove Play Park – “The Bump on the Head Playground”

Great for: all ages, water play, sand play, bumping your head.

This is one of the most impressive playgrounds in Bristol. It’s massive with just about every type of play equipment you can think of. It isn’t in a beautiful estate like Blaise or Vassels but it is set well away from the road. The water play is particularly lovely – it feels a bit like being at the seaside. The play dome is great for older kids but was closed when we were there. There’s even a cafe and toilets. It’s got plenty to keep any aged child happy for hours – definitely worth bringing a picnic and making a day of it.

If you happen to bump your head it’s the place to be! There are first aid staff on hand and there’s a walk-in NHS centre round the corner. Ironically my 6 year old managed to hurt herself on a piece of toddler equipment – our first injury after having been to all sorts of places.

Note it’s not open all the time

Somehow my 6 year old managed to hurt her head on this piece of toddler equipment – not doing anything particularly adventurous!

Great that there’s some sort of explanation but would be lovely to know how to get updates.

The cafe

A quite impressive bump on the head!

  

Bristol Zoo Gardens

Great for: Animal enthusiasts, paddling 

You have to pay to access this one but if you live anywhere near it, and can possibly afford it, I’d definitely recommend zoo membership. I’m sure we’re not the only ones who go regularly just to stroll past the stunning flowers to the cafe and then have a quick play in the playground (or a paddle if it’s sunny) and then head home barely seeing a single animal. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of lovely animals to see but it’s great even without them.

The playground itself is pretty good but better for slightly older children. The bark on the ground is terrible for crawlers or even early walkers and I overheard a few people whinging about it being dusty (in fact, Bristol Zoo, if you’re listening – I’d recommend replacing it with the tiles they used in Portishead). The equipment isn’t really suitable for any one under 2. The water play, however, is fantastic for all ages (especially little ones) – it’s my favourite place when it’s hot along with Weston Water Adventure Play Park. It’s basically an artificial stream which tumbles down over various obstacles that the children can play with and climb on. Bring a couple of old Tupperware boxes or some plastic cups/bottles and you can sit at the side for hours listening to the love birds tweeting or the lions roaring while your kids play happily.

There’s a high rope course for the older children (and adults) too though you have to pay extra for that. Then of course there are the wonderful animals.

The membership is worth it just for the stunning flower displays

Probably my favourite part of the zoo! (sorry animals!)

Update: This one has gone!

Update this has now been replaced by a sandpit

This one has been replaced.

     

UPDATE!

I hadn’t even got round to posting this one when I happened to go back and notice they’ve got rid of a couple of bits and replaced them with a sandpit and this new piece for younger kiddies. Unfortunately only opened today (not yesterday when we were there) so we didn’t get to test it out.

This new piece replaced one quite similar. This one looks even less suitable for crawlers.

The curly-wurly slide and the side by side slides are gone to be replaced by this sandpit.

Weston Water Adventure Play Park – “The Splash About Playground”

Great for: splashing about, monkey bars, kids of all ages

With summer on its way I wanted to mention this playground as it’s definitely one of my favourite places to go when it’s hot. It wasn’t hot today but we came down anyway to attend a great free lego animation workshop as part of Film Weston which two of my more fabulous friends were running.

It’s controversial because it was funded by North Somerset council but you have to pay to get in, even if you’re local. It’s only £1.50 per child (over 1) but I’d be pretty furious if they started charging me to go to my local playground. The upside is that everything works and is properly maintained and it doesn’t get quite so busy as it would do otherwise. Plus there’s a toilet and a cafe/shop.

The main draw is the splash about area which is fantastic on hot days but it’s a great playground in its own right with loads of equipment for all ages. For those of you not familiar with Weston it has a huge sandy beach but most of the time you can’t paddle as the tide takes the sea miles out so you have to cross perilous quick sand to get anywhere near it. That makes this playground a brilliant place to cool off. It’s also slightly more sheltered than the beach which can get very blustery.

Other notable bits of awesomeness include the huge fortress with brilliant monkey bars and a tandem zip wire – what a fab idea!

This piece is brilliant for crawlers

 

The upside of having to pay is that the musical equipment actually works – quite unusual!

 

The café/shop

 

Awesome seesaw

 

Top tip – hit the top of the red post to turn on the water!

 

The best monkey bars! They sloped downwards which made it easier and once you’d really mastered that you could attempt going uphill – extra challenging!

 

Dual zip wire – what a fantastic idea!

 

The Pier – the sea is out there somewhere. I’ve visited Weston many times but only managed a paddle in the sea once.

 

This is the smaller fortress as well

 

In case you haven’t had enough sand at the mahooosive beach, there’s even a sand play area.

 

Obligatory ice cream on the sea front

 

The big castle

            

If you do make the trip down there, check out Grove Park nearby. I doesn’t have a playground but it’s got stunning flowerbeds and is a little calm oasis after all the excitement of Weston

 

St Paul’s Adventure Playground – “The What-Could-Go-Wrong-With-This-Swing Playground”

Great for: hide and seek, swinging, adventure

Please visit this playground (and make sure you sign in)! It’s at high risk of being closed down to make way for flats – don’t let that happen!

Today it was a pretty grey and miserable day but we had awesome aunty Tina visiting so we thought we’d try another adventure playground. (Following on from the enormous success of Southmead Adventure Playground and Felix Road Adventure Playground)

This is the one you can glimpse from the M32 – I’d wanted to try it out for ages.  It’s right next to an attractive little park, St Anne’s, which has a “normal” (open all the time) playground next to the adventure playground. The normal bit is actually pretty fab with a good range of equipment, an impressive pirate ship and water play (which wasn’t working today – do these things ever work??)

The adventure bit was great. The staff were really friendly, the children we met were all lovely and seemed to be having a great time. They’d all just cooked lunch together. There was tons of space for charging around as well as a basket ball court (I had completely forgotten how much fun basket ball is). The highlight for my 6 year old was the crazy looking swing where someone had thought to put 2 swings from one point. It turned out to be fantastic fun and actually even when they did (rarely) collide, it actually didn’t hurt much. It really inspired some very inventive play and got the children thinking carefully about motion. Top marks!

On the downside, it is right next to the M32 which isn’t ideal but you do forget quite quickly. Like all the adventure playgrounds we’ve been to, this one would be best enjoyed with a group of friends as it’s ideal for chasing/hide and seek type of games – or just make friends there.

The place has been going since the 60s and was done up a bit in 2010 but it’s in danger of being closed down to make room for flats so please do try and visit and make sure you sign in so that they can show it is being used. It’s completely free!

Apologies for the weird order of my photos. WordPress seems to want to reorder them. No idea why!

“This playground is about cooperation and caring as well as having fun. Many people have contributed since the early 60s when it first started. Every person can make a difference. This building is dedicated to the affectionate memory of Mike Gardiner, who in over 20 years of being a volunteer made a big difference. Thanks to Mike we have a purpose built building and site. We remember his loyalty and dedication to the value of play in our lives”

Edible garden

Water play – not in action today unfortunately

These rhododendrons inspired us to go to Blaise Castle the next day to check out the rhododendron walk

Note adventure playgrounds are not open all the time – make sure you check it’s open before you head over

A pretty fantastic pirate ship in the “normal” playground

I love these little tables

M was very impressed!

Similar to the other adventure playgrounds, there were loads of different ways up and down including this very wide slide which could fit loads of kids.

You can see the motorway from the playground.

Veggie patch

What could possibly go wrong?

I have no idea how, but they managed to swing at the same time without colliding.

St Anne’s Park

Soaking up the atmosphere inside.

The water feature was still good for leaping from

The pirate ship from another angle.

                   

Oldbury Court Estate – “The Whingey Walk Playground”

Great for: Water play, walks, older children

This is definitely one of the best playgrounds in Bristol. Referred to as Vassals Park by anyone vaguely local, it’s in a gorgeous Estate with lovely walks and a river with ducks, bridges and an old mill (Snuff Mills). I usually try and park at Snuff Mills and then walk towards the playground along the river (hence the name – it’s all uphill on the way there (so loads of whinging) but then an awesome downhill scoot all the way back) Today we were meeting my lovely friend Lou and her 1 year old so we thought we’d just go straight to the playground.

My new BFF from the council had warned me that vandals had burnt down the mast of the amazing pirate ship (%$*&%&$!) so I was mentally prepared. Fortunately, even without it, it’s still a pretty fab playground. It’s got plenty for all ages with sand, swings, slides and small climbing equipment for the littlies and bigger and equipment for older children. It was an inset day so children had travelled from all over and we saw plenty of 10/11 year olds enjoying themselves. There was another council worker fixing the water play equipment so hopefully that should be up and running by the time of writing.

Amazing carving on the entrance -sets the tone nicely!

The water play equipment that I’ve actually NEVER seen in action but should be working now

Stoooopid vandals – what is wrong with people???

The masts of the pirate ship have been burnt so you can’t climb up them any more – the man from the council said he can’t see it being fixed this year as the company that made it don’t make them any more. Grrrrrr.

Most fun equipment EVER! It sends you flying – who needs fairgrounds when you have this??

Roundabout and ice cream van

Cafe!!! Hooray!

Adult exercise equipment

Zip wire – sadly with no seat on it. There don’t seem to be enough maintenance people – there are only 4 for the whole of Bristol with each one looking after FOURTY playgrounds each!

          

Bristol Harbourside Urban Wild Play Trail – “The Paddling Square”

Great for: paddling, map reading and soaking up the atmosphere.

Today, we controversially didn’t visit a playground, but instead decided to do The Bristol Harbourside Urban Wild Play Trail – a trail created by Parents 4 Play around the harbour side. It’s got ideas for play activities to do along the way. To be honest, it was a bit superfluous – we could have just hung out in Millennium Square but the kids do love a map and it gave us some sort of direction. (Note that the Arnolfini no longer have the maps but very kindly printed 2 off for us – I’d recommend bringing your own)

I have to say, we had a brilliant time. It was really lovely for me to be somewhere more grown up but the kids loved it too and actually said it was the best day of their holiday. I had brought them here because we’d promised them a trip to Funderworld but my husband wasn’t very well and I couldn’t easily take them by myself so I told them they could have a ride on the tiny fair in town instead – £4, no queues, job done – hooray!

Millennium Square has got to be THE place to go when it’s hot (after Weston, of course!) The fountains are just fantastic for paddling and there’s tons to do.

We got our energy levels up by a very late breakfast at Bordeaux Quay where we read some of the Julia Donaldson books we’d picked up for £1 each at the market that morning – bargain!

A lot easier than funderworld!

There was a clown doing fantastic bubbles which kept the kids incredibly happy for a good 20 minutes

If you haven’t taken your kids paddling in Millennium Square then you really must – it’s brilliant fun!

Obligatory selfie in the @Bristol planetarium

Well earned very late lunch at Spitfire.

S slept through pretty much the whole meal – so did the baby – it was very peaceful!