Woodbine Beach Park

Equipment by Landscape Structures.

Surface: wood chips.

While it’s not a show-stopper like the playground at nearby Kew Gardens, the modest playground at Woodbine Beach Park is another item on the checklist for a day at the beach with the kids.

In case you were wondering, that checklist looks something like this:

o   Try to park nearby in a moment of wild optimism

o   Settle on parking spot a kilometre and a half distant, tell yourself the kids won’t mind walking

o   30 seconds into the walk, start fielding questions about how far away the beach is

o   Question your choices

o   5 minutes into the walk, start fielding questions about when it’s time for ice cream

o   15 minutes into the walk, leave your body

o   An undetermined period of time later, arrive at the beach and wonder how you got there

o   Dip toes in lake, shriek at the low temperature

o   Retreat to the shade of the trees while dodging teenage doofuses playing football

o   Watch your kids play at the playground while wondering where the ice cream truck went

Once you sit down on one of the huge rocks that make up the landscaping, you can appreciate what is actually not a bad little playground.

The equipment here is reasonably new, and features a Skyport Climber by Landscape Structures, which has always been one of our favourites. There are also some swings (saucer and normal type), some spring-loaded rockers, and a toddler structure. All of this is partially shaded by the big beautiful trees that you always see by the beach and that I hope are somehow immortal.

In the summer months, the huge Donald Summerville Pool complex provides the extra amenities of washrooms, a snack bar, and obviously the pool itself. Outside of summer however, the bathrooms are usually locked and the whole thing just looms in the background like a concrete version of an Empire warship from Star Wars.

If you don’t love crowds, this is one to avoid at peak times. But if your summer checklist involves everything listed above and more, knock yourself out.