A year or so ago, I had a box of hand-me-downs to pass to a girlfriend. I packed up my twins and drove to my friends’ office, and made the delivery. As is customary, I immediately drove into the nearest neighbourhood, and started cruising around in search of a playground. That was the day we stumbled upon Dovercourt Community Playground.
We love the boulder walls! Photo by Jill Footz
From that first visit, we adored it, and have returned a number of times since. Dovercourt is a lovely little playground in a tidy, treed setting. There’s no big “wow” factor, but it’s a good, solid, jack-of-all-trades type of playground with something for everyone. Situated next to the community league building, Dovercourt covers all the bases – big kids park, toddler park, a tiny splash pad, and an outdoor rink.
Supernova Circle. Photo by Jill Footz
The welcome arch is dated 2004, and indeed the playground is showing its age – but its features haven’t lost any appeal. On our most recent visit, my 3.5 year old girls raced off in two different and distinct directions – one beelined for the climbing walls, while the other jumped atop the Supernova circle.
“Mom watch this!” Photo by Jill Footz
After a quick stop to inspect the spray park, (“Mom, it’s not spraying today!” No kidding – it was 5 degrees when we visited!) the girls headed next to the toddler playground.
Toddler park. Photo by Jill Footz
Dovercourt boasts an excellent toddler space that includes features even the bigger kids will love. There are finger mazes and other interactive boards, 2 little slides, a mini-monkey bar circuit, balance beam, tunnel and even a bell station. The toddler space includes a sand station, two baby swings, and a little four-person springy teeter-totter.
Interactive boards. Photo by Jill Footz
Finger mazes and more. Photo by Jill Footz
The main playground features a unique setup that includes a double-decker tower to get to the biggest slide – a curly orange twister. You can zip down a blue and yellow covered bridge to access three more slides. There are climbing features, a wiggly bridge, monkey bars, a slider, and even a built-in drum set. The main playground, which also includes the aforementioned climbing wall and the supernova circle, is rounded out by 4 big kid swings, a large, platform-style teeter-totter, and several spinny things (both the kind you stand on and the kind you sit in).
Covered bridge. Photo by Jill Footz
While I think the toddler park is exceptional, there is nothing at Dovercourt Community Park that is going to take your breath away. That said, my kids have had a blast every time we’ve visited. Two of those visits came on particularly cold days, and I still had to drag them away from the park!
Spray park. Photo by Jill Footz
This playground is based in sand, except for the spray park, which has a concrete base. The adjoining field is shared with Dovercourt Elementary School, though there is a large berm that separates the two spaces, and the school has a separate park that the kids stick to at recess. There are plenty of benches and picnic tables surrounding the playground, and a porta potty was in place at the time of our most recent visit.
Dovercourt Community Playground. Photo by Jill Footz
Dovercourt Community Playground:
Where: 13510 Dovercourt Avenue NW, Edmonton
Website: www.dovercourtcl.ca
