Play Away

Prior to being a stay at home mum I was completely oblivious to the location of children's playgrounds.  These days I not only know where they are but I can rate them in 'michelin star' fashion.

There are the old 'retro' playgrounds which are basically a field with a couple of swings and if you are lucky maybe a wobbly, 'seen better days' see saw. Then we start climbing the ladder, our village playground plays host to swings, two slides, a climbing wall and bouncy rides. It is a lovely place to go for parent and child and even has a comfortable ground to fall off said items onto.  I was always suitably impressed with our cosy playground until Amos and I recently came across two seriously 5 star super deluxe play areas.

The first was in the Chaddesden area of Derby where we were visiting friends, this amazing place had the usual swings and so on but also boasted a sand pit, water fountains that children could run through, a zip wire (for teenagers) aswell as a skate park.

The next was in the RAF residential area, here Amos and I were treated to sensory activities such as two pipes located a distance apart, when you spoke into one you could be heard in the other. There were also wheels to spin, a roundabout, a snakes and ladders board, a number of balancing devices in addition to swings and slides - this was just the area for toddlers. There was another half where there were amazingly complex climbing devices, balancing swings and a skate park.

I must admit that these days I get almost as much pleasure out of a good playground as I do from a good pub beer garden - sad but true!

Please let us know about the facilities in your area, anything weird, wonderful or entertaining to boast?