We’ve been to Dr. William Connell Park, on West 5th near Stone Church twice beforehand, once when it started to thunder and lightning and the other time when it was freezing cold. Today, when toddler woke from his nap in the grumpiest moods I decided we’d give the park another try.
One of Hamilton’s newest parks, Dr. William Connell boasts everything that a modern park should- a huge splash pad, lots of paths, and a natural, imaginative playground designed by Earthscape Playgrounds from Waterloo. There is also a traditional playground in the back corner, soccer fields, tennis courts and a large storm water retention pond that is enjoyed by the ducks and adds to the scenery. The park gets extra bonus points for having proper washrooms on site too!
Luckily today was warm enough that toddler could between the splash pad and park without getting cold so we did a few st in each part of the park. He’s not yet two and a half and I do find that the natural play structures are largely a little too advanced for him- but that’s ok! It’s clearly a playground that he will grow into and will provide great value to him as he learns balance, agility, and to plan his moves a few steps ahead. Right now, he’s more than happy to climb the little hill up to the two slides (and I love that I don’t need to helicopter and worry about him falling down steps). He was also curious about the upside down canoe structure but got a little ahead of himself trying to copy the bigger kids and got his leg stuck at one point. Of course there are also swings, but he’d rather run and climb and explore at this stage.
As I mentioned, the splash pad is really large and also incorporates the natural theme of the park- some sprayers come out of rocks, some of the sprinklers look like butterflies or wildflowers, and there is lots of room for everyone to do their own exploring and experimenting with water.
Here are a few tips for a visit to the splash pad and playground at Dr. William Connell Park:
Bring hats and sunscreen! It’s a brand new park so the trees are new and small, and I find that in the afternoon the pergola near the splash pad isn’t angled quite right to provide much shade.
Bring two towels for little one. Like all splash pads, it is fed by ground temperature water so the kids get pretty chilly quickly, especially since the park is quite open and windy. One towel for providing them with dry offs to warm up as they play and then a second to do the final dry off. Our towel was soaked from the intermittent dry offs and wasn’t much use by the time we were done!
The paths are super new and smooth, the perfect place to learn to bike or scooter. I’m totally going to throw toddler’s SmarTrike in the trunk next time to let him scoot on his own while I watch from a nice cushy place on the grass!
While we wait for the splash pad to be completed in our own neighbourhood we’ll definitely be adding Dr. William Connell Park as a regular stop on our summer afternoons! We are so lucky to have this modern park nearby and can’t wait to continue taking advantage of it!
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