PlayPark: The Playground Reinvented

PlayPark Spaces

PlayPark will feature 3 acres of accessible, inclusive play spaces, connected by trails and scrambles. Designed to foster a love of the outdoors, PlayPark will offer children and their caregivers an opportunity to reap the physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits of unstructured outdoor play.

PlayPark will be free of charge and owned by the City of Toronto in perpetuity. A safe, barrier-free, inclusive play environment that reflects the diversity of Toronto’s population, with programming focused on serving marginalized communities.

Black Bear Campsite

A 4-metre tall wooden Black Bear towers over a campsite with a slide that lands inside the first of three kid-sized wooden tents surrounding a mock campfire area. Small-scale play-trees connect with ropes and hammocks for balance and agility challenges. The campsite features a canopy of native plants and trees, and connects with other play zones so young children can see older ones playing nearby.

Toronto Tower Lookout

Six 10-metre-high wooden towers are linked by a maze web of nets and suspension bridges. An accessible walkway also connects to a treetop world filled with platforms and grab bars for slides and more. The design will feature trees, flowering shrubs and vine plantings, and quiet spaces to take a break.

Mighty Moose Adventure Area

This 1,300 square foot area features a 12-metre wooden moose wading in the reeds surrounded by massive coniferous trees. The moose and trees are connected by a 30-metre walkway, and feature five twisting, turning slides connected by a series of tunnels and nets.

Contemplation Garden

Surrounded by trees, stones and living things, kids can regain their lost sense of the natural world. The garden also offers surprising passages and ways to negotiate the hillsides, taking inspiration from the landscape of the Don River Ravine and the Bonnechere Caves north of Toronto.

Fireboat Splash Zone

A replica of the iconic fireboat William Lyon MacKenzie that’s patrolled Toronto’s harbour since 1963 features pumps for spraying water on to the kids in the sand-play area. Pumps below can spray water back up to the kids in the boat. A splashpad with tall-boat and dolphin-inspired jets create a unique summer fun experience.

Learning Centre and Café

The hub of PlayPark, the Learning Centre and Café will offer flexible classroom for use by school groups, community organizations, summer campers and City Parks programs.  Amenities will include a café and restaurant, accessible washrooms and change rooms, and an adjacent terrace with seating, shade and amazing views of the Canoe Cove next door.

Our Campaign Cabinet & Ambassadors

We are enormously grateful for the time, talent and commitment of our volunteer campaign cabinet and ambassadors:
 

Let's Build PlayPark

Spaces like PlayPark are key to ensuring that our children have opportunities for accessible outdoor play to support their healthy physical and mental development. A Canadian first, PlayPark will also help attract and retain young professionals with children in the GTA, yield economic benefits for the city and region.

Funding for the $75 million cost of PlayPark’s equipment, natural features and other amenities are being sought through the generosity of private donors.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for the children of our region and their families.

Let’s build PlayPark. Let's build a city for everyone.

Contact us at info@waterfrontoronto.ca to learn more about the capital campaign to raise funds for PlayPark’s play equipment, natural features and other amenities.

Video: Introducing PlayPark

We have the opportunity to build a first in Canada destination playground that will get kids moving, test their limits, and encourage healthy risk-taking. Watch the video below to find out how.