Thanks to Alisha for this guest review! Check out her blog Learning From My Kids
Location map
Community: McKenzie Towne – Prestwick Gate and Prestwick Circle SE (also accessible from Prestwick Heights SE)
Parking:Free street parking
Keenan’s Review (7 years old): “What was the best part of the park?” “Climbing on the big wheels.”
Ryan’s Ryan (4 years old) “What was your favorite part of the park?” “Riding my bike.”
Ewan’s Review (2 years old) “What did you like about that park?” “Firetruck!”
Age Range: 0-8 years.
Ground Cover: Gravel
Shade: Not much shade in the park itself, but some shade on the periphery where the benches are from mature trees.
Features: Large Firetruck themed climber (2 levels) with 1 slide and twisty firepole. 4 different themed activity areas; Pops Grocery Store with activity center and 2 swings (1 baby, 1 accessible), Police Station and Tom’s Donuts with climbing structure, and echo pipes, The Bank with monkey bars and abacus, and finally pathways that were lined like streets with signage.
Surrounding Park Area: 2 residential streets
Accessibility: Unfortunately there is not much accessibility due to the gravel, and the firetruck which is the gem of this park, does not have a ramp so children must be able to be walking and climbing to gain full access to this park.
Seating: 1 picnic table and 2 benches.
Overall assessment: As with all of the McKenzie Towne themed parks, this park sparks imagination and creative play. This park is great for kids that are learning to ride a bike or that love to pretend to play community or town.
The park is spread out between 4 major centers, the firetruck itself, the grocery store and the police/donut shop and the bank. Kids can ride their bikes through the traffic circle, complete with signs that tell them to stop and yield.
They can also visit the climber (for children 3 and up), the activity center (for children 2 and up), the swings and then climb through the tires, the monkey bars and large abacus (for children 6 and up) or up the big stairs and down the slide of the large firetruck that is the theme of this park.
While the activity centre is lacking in originality the firetruck makes up for the centres that are a little too difficult for the little ones to actually access. While the firetruck is a high structure (parental supervision is paramount) as both the slide and firepole are well over 6 ft off the ground, all 3 of my children loved to climb up to the top of the firetruck and pretend to be the siren.
Overall this is a great park, I would recommend it for children from around 3 and 4 to children up to 8 years old.