Russet Park, Oshawa
The Lowdown on the Playground:
This park would be great for kids 5+ but was too difficult for my 3-year-old. There are no slides, but a fantastic climbing structure and a pretty cool music station. Something different if your kids are tired of the same old park. I'm giving it a 5/5 for originality.
Parking:
yes
Benches:
4 (Plenty of shade)
Park:
Rope walls, rock wall, suspended tunnel rings, and spinning rings. Music station. Merry-go-round type ride.
Swings:
2 normal
2 toddler
Sports:
Soccer field adjacent
Washrooms:
N/A
Map:
Don Beer Memorial Park - Brougham (North Pickering)
The Lowdown on the Playground:
This is the new park that replaced the one taken out by the 407. They put in a Panem ready baseball field and an awesome playground. It's 100% better than the old park I went to as a kid. My son loved playing on the playground and the atmosphere was great for the adults watching. The harness swing need maintenance, and for that reason I am only giving it a 4.5/5.
Parking:
yes
Benches:
4
Younger Kid Park:
2 slides, "order window", easy and intermediate climbing, and music wall. Cedar chips
Older Kid Park:
Located right next to the younger structure. It has 3 slides with easy and intermediate climbing. There is also a twisted 3 section "rock" wall structure off to the side.
Swings:
2 Standard
2 Toddler
1 Bucket swing (harness broken)
Sports:
Basketball Court (2 nets)
Baseball Field
Washrooms:
N/A
Map (approximate - google hasn't updated yet):
The Lowdown on the Playground:
My little loved this park. Lots of different things to climb and plenty of running space. Also great to have 8 swings. I'm going to give it 4 stars because I wasn't blown away. Side note: there were a lot of bees around the trash cans when we went.
Older Kid Structure:
Made for 5+ but my 3-year-old still managed it with my supervision. If there were older kids sharing it I may not have wanted him to risk it as the ladders suspended poles could be too dangerous for a little one. More challenging climbing options and single spiral slide. This structure also has a small "zip-line" and balancing beam. Cedar chip base.
Younger Kid Structure:
4 metal slides (2 side by side) and easier climbing options, including a simple rock climb, a curved pole ladder and a small. One two-seater teeter totter shaped like a motorcycle. Also a cedar chip base.
Park Size:
Medium
Parking:
Yes
Seating:
5 benches - 2 shaded
Shade:
Yes (gazebo)
Sports:
Half Basketball
1 Baseball diamond
Swings:
4 toddler
4 standard swings
The Lowdown on the Playground:
The layout was a bit strange with having the one swingset far off to the side and the toddler swings were over with the older kids playground instead of the toddler park. My son was particularly fond of the small retaining wall and playing in the sand. I brought my six-year-old niece and she really liked the saucer swing
For a medium sized park it was ok.
Toddler Park:
Metal slide
Small curved plastic slide
3 individual spring rides
Stairs and 2 bar ladders for climbing
Sand bottom
Kid park:
Double straight plastic slide
Large spiral slide
Monkey Bars Stairs and slotted wall for climbing
Wood chip bottom
Swings:
3 Toddler swings located in kid park
2 standard swings located on separate sand area roughly 100 feet from toddler park
1 Saucer swing located next to standard swings
Benches:
1 with kid area
2 tree-shaded with toddler area
1 with swing area
Grass:
Plenty of grass area to the west of the playground
Sports:
2 sand Baseball diamonds beyond the grass to the west with small set of bleachers
Washrooms:
N/A
Parking:
Street only