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FRUGAL FAMILY FUN DURHAM
I have picked out 15 of the best splash pad parks based on different features that kids love. My children have helped pick their favourites and we tried to include a top favourite for every town or city in Durham Region. These splash pads are in order based on region.
Popular things to bring to the park
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Footwear (park and splash pads can have unknown sharp objects) Toys (buckets, water guns, floats, sand toys, kites, bubbles)
Chair for caregiver Mesh bag / backpack/ wagon to carry things
Sun screen (waterproof) / bug spray Change of clothes in the car & plastic bag
Sunglasses & Hats Swim diapers & Swimsuits
Towels Scooter, skateboards, Bikes (helmets & pads) for bigger kids at skate parks
Snacks and water First Aid Kit (in your vehicle or bag)
Hairbrush & detangler (for girls hair, could keep in the vehicle) Umbrella or sun tent (if there is no shade)
Scavenger hunt sheets (laminate to reuse) Baby wipes & toilet paper (keep in vehicle you never know when you need it)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fully charged phone or camera (don't forget to empty the pics and back your phone up in case it gets wet) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ BIG MOM TIP wrap your phone, wallet, keys in a baby diaper to prevent theft.... who steals a poopie diaper... just don't throw it out ~~~~
Orono Park: Village of Orono
This park is amazing as a day trip for kids of all ages with that small community feel. A favourite feature of this park is the knee deep creek that kids can bring buckets and nets to to catch and release wildlife. There is also a great playground, a splash pad, a public pool (costs $), a skate park, walking trails, a geocache and 10+ picnic tables (one wheel chair accessible table). There is a gazebo for large groups and a building with bathrooms.
Pearce Farm Park: Town of Newcastle
This park has a unique small town feel to it when you spot the toy box of toys under the green shade structure. This is a great addition to any park for kids to share toys and caregivers not have to cart half the house to the park. The splash pad has a classic favourite of a triple bucket dump, a whale like water tunnel and a wonderful palm tree. There are two great play structures for both small and big kids as well as a shade pavilion for caregivers.
Port Darlington East Beach Park:
Town of Bowmanville
This nautical themed splash pad and park is a huge hit with kids. There are some great features such as the whale, water blasters, 5 bucket dump +1 and the ship. A softer recycle rubber is the ground cover to the splash pad. The park itself has some great features that kids love including the lion mouth tunnel, the triple slide and the adventure rocking raft. This is also a great place to catch the cool lake breeze with a picnic. There are two playgrounds for big and little kids, a building with washrooms and a shade pavilion. Two additional activities here are, fishing off the rocks and geocaching (one to the west of the beach).
Rosswell Park: Courtice
This park gives off that small community feel as well. Its a great little park featuring the well loved triple bucket dump in the splash pad and a rainbow water tunnel. The playground area features two areas, one for big kids and one for little ones. Two playground features that are loved are the rock wall and the super steep double slide. There is also a shade pavilion for caregivers.
Legends Community Centre: Oshawa
This park has the most popular splash pad in Oshawa with a giant bucket dump. There is a small playground across the parking lot with a web spinner, balance beam, an excavator, a Dino dig and two small slides for little kids. There is a shade pavilion in the park and bathrooms in the legends centre. Two additional activities here is the free public library inside the centre as well as geocaching (one located to the NE of the back parking lot). There is also paid swimming and skating inside ($$).
Peel Park: Whitby
This park has some unique features such as 2 tables with chess and checker boards, a giant octagon like rock climber and a public rink that can be used for roller skating, lacrosse, hockey or any family sport. The playground has a small sailboat play structure, a climbing course and a water station attached to a sand area with three excavators. There is also a building with washrooms and soccer fields with lights up till 11pm
Baycliffe Rocket Ship Park: Whitby
This park is famous in Durham for its extraordinary rocket ship and space theme, which has also made the list of Canada's coolest 150 playground (link below). A highlight to this park is the 2 enclosed tube two story slides. There is rock climbing as well as many other climbing sides to the playground. There are two areas to play the smaller one or the large one for big kids. There is a new FIT park for workouts, trails to bike/roller blade/ skate/ scooter on with a wavy section. In the splash pad there are classic favourites a bucket dump and a water arch. There is an area beside it to play in the sand/ mud with a water tap. There is also a shade pavilion and a porta potty at the park.
McKinney Park: Whitby
This Whitby park has a very colourful look to it including the softer recycle rubber ground. The splash pad has some great features like the multiple water blasters, the whale water tunnel and the dump bucket in the ship. Some well loves parts of the park is the large fish teeter tauter, rope web climber, rock climbing wall, bucket swing and the saucer swing. There is a skate park beside the park making it a great day trip to bring scooters, skateboards, bikes and roller blades. The skate park has a section on the NE corner that is great for beginners to learn without being too scared. There is a shade pavilion and bathrooms inside the McKinney Centre. An additional activity is geocaching (one near the front S entrance of the centre).
Darren Park: Whitby
This is one of my kids all time favourite parks in Durham. The biggest three features include the 7 rock structures to climb on, the full size canoe to play in as well as the man made stream off the splash pad with obstacles within it to play in. Great park to bring water toys in to play in stream or from the water bucket dump pole in the splash pad. The playground has 2 bucket swings, a tire swing, a climbing course with rope top, 2 excavators, a sand station and a music station. There is a shade pavilion and a porta potty in the park. The park also has a path that`s great for skateboards, bikes, scooters and roller blades.
Carnwith Park: Brooklin
This is a great hidden jem north of Whitby located in Brooklin. There are tons of play structures that kids of all ages love including a bulldozer rocker, whale rocker, hippo climber, caterpillar climber and a metal play jeep. There is a large rock climber structure and a wall on the park. There are two playgrounds for big and little kids. The splash pad has some umbrellas near rocks to sit, a bucket dump pole and water blasters.
Audley Rec Centre: Ajax
A very popular Ajax park that also made the Canada`s top 150 coolest playgrounds (link below). This park has a unique splash pad feature of a giant scorpion arch along with 3 water blasters and a rainbow water tunnel. The playground is huge and has another unique feature of two zip lines one being a bucket seat. The park has 2 saucer swings, a body roller, rope web climber, 4 seater spinner, dino dig station, music station and a huge rock to climb on. There is also a skate park here with some artistic looking ramps for bikes, scooters, roller blades and skateboards. The bathrooms are inside the rec centre and there is a shade pavilion outside. Geocaching is another activity to do if your bigger ones need a challenge (3 in the green space of the rec centre).
Exter Park: Ajax
This is another small community park with a very unique feature. There is no splash pad here but instead a small wadding pool (hours noon - 4pm) for small children and babies to splash in. This makes a great day trip on a budget as its free to use and kids love bringing small water toys from home to keep them busy. The playground is great for this age with an always loved bucket seat swing. There is a geocache in this park for those who need to keep busy (one in the green space of the park).
Beachfront Park: Pickering
This is the most popular spot in Pickering to hang out in the summer, with that being said park early in the morning or a trick if your in shape park at the Alex Robertson Park to the East of the beach and follow the trail in. This park has a splash pad with a front view of the lake and beach access from the park and east. Some loved features of the splash pad are the 2 spray arches and the spray ball. The playground is great as it has giant blue umbralls covering a good portion of the playgrounds, one for bigger kids and one for little ones. Some favourites at this park are the two big steep slides off the big park, the suspension bridge and the obstacle course withing the park. There are lots of picnic benches and seating around but it fills up fast. The bathrooms are in the building beside the splash pad but its busy so keep a good eye on kids. One additional activity is to walk east to the wildlife lookout over the water for bids and creatures, or take a walk/bike/skate/scooter and burn those kids out on the trails leaning to Alex Robertson Park. There are 6 geocaches in this giant green space (3 in the beach area and 3 in Alex Robertson Park area). Another great activity is go to the west of the bathrooms and there are ares where you can fish with the kids.
Amberlea Park: Pickering
This splash pad has an adorable pond theme to it. There is a spray snail and two rotating plats of a reed and cattail. One unique feature to this splash pad is the runoff from is it a waterfall leading to a small stream that kids can play in. If you bring water toys and buckets watch the small toys don't go down the grate. The park is a small but fun park with favourites feature being a bug climbing structure, an airplane rocker and a rock climbing wall.
Palmer Park: Port Perry
The splash pad at this park has an adorable frog theme with two waterfall toadstools, 4 frogs sprayers and water arches. The park has a loved large train play structure for kids, web climbing wall, rock climbing wall and large fish teeter tauter. In the summer there are concerts in the park (check my events pages or weekly events). There are also many great spots to go fishing with the kids, a paid pool to swim in ($$) and geocaching nearby (2 in this green space).
Tell Me What You Think/ Like/ Need To Add etc...
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