Dora Gild Playground upgrade

Playground review by Susannah Marks, May 2018

Dora Gild Playground is tucked away on a quiet street in Clarence Park. With plenty of street parking, and a range of play equipment for kids of all ages it’s a hidden treasure that is well loved by locals.

Since our last review of Dora Gild Playground there have been some changes to the play equipment following community engagement – including a new playhouse.

Dora Gild Playground’s new playhouse

The new playhouse is brightly coloured and appealing to little people. My toddler loved it and although she investigated all the play equipment this was the one she kept coming back to.

Having not had a chance to play on the old playhouse the toddler didn’t have any thoughts on whether the new one was a significant improvement on the old one, but she had a great time playing in it and there are definitely lots of opportunities there for lovely social interaction and open-ended imaginative play.

One moment the playhouse was a train with passengers boarding it, and the next moment it was a shop selling “bananas, broccoli and bananas. And bananas”. It turned out the local currency was sand and we ended up with quite a lot of sand in our pockets in the process of buying our groceries.

Here are two shopkeepers selling bananas, broccoli, bananas and bananas. We did try and suggest a few other types of fruit and vegetables but our suggestions fell on deaf ears.

The playhouse features a little slide that was good fun for both the two and four year old that were testing it out.

The rubberised surface is great for babies and toddlers – and also includes a dolphin and a frog embedded within the surface that are fun to climb on.

Climbing frame, ropes and merry-go-round

The climbing frame and ropes didn’t appear to have been upgraded. The two year old was keen to cross the swing bridge unaided, and even managed to get down the slide once she’d seen an older child go first. Note: The merry-go-round was out of action the day we went.

Swings

There are plenty including a toddler swing.

Sandpit and other equipment

What’s great about Dora Gild Playground

• lots on offer to keep a wide age-range of kids happy and challenged
• plenty of shade
• fully fenced on all four sides
• large twisty slide
• toilets and park benches for those all-important pit-stops
• climbing frame
• lawn for kicking a ball or having a picnic
• sandpit
• swings including a toddler swing

Coffee options nearby

Goodwood has no shortage of cafes but one of our favourites is Rise and Grind.

Rise and Grind used to be Carnevale Coffee and is headed up by MKR winner Jessica Leibich. You can find them on the corner of East Avenue and Langdon Avenue – it’s around a 1km walk – or a 14 minute drive.

Just look out for the big mural on the side of the building, or maybe you’ll smell the aroma of their freshly roasting coffee beans. They do an excellent coffee and have a range of counter food including classic child-friendly staples like smiley-face biscuits, croissants and cookies.

The mismatched slightly retro chairs and decor give Rise and Grind a cosy ambience, and there’s enough space to bring the pram.

They also have a grassy backyard which is great when you have kids who need to stretch their legs, plus a good four or five highchairs, a toy box or three and a parenting room with change table.

❤️ Bonus: their backyard is dog-friendly and there’s a local dog-park handy, too

Rise and Grind

116 East Avenue, Clarence Park | www.facebook.com/riseandgrindcafeaus/

Community feedback on changes to Dora Gild Playground

The Council sought feedback from the local community on the upgrade of the playhouse, softfall and installation of shade:

As part of our ongoing asset renewal/restoration program we are looking to replace the small children’s play house and provide additional shade around the sand pit area.

We think the existing play house is well loved and we could replace it with something similar in the same location, but would appreciate your views to help finalise the plans.

We also want to upgrade the soft fall and provide additional shade around the sand pit area and can provide either a shade sail (similar to the existing structure) or a colorbond steel ‘all-weather’ structure over a seat/table area.

Don Palmer, Councillor for Clarence Park Ward, City of Unley 

Read our full review of Dora Gild Playground from 2014 here

Click here for all the Best Playgrounds for Toddlers

See our Top Parks and Playgrounds around Adelaide here.

About Susannah: I’m a mum to three boys and a little girl and I am learning to embrace the chaos. I love my morning coffee, exercise, cranking up some good tunes on the stereo, and heading away to new places on holiday. Originally from New Zealand, I now call Adelaide home and I love getting out and about and exploring all the fabulous things for families to do in Adelaide.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Susannah Marks for Play & Go.

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