Ivy Park, Fork of the Thames, London

Located in downtown London, along the river at 331 Thames St. Ivy Park has a small playground, splash pad, and is on the Thames Valley Pathway (TVP) so there’s usually steady traffic of cyclists and walkers (great for people watching, but not in a creepy way please, lol).

As mentioned, the playground here is small, and comes with mixed reviews from my mini adventurers.

Basil Grover Park, London

I’m handing over the park review duties today. My partner in parenting thought he’d take a shot at reviewing our next park. So without further ado, here is daddy and the mini-adventurers review of Basil Grover Park.

What do you do when a park does not quite meet your adventurers expectations? Well, if you are us, you visit a park that is a proven winner from your previous visits and try to get them back to loving their adventures.

Located at 555 Wharncliffe Road S (at Wharncliffe and Commisioners), Basil Grover Park is the district playground for our area and is a firm favourite for all of our children.

The larger play structure and surrounding climbing stuff, including a neat, moving climbing structure on the right of the picture

Thames Park, London

Thames Park is located in central London at 15 Ridout St. S, The park has a very large playground, tennis courts, a public pool and a community garden (plots available through the city).

Front view of Thames Park playground.

I’ve been struggling over the past couple of days to write this review. On the face of it, this playground should be a home run, right? It’s a very large play structure, with plenty of features that tick all the boxes, my kids certainly loved it, BUT … as a mom of 4 children, 2 of which are toddlers, I’m not convinced that bigger is always better.

West Lions Park, London

West Lions Park is located at 20 Granville St in south-west London, adjacent to Kinsmen Arena. The park has a baseball diamond, skate park, basketball court, soccer pitch, a playground and a splash pad.

West Lions Park playground

I was a little hesitant when we set out for this park as it had been a few years since we had last been here, and I remembered not being particularly impressed, but we decided to go with a fresh attitude, and a couple of fresh kids (at least 2 of them anyway).

Rowntree Park, London

Located in central London at 750 Whetter Ave, Rowntree Park is a cute community park that has a splash pad, playground, tennis court, and public washrooms.

Playground at Rowntree Park, London

Riverbend Park

Welcome to one of London’s newest parks. Riverbend Park is located at 1585 Riverbend Road, in London’s west end (I’ve categorized it as both south-west and North-west as it falls, pretty much, on the north/south divide)

Riverbend Park playground.

This park has a playground with a toddler play structure and one for the bigger kids. There is also a new splash pad, swing set (standard, baby and accessible swings), basketball court, baseball diamond and lots of green space.

South London Community Centre (SLCC)

Located in South-west London at 1119 Jalna Blvd, tucked behind the library / community centre building you will find a playground and splash pad.

Toddler playground at SLCC

I am, admittedly, having some difficulty writing our review of this playground and splash pad. It’s funny the way that the pandemic has changed our views on things, and in my case, changed the way I view this playground.

Springbank Park

The playground.

Today’s adventure took us to Springbank Park in South-west London, a park that, I’d guess, most Londoners have visited or at least know about.

Located at 1085 Commissioners Road W., along a stretch of the Thames River, Springbank Park is London’s largest park with over 30kms of paths and trails, 4 mini soccer pitches, picnic shelters, a bandshell, pavilion, skate park, playground, wading pool and is home to Storybook Gardens, a city run amusement park for young kids.

Jesse Davison Park, London

Viscount entrance to park with parking

Located at 731 Viscount Rd, in the Westmount area of south-west London, Jesse Davidson Park has a splash pad, play equipment, a small wooded area with trails, a baseball diamond and a couple soccer pitches.

Lambeth Centennial Park

Lambeth Centennial Park – part of playground

Located in South-West London, at 7112 Beattie St, Lambeth Centennial Park is adjacent to the community centre and library, which provides ample parking and no streets to cross to get from the car to the playground. Big win there!