Elgin Dragon Playground

Thanks to Alisha for our first outdoor playground review of 2013!
Alisha is the mom of 3 boys with another little one on the way. She blogs about the ups and downs of parenting, home schooling, vegetarianism, attachment parenting and more over at Learning From My Kids.

Location    map

Community: McKenzie Towne – Elgin – Elgin Ave and Elgin Rise SE
Parking: free street parking

Keenan’s Review (8 years old): “What was the best part of the park?” “The Swings.”
Ryan’s Review (5 years old): “What was the best part of the park?” “The big rock part
with the fossil under it.”
Ewan’s Review (3 years old): “What was the best part of the park?” “The dragon.”

Age Range: 0-12 years.
Ground Cover: Shredded recycled tires
Shade: Not too much shade as the trees are still young.

Features: Themed dragon slide (appropriate for a younger child), knight motifs, 1 tall slide, A volcano climbing wall, a smaller toddler friendly climbing wall, a bouncer, many ladders, bridges and climbing activities, and 4 swings ( 2 baby, 2 regular).

Surrounding Park Area: Large field in the middle of a quiet residential area.
Accessibility: None.
Seating: 1 picnic tables and 2 benches.

Overall assessment: This playground has a wonderful castle theme. Even as you enter off the street you walk over a drawbridge. The whole playground has many levels and the children climb higher and higher until they are on the bridge that separates both sides of the playground.

It is great for imaginative play. It has a Dragon Slide and knight cutouts on the bottom of the park so that the kids can really pretend that they are in the middle ages.

There are many different things to climb and challenge themselves and children of all ages can enjoy different parts of the park. Parental supervision is a must with those under 3 though, as it is really quite tall and if a child fell it would be a serious injury.

There are little hidden themes in this park as well, under the second climbing “wall” for toddlers there is a dinosaur skeleton that is such a fun thing for the kids to find. There are enough swings for 4 children to play and the ground is really soft.

We saw some children with buckets and shovels there as well. In all this is another one of McKenzie Towne’s great themed parks, a must visit!

Photos Courtesy of Alisha from Learning From My Kids