About Me
My name is Dana and although I wasn’t born in Calgary, I consider it to be my hometown. I’m an experiential playground expert and mom to three kids. I have an MSc in experimental psychology from the UofC but right now any work I do is from home. When I’m not looking after people, I’m reading all the YA fiction I can get my hands on and am attempting to learn photography. My laundry-folding suffers due to more interesting pursuits. I also have an eclectic lifestyle blog – http://talkinginallcaps.com.
Why did you start Calgary Playground Review?
The summer after my son Gordie turned 1, I started looking around the internet for fun playgrounds to take him to. I was really frustrated with how little information I could find. At best I could find a list or two of 10 or so playgrounds with a short description and no pictures. So I decided that if I couldn’t find the information I wanted, I’d create it. Once the winter hit, I thought it would be fun to carry on by looking at indoor places to play too. Now Calgary Playground Review also covers many things including family friendly places to eat, ice cream, attractions and travel.
Why are there so few kids on the playgrounds?
It’s a bit of a trade off with my photos, I try not to take identifiable pictures of other people’s kids and avoid having them in the shot at all of I can. They definitely look more fun with lots of kids playing on them but I try to respect other people’s privacy while I am out photographing.
Sometimes we go early when the parks are less busy and sometimes I just have to be strategic and wait until I can get a clear shot. You would be surprised how many kids were actually at the park sometimes even though they aren’t in the photos.
Why do you have so many more playgrounds reviewed in some areas of the city compared to others?
As you might guess by looking at my maps of reviewed playgrounds, I live in the central NW. I try my best to get around to different areas of the city, but it is obviously easiest for me to both find out about new/awesome playgrounds in the area that I live as well as to get there to review them. You can help me provide better coverage of all of Calgary by letting me know about the great playgrounds you find (calgaryplaygroundreview@gmail.com) or by messaging me on facebook.
Do you accept advertising on your website?
Advertising space is available for family friendly businesses and events on a monthly or quarterly basis. I am happy to post ads for indoor playgrounds however, the payment is for the ad space only and is independent from what I say in my review or how often I review your play place. You can find more information about PR or advertising here.
Do you get paid for your reviews?
I do not typically get paid for my reviews. Any compensation received will be noted in the review.
Awards, Contributions and Partnerships
I have written for Calgary’s Child Magazine, Best Birthdays and Family Fun Calgary and done morning show segments on Global and Breakfast Television.
I have been featured on the Calgary Herald website and Huffington Post Canada, have been interviewed by the Calgary Metro, Calgary Herald and CREB Now.
I was nominated for an Alto Award in 2015 for my article “10 Reasons You Should Take Your Kids to Red Deer“, a 2015 Calgary Award and received a Canadian Weblog Award in 2012.
I have worked with different brands and companies including Shaw, Disney Baby, The Jolly Table, Alpine Rafting, Church & Dwight, Echelon foods, Little Swimmers, Mastermind Toys and PAM cooking spray.
COMMENT POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY
I allow third party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit my website. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g. click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice visit the NAI at http://www.
More details on my privacy policy.
Thank you for taking the time to do this! As a new mom, I have found this website very useful.
You’re welcome! I’ve really enjoyed creating it 🙂
Hi Dana. I believe you’re coming in to the Global Morning News this Saturday to talk about the five best family playgrounds. I’m a producer on the show, and I’ve got the list of the five from Calgary’s Child. I just wanted to check that it is a ranking, even if it’s unofficial. I think it will be more fun for the viewers if we treat it like a David Letterman list, and count down from number five to number one.
Let me know if that works for you please. We can be clear that it’s a subjective ranking, or whatever, so nobody is offended.
Please email me back as soon as you can so I can arrange the graphics and pictures.
Thanks and see you Saturday!
Dave Budge
Thank you for taking the time to creat this web page – As a mother of 2 little ones, i too find this very helpful when I’m trying to find an area to try, indoor and out! I’ll mention one that I like, I didn’t see it here (perhaps I’ve missed it) but just in case- the Village Square Leisure Centre has a great little indoor play area that is enclosed and safe for little ones. Anyways, thanks again, appreciate it!
Last Father’s Day I decided to start a tradition for as long as my then 4 and 6 year old would be interested.
I call it Super Park Day. We made it to 13 different parks throughout the day. Kept Mom at home so we wouldn’t be slowed down with cleanliness, suntan lotion, and bug spray, and the kids got as dirty as they wanted. Anyways I catalogued each park on Instagram using #superparkday if you want to check it out. One park the kids really enjoyed was the one behind the Chilren’s Hospital, not a lot of people know about it but it’s quite the gem.
Anyways this will be an excellent tool for this year’s superparkday, now I’m trying to avoid going to parks from last year. Thanks!
I am very curious about your criteria for rating
Playgrounds? Could you please contact me, I would
love to chat.
Thanks
Thanks for all the work you put into this website. Such a great resource! found some really fun parks that suits the wide age gap of my kids. we are moving from Calgary soon but hope my new city has this resource.
LOVE your site! I am always referring to it when going out with our family and my daughter always enjoys the playgrounds on your reviews. Thank you for all your work and dedication 🙂
Thanks Teresa! That’s great to hear 🙂