Slocan Park Playground- East Vancouver

Guest review by Emily L

Slocan park is attached to the 29th avenue skytrain station at 29th Avenue and Slocan St in East Vancouver. As well as a great playground, there are large grassy fields and tennis courts, bathroom facilities (although they have been closed recently due to vandalism)and a covered area where people oftan do Tai Chi.

The playground itself has two seperate climbing structures with a total of three slides, one low wide metal slide for toddlers, a medium sized plastic slide and a larger plastic corkscrew slide. Both climbing structures are easy access for smaller kids, ramp and stairs.

Features also include a tire swing, two bouncy animals, two big-kid swings a baby swing and a toddler swing. Big kids can play on the rock "wall" and swinging monkey bar rings.

The playground is on sand which is great for castle building. My son has made a friend or two by being the only toddler with a pail and shovel! This park also features a wading pool/play fountain, it has 2 round cement mosaic picnic tables right at the edge of the playground as well as a smattering of benches surrounding it. Another great feature is that it is right across the street from the Renfrew Ravine which provides a great nature walk on the east side of the ravine. Street parking is easy in this residential neighbourhood and the playground is also on the bike path that follows the skytrain down to Trout Lake, John Hendry Park.

Hope to see you in the neighborhood!

Kinsman Spray Park Playground - Oliver

Guest review by Katherine

Right smack dab in the middle of Oliver is one of the best parks in BC, well we think so anyway. It is the Kinsmen Spray Park, that's right 'Spray' so on a hot Okanagan day you can bring your kiddlywinks here for hours of fun.

When you arrive there is plenty of shaded parking and you can get changed into your bathers in the bathrooms provided. It is a fenced park so no chance of your young ones wandering too far off while you're daydreaming in the sun or reading your latest book. You'll find plenty of picnic benches to choose from, 4 to be exact. If the tables are taken there is plenty of grass to lay your picnic blanket out on.


So off the kids run to either the singular slide, the three in one slide or the huge jungle gym (spaceship or pirate ship depending on the day to my 4 year old) where there are another 4 slides. There are 3 rocker seesaw thingamajigs too, a ladybug, a bee and a truck. If that doesn't take their interest there are still two other sets of jungle gyms to chose from and for those tiny tots there is a set of two baby swings or for the bigger boys and girls there is a separate set of 4 swings.

Now to the best part...the spray park...what can I say...you know how kids love to play in water...so this is for all ages and that includes us mommies and daddies, so bring a towel. The water park is only on from 9:30 to 7 just so you know and obviously just in the summer.


There are lots of large trees at this park, so plenty of shade. There are 2 other park benches for extra rest stops or just to sit a bit closer to your kiddies. There is a RV site across the road, so if you are looking to camp with kids it's a great spot. Also beside the park and the RV site is a huge paved walking trail, great for bike riding or walking the dog.

The park itself is grass with pebbles under each play equipment and the spray park is paved. It is almost kiddy corner to the local library and only 5 minutes away from the community centre which has a huge field and a great bike riding or dog walking path around it. It is also just another short walk if you head north to the Lions Park which has a small playground and a nice clean skateboarding park. But more importantly for a special treat there is a convenient store where you can find slushies and ice cream! Enough said! See you there!

Stanley Park Variety Kids Water Park- Vancouver

For anyone who hasn't been, Stanley Park is fabulous and you could spend weeks there with kids and never get bored. The Variety Water Park, located at Lumberman's Arch is one of the best water playgrounds that I have ever seen and is definitely worth a visit.

There is a blue-painted river that flows through the playground with ankle deep wading water which is especially a hit with toddlers. There are powerful water cannons, water hydrants, fountains that shoot up into the air and a bunch of giant tap-like pipes that shoot water over excited children.



One of the nice things about this water playground is that it is spread out over a decent sized area which means that there is enough room for the kids to run about. There are also two other features there, a ship type structure and a rocky climbing outcrop (fenced in) which has a waterfall tumbling over it. Situated on the edge of the water, I doubt there are many water parks around with such great views (Transfer Beach in Ladysmith could compete!) but if we're getting competitive, this is the first playground that I have seen outside of Ontario Place when i was eight that has an outdoor run-through air dryer. When I win a home makeover I might get one of these installed in my house so that I can dispense with towels completely.


Other facilities include washrooms, parking, picnic tables, shade and seasonal food concessions.