Category: Whitby Playground

Jeffery Park

7/15/2023

Area: Central Whitby

Age Range: 18months+

Parking: large parking lot off of Jeffery Street

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

4 infant swings
2 accessible bucket swings
2 swings
3 slides
2 climbers
2 sand diggers
ship with navigational tools

Accessibility Features: 2 bucket swings, musical instrument stations, play ship with navigational tools, sand digger

Facilities/Other:

Jeffery Park Splash Pad
seasonal portable washroom
basketball court
soccer pitch
field

Surrounding Park Area: Surrounded by large fields and connected to walking paths this is another great park to keep you entertained all day

Seating: 4 benches around the playground, very long concrete bench surrounding one corner of the playground space by the accessible swings, 3 two person picnic tables under the shade sail by the splash pad

Shade: shade sail over the splash pad picnic tables, there could be a shade sail over the sandpit (the posts were there when we visited, but the sail was missing)

Overall assessment: A new favourite themed park for us because of the amount of creative ship play! The number of navigational features and unique creative play elements incorporated to make this ship part of the entire structure allows more than one or two kids to interactive with this creative play theme! Add to this the awesome splash pad, splash pad run off creek, and surrounding fields and you've got yourself an entire day outing in one place! The portable washroom is a bit hard to see (as it is on the other side of the parking lot from the splash pad and playground) but it is a big bonus to have parks with washrooms in our minds.

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Portage Park

7/22/2018

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Area: South Whitby

Age Range: infant and up

Parking: small parking lot off of Portage Trail (intersecting with Channel Drive)

Ground Cover: mulch on the larger playground, rubber surface for the toddler playground -NEW as of 2018! (previously they were both sand)

Main Equipment:

5 slides
5 swings (1 saucer swing)
2 infant swings
4 teeter rockers
2 sitting spinners
1 inclusive spinner
2 accessible stations (1 arm bike, 1 vehicle station)

Accessibility Features: saucer swing, inclusive spinner, sitting spinner, accessible stations - NEW as of 2018! (previously there were no accessible features)

Facilities/Other:

see Portage Park Splash Pad post
1 Baseball Diamond (lit)
1 Soccer Pitch
1 Basketball half court
seasonal washrooms (portable - from May to first week of October, 9am to 9 pm) in the parking lot

Surrounding Park Area: green spaces, fields, and large shady trees

Seating: three benches facing the playgrounds and splash pad in the shade pavilion, two benches at half court basketball, bleachers at ball diamond

Shade: none over the playground, shade pavilion over the three benches, some shade in the surrounding trees

Overall assessment: Enjoy a day trip to this park complete with splash pad, plenty of picnic spots (bring your own blanket), and seasonal washrooms. There is more than enough parking to meet up with friends, play tag through the trees, half court basketball, or baseball. 2018 UPDATE: this is now one of our favourite toddler parks because the smaller playground is all on a rubber ground covering! I am also excited with the new accessible features that have been added to the playground. The kids love spinning themselves on the inclusive spinner (the big green 'thing' that you will see a video of below). We hope you enjoy this newly renovated park as much as we do now!

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Greenfield Park

8/25/2017

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Area: East Whitby

Age Range: 18 months and up

Parking: limited street parking on Greenfield Crescent (although we did park at the Passport Office building and walked over)

Ground Cover: sand

Main Equipment:

3 slides
1 swing
1 infant swing
1 sand scoop digger
1 stationary car climber
multiple climbing apparatus

Accessibility Features: none

Facilities/Other:

none

Surrounding Park Area: a small green space behind the playground

Seating: 1 park bench facing the play structure (not the swings)

Shade: no shade over the playground, some shade in the surrounding trees

Overall assessment: A hidden neighborhood park that is perfect for the kids to burn off some steam. If you have someone who loves to dig sand, this is a good spot to go to! We greatly appreciated the fact that this park is literally right behind the Whitby Passport office (in case someone has to go there and there is a looooong boring wait for the kids).

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Elmer Lick Park

8/25/2017

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Area: East Whitby

Age Range: infant and up

Parking: street parking on Janedale Crescent or Vanessa Place

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

3 slides (2 toddler slides)
2 infant swings
1 music station (drums)
1 hand crank station
1 rock climbing wall
1 spinner
1 classic rocking horse
1 sandpit
multiple climbing apparatus

Accessibility Features: music drum station, hand crank station

Facilities/Other:

none

Surrounding Park Area: a small green space behind the playground

Seating: 2 park benches facing the playground, plus concrete wall with built in seating facing the playground and surrounding the sandpit

Shade: no shade over the playground, some shade in the surrounding trees

Overall assessment: The hidden sandpit looks like it would be fun (if only we had our playground kit with sand buckets and shovels with us)! We love that the vintage rocking horse was saved and re-installed at this playground amidst the newer equipment and play structures. The infant swings here are the tamest we have seen to date as they don't swing nearly as high as the other infant/toddler swings we normally see at parks. This could be great for first time swingers, not so great for preschoolers who keep asking 'why can't you make it go higher?' We greatly appreciated the fact that you can easily walk to this park from the Whitby Passport office (in case someone has to go there and there is a looooong boring wait for the kids).

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Kirby Park

8/24/2017

2 Comments

Area: East Whitby

Age Range: infant and up

Parking: street parking on Kirby Crescent

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

4 slides (1 is a toddler slide)
2 swings
1 infant swing
1 bucket swing
1 saucer swing
fireman pole
1 music station (see video below!)
1 mulch 'kitchen' station (must see the video below!)
1 car track (built into the toddler play structure)
multiple climbing apparatus

Accessibility Features: bucket swing, saucer swing, toddler music station, toddler mulch station

Facilities/Other:

1 softball diamond
seasonal washroom (a portable beside the softball diamond about a 2-5 minute walk away from the playground)

Surrounding Park Area: a small green space behind the playground with a trail leading to the softball diamond and seasonal portable washroom

Seating: 3 park benches facing the playground (NOT there when we visited August 2017, but the foundations for them have been poured), plus concrete wall with built in seating facing the larger play structure

Shade: no shade over the playground, plenty of shade in the surrounding trees

Overall assessment: The toddler structure here is AMAZING! There are so many hidden features that we loved taking our time to explore them all. Bring your car or ball to this park as there is a hidden track around the top of the toddler structure that you can drive or roll things along! We have included two videos below, but the rest of the features of this small play structure you will have to explore on your own. The bigger play structure is great for climbing, hanging and balancing. The tall slide with bumps was a huge hit for our preschooler (although a little tough to get to as there is only one ladder type climber and some toddlers will find it difficult). With a seasonal washroom just a short walk away, this is a good park to spend a couple of hours exploring and we will definitely be back to show off the toddler structure to our friends!