Have you explored the amazing playgrounds in the NorthWest? Fun entertainment that is free too!

Entertaining kids can be an endless challenge, and sometimes it can be an expensive one. Weekends and school holidays can make you wonder what you are going to do today. So this summer school holidays our family explored all that the NorthWest had to offer in terms of playgrounds, and we were not left disappointed.

The first adventure we had was when we went to the playground attached to The Parkhouse Café in Whenuapai. Arriving just in time for the morning coffee, this was ordered while the kids disappeared down the steps off the deck and into the incredible playground. There is a tall covered slide and a smaller slide, there are big swings and little swings, there are climbing walls and mini tramps, seesaws and spinning wheels. Regardless of the age of your children, there is something for everyone at this playground, and for the parents too as they can sit on a park bench under the shade of a tree enjoying their coffee while watching the kids run around in pure bliss! The best thing was we could buy some late morning tea on our way back home.

A few days later and we decided to venture in the other direction and head out to Muriwai. After the obligatory long walk along the beach and the exploring of the rock pools given the favourable tide, we headed to the newly refurbished playground at Muriwai, and it didn’t fail to disappoint. Being the daredevil kids they are, they headed straight for a swing set that took a bit of working out! Once we worked out that one child sat on the seat and the other held onto the pull up bar, they spent ages spinning around and around…even mum gave it a try! We had a great time. Again there are seesaws and swings for big and small, climbing ropes and slides and lovely park benches to sit under the shade of the huge pohutukawa trees and watch the kids have fun. We enjoyed a picnic under the trees and then headed to the shop to buy a double scoop ice cream each!

Both Kumeu and Riverhead have fabulous playgrounds attached to big playing fields and we made the most of these as well. There are 2 separate playgrounds in the Kumeu domain, one designed for the smaller members of the family and the other designed for the slightly bigger members of the family. The bigger playground has a number of more physically challenging activities such as monkey bars and climbing frames as well as swings and a slide. Riverhead also has a great playground attached to the domain, and after riding our bikes down to the playground we spent some time kicking a ball on the field before exploring the playground. Climbing walls and frames, swings and slides and lots of seating for mum to watch all the fun. Very soon a new playground will be constructed within the Huapai Triangle development, and will provide us with another stop on our days out - we can’t wait to see what fun this playground will bring.

We had such a great few days exploring the local playgrounds all within 15 minutes of our house and all offering something different. We visited the playgrounds more than once over the school holidays and we will be visiting them again on the weekends all through the summer too. The NorthWest really does have many great options that are outdoors to entertain the kids all summer long – why don’t you come out and explore them for yourself!