Croydon Playground

The kiddies love it especially when we can walk down the road to buy baked goodies from Red Door Bakery (check out my review). And they love the train spotting! Great spot to bring a basketball as you can shoot some hoops and there are two separate playgrounds to separate the littlies from the older children. BUT please City of Charles Sturt, install a friggin toilet! It ain’t rocket science, if you build a children’s playground you are going to require a toilet. Or risk having your vegetation being fertilised (dare I say it) by my son and many other boys. Correct me if I am wrong fellow Unilocalers as perhaps a toilet was installed since last year?

This is a recently upgraded playground in the trendy little Croydon shopping strip that is well shaded with trees, has a good fence all the way around and the major features of a train station directly next to it. Why is this a feature?
Well this is a great place to come and teach your toddler to look at trains, what they are, how they operate and what happens around a railway crossing where the big flashing gantry comes down to stop the cars from going.
The train is very visible from the playground. Also there’s a theme in the playground that runs along the train line (pun intended) so that you can play on a story book type train that is stationary and looks like it couldn’t really hurt a fly, and still observe the real train coming and going.
This is a NO DOG playground — so leave the dog at home this time, because dogs don’t understand trains or toddlers quite the way we’d like them to, and they require special instructions; so do not bring the dog. I repeat, do not bring the dog.
I think it is brilliant because the train and train line is a dangerous thing for kids. It is such a fascinating place and seems perfect to walk along. There was even children recently killed on a train line, so it is worth thinking about an outing or two, on the train to this very playground for a picnic and a watch. What do trains do? They stop at the station, people get on, and then they chuff off.
The cars stop for them and people stop for them. There are even elements of trains in the seating under the shady trees so you can point to something and say «That’s a bit of the track that the trains run on,» so you have a lot to learn as a grown up and as a kid in this very special playground. Yay. Or rather I should say «Whoohoo!»

Croydon is a cut above the norm. And that opinion is form in my paying witness to new and interesting play equipment. The play equipment is particularly INNOVATE or anything, but it’s slightly different from the usual swing and slippery-​dip fiasco. And there’s nothing WRONG with the swings and slippery-​dip. They’re a tried-​and-​true method of infant distraction. But you can enjoy a swing and slippery-​dip at ANY old park of playground. That’s why I like areas which as there specifically FOR the playground. It means they try to be interesting, which Croydon achieves.
What it does NOT achieve is a toilet. And in Mario’s book of laws, that’s unforgivable. Three stars.
Dress your kid in a nappy, and bring another spare. And pack one or two for yourself. Or go somewhere else.

A great spot to relax after you’ve hit the Queen Street bakeries and clothing stores. This playground sits right next to the train station, so trains stop regularly to the delight of the kids. This playground is split into a large section with a nice shady seating area, and then a smaller section for toddlers, complete with train to climb on.
They have a very fun see saw to play on here as well as a basketball hoop and a barbecue area and plenty of space. Unfortunately there’s no toilets here, so you have to go down to the shops if your little one wants to go. Otherwise a great place to relax and have a swing and watch the Choo Choo Trains go chugging by.