Don Bosco St Marys

My most exciting most recent find has definitely been Don Bosco at St Marys. I was aware of how great it is for parties, but for some reason I only recently became aware of their free open sessions. You can check for times on their website here. Just make sure you check the times and ages, most of their sessions are aimed at kids over 10 years of age which I think is great, our teenagers do not have enough safe free activities to access.

I frequently take my kids to the under 10s sessions though, and as well as being indoors the bathrooms are super clean, and they are happy for you to bring in your own food. There is a canteen there but you really need gold coins to access it, there is also bubbler with water. They have trampolines, pool tables, foosball, pingpong tables and soccer, basketball and volleyball facilities. There are usually some balls floating around, and the pool tables/ping pong etc. all have the paddles and balls and cues that they need to be played. There is seating all up the southern side of the building for parents to sit while kids play.

They have a free session for under 10s every Saturday morning from 10am until 11:30am, honestly this is my new go to for play dates with school friends. There are different (more) times for school holidays, and different times for over 10s. The first week of school term, the week of Christmas/New Years, and the first three weeks of Term 1 they are closed. Don’t try and park next to Don Bosco in their parking lot though, it is tiny, it is hard (and dangerous) to try and get back out onto Mamre Road, and you have to walk around the entire building to enter. Go to the next driveway which is the entry to the Council halls and park there.

 

Robinson Park, Jamisontown

We visited this park in Jamisontown that has recently had a shade cloth added. It has a set of play equipment for your older kids, a set for the little tykes, an undercover picnic bench, and it is set on a big block with plenty of space for children to go off ‘exploring’ together (as my Miss 5 and Miss 7 like to do).

Robinson Park has a great play area for littler siblings, including a xylophone, and a little rubber section that they can walk under/through that my kids enjoyed. The area for bigger kids has a few different climbing options, and my two loved the platform because it meant that their feet were up higher than my head, they felt very top of the world. They also love a double slide.

The picnic table and a council bin make it easy for parents to have a rest, but there are also a few picnic benches and blocks of sandstone scattered around for resting on. There are swings and balancing beams next to the picnic bench.

This park includes -

• Balancing beam

• Cargo net

• Covered picnic table

• Free

• Monkey bars

• Pretend cafe

• Seats for adults

• Shade Cloth

• Slides (including double slide)

• Swings

 

HomeCo. Glenmore Park Town Centre

I finally made the effort to find the play area inside of HomeCo. at Glenmore Park. It is air conditioned, next to the toilets, and because the food court has very few places left (other than the Coffee Club which has it’s own seating) there are plenty of places for observing adults to sit and chat. It is across from the Coles and right next to a lovely place where I bought delicious gozleme.

This is for younger children, but enough to amuse my Miss 5 and probably my Miss 7 (though she wasn’t with us). Because it is tucked in such an odd space, or odd while the food court isn’t really being used, I cannot imagine it getting crowded.

 

Amaroo Street Reserve, Kingswood

I visited the park on Amaroo Street in Kingswood on Saturday morning. It is a nice little park but, despite the fact it hadn’t rained in some time, my feet (and shoes) were wet by the time I got to the park. If you are going to visit this park I would recommend gum boots.

The park has the following features -

• Slide

• Monkey bars

• Cargo net (made of chains)

• See saw

• Fireman’s pole

• Pretend cafe

• Seats for adults

• Sunshade cloth

• Swings

There is more parking on the Joseph Street side of this reserve than the Amaroo Street side.

Where is it?

It is located at the end of Amaroo Street, Kingswood, Google tells me it is at 36-38 Amaroo Street, Kingswood.

 

Steamroller Park, Cambridge Park

I love this park, I used to play here as a kid, I just wish people would stop vandalising things so that they could unfence the steamroller (or perhaps that is an insurance issue).

This park is great for older primary school aged children. My children struggle with this park, they cannot for instance climb onto the swings (they are too high) and even if they climb the ladder or the cargo net, they cannot step from it to the platform without help as their legs are too short. So a smaller child will need help. If you have older children I am sure this park will be popular because of the flying fox. This flying fox doesn’t have a seat, just the little disc you balance on.

So the park has the following -

• Slide

• Shade cloth

• Swings

• Cargo net

• Pretend cafe

• Flying fox

• Path (for a walk)

• Covered picnic table

• Seats for adults

I actually came to this park because I needed a short walk, due to a back injury, and I knew there was a paved path. It doesn’t wrap around the block, it ends in odd places, so you cannot do laps per se, but if you have a young child who likes to go for a walk, or draw on the sidewalk with chalk, or an old injured Mum who needs a short walk, then the path is good.

This park is on a large block so there is plenty of parking around it, it is on the corner of Victoria Street and Richmond Road in Cambridge Park.

Where is it?

It is on the corner of Victoria Street and Richmond Road in Cambridge Park, which Google tells me is 195 Victoria Street, Cambridge Park in New South Wales.

 

O'Donaghues, Emu Plain

As the weather was suspect today I decided to try an indoor park. When we arrived shortly after 11:30am on a Saturday the play area was already teaming with kids if all ages and the bistro was in full swing. The play area is undercover but on a Saturday if you want a table near it you need to book.

As the play area is enclosed I don't necessarily know what is in there but there is definitely a slide. The kids that I had there with me were ages 5 through 8, but there were some younger children and some older children in there too. There were also paid arcade style machines inside the play area, just a heads up in case that is an issue for your kids.

The bistro could have been more polite when I was trying to find egg free options due to an allergy, but the food was delicious and I felt reasonably priced. My mother is a vegetarian and there were lots of options for her, which is unusual. The menu also listed vegan, gluten free and dairy free options.

 

Armstein Crescent Reserve, Werrington

This is not my favourite park, there is an undercover area to sit but the park is a bit too basic, and the equipment can get quite overheated. I have been there more than once when there was vomit or something else on that ‘softfall’ rubber.

It does have the basics though, a slide, swings, something to climb on, a small rock climbing wall and a pretend cafe. There is plenty of parking and the park is not crowded, because everyone in Werrington goes to Werrington Lakes.

Carmel Kennedy Memorial Park, Kingswood

I am actually not 100% sure what this park is called, it is on Second Avenue in Kingswood, across the road from Kingswood Public School, and next to Chapman Gardens Oval. This is a good park for a range of ages, the ropes are for older kids and there are toddler options too.

There is a structure that is essentially for younger kids, with a shorter slide, stairs up to the platform, and noughts and crosses and an abacus. There is also a larger rope climbing structure that is difficult for a younger child to meaningfully use. There is a sunshade and seating for the adults. There are swings including a nest swing. Whenever I am there there is a range of children of different ages on the equipment. There is some parking, though you probably don’t want to be trying to park there at school drop off or pick up time.

Parker Street Reserve, Penrith

This park is part of the large facilities that you access off of King Street in Penrith, but one side of it sits on Northern Road so the Council has called it the Parker Street Reserve. You have probably gone here with your school, or your kids’ school, for the soccer fields or an athletics carnival.

It has some stuff that was perfect for my children (4 and 6 years old at the time) and some stuff that was really only useable by teenagers or larger children. There are two slides, a pretend cafe, various things for smaller children to climb on, a firemans pole, monkey bars, a flying fox, and you can get to the slides by using a metal climbing frame or by stairs. You can see the soccer fields from the seats for adults, but there is a fence between the park and the soccer field so you don’t need to worry about a smaller child running under a bunch of adults playing soccer. The fence does not wrap around the whole park, so it isn’t ideal for children who run. There is no shade cloth but it is surrounded by trees and every time I have been there it has been mostly in shade, though I mostly went there in winter so I don’t know how the summer sun lands on this park.

Bunnings playground, Homemaker Centre, Jamisontown

This is hands down my absolute favourite, and often my children ask for it too. It is indoors, the staff are lovely, you can sit in the outdoor furniture section if you have no intention of spending any money, it is indoors, it has bathrooms, and on weekend in the mornings sometimes there is craft. The cafe has really cheap food and good coffee. Obviously there is a big slide and lots of climbing opportunities, there is a pretend cafe, an abacus and some of those play things on a wall that are good for toddlers.

Lions Park, Emu Plains

Lions Park is located on the corner of the Great Western Highway and Park Street, Emu Plains. It is behind the community centre, and it has toilets and quite a bit of undercover seating for parents. The parking on Park Street is a bit tight, I imagine on the weekends you would need to park in a side street.

I only have two basic photos but the website for Moduplay actually has detailed photos, you can have a look at those here.

This park has swings, a slide, and plenty of climbing options that don’t fit the usual box. There is a balancing beam, a small rock climbing wall, and a fence all of the way around. The fence doesn’t have a gate, but the opening is where the seats for the adults are. This is also next to a cricket or footy oval with a concrete pathway wrapping around it, that is great for a walk or a bigger bike ride (not toddlers it is a bit long).

Judges Park, Penrith

This park is next to the Penrith Bowlo, there is generally a fair amount of parking on the weekend or after school, and since I took these photos they have put a large sunshade over it. This is my favourite park to catch up with a Mum who has older children than mine, I feel like this is the park with the most options for older children. I don’t have older children though, I would love to hear in the comments from Mums who think another park is more suited?

There is a slide, a balancing beam (which is a bridge rather than stationary), a rock climbing wall, a cargo net, one of those ‘spider web’ rope structures, swings, seats for adults, a sun shade, and plenty of metal climbing structures that are physically too big for smaller children.