Find the Best Splash Pads in Ottawa
The Ben Franklin Park Splash Pad is officially opening tomorrow, Friday July 12, 2019 at 3:00 PM.
Counsellor Keith Egli posted on his twitter and his website about the splash pad opening, but I like his friendly tweet to the mayor inviting him to spending time at the splash pad for the long weekend.
Five stars are not enough to rate the splash pad at Brewer Park in Ottawa South.
It’s probably closer to seven stars (out of five stars.) Five stars because there are so many water fountains and structures, six stars because it’s so big that it takes up two levels, and seven stars because there’s a water slide and a nearby bathroom. Wow.
Chapman Mills Main Street Park (West) Splash Pad is a splash pad in Barrhaven with a unique structure – a green dragon! The splash pad has a lot of jets and will get you wet for sure.
Hi everybody!
It’s splash pad season! Summer is here and it started to be boiling. Pools are closed because of Covid-19.
Luckily, splash pads here in Ottawa opened on Fri June 12, 2020.
The city of Ottawa said splashpads are fully operational by Thu June 18, 2020. They recommend if you’re using the splashpad…
Some splash pads are closed for repairs:
Anisha Park
Calzavera Park
Citiplace Park
Elmridge Park
Fawn Meadows Park
Fairlea
Glebe Memorial Park
Mark Yakabuski
McCarthy Park
Pioneer Plains Park
Seiveright Park
Water Dragon Park
WC Bowes
Whitehaven Park
We saw where we think the splash pad is going to be because there was a silver button on a green post. We also saw a Zone de Construction sign and red fencing, so clearly the park was still being worked on.
We step up a 360 camera on a tripod and took a picture. Check it out! If you’ve never seen a 360 photo before, you can see in different directions by using your finger to swipe around. And, if you want to zoom in or zoom out, just pinch with two fingers. It’s funny when you zoom out a lot because the picture turns into a funny hole!
We’re starting to work on our Ottawa Splash Pads website again, fix up mistakes and checking out new splash pads that we haven’t visited yet!
So, this summer, we’re going to work on getting to all of these splashpads!
Don’t forget to like and follow us on FaceBook! See you next time!
The Ben Franklin Park Splash Pad ( 188 Knoxdale ) is officially opening tomorrow, Friday July 12, 2019 at 3:00 PM.
Counsellor Keith Egli posted on his twitter and his website about the splash pad opening, but I like his friendly tweet to the mayor inviting him to spending time at the splash pad for the long weekend.
We haven’t personally had a chance to check out this splash pad yet, but we’re looking forward to going sometime soon.
To be perfectly honest, the Ben Frankin Park splash pad wasn’t even on our radar until recently.
My dad and I went to WE Day. WE Day is a time where lots of people gather around in the Canadian Tire Center and see people who are talking on stage about how the world could be different if you made a change into anybody else’s life and yours.
It was really fun. Like how we got to see lots of people who were changing the world. Like how my family and I are raising money for Ecuador.
Not only grownups but kids too can change the world.Today I saw lots of people who were cheering everybody and to me, it felt like if all these people worked together we could change the world.
Our little trooper is singing Laurie Berkner songs in the back as we drive home from Nepean and downtown Ottawa.
“What’s your favourite song?” I ask, after she’s requested “Goodnight” for the fourth time in a row.
“This one.”
“Why do you like it so much?”
“Because it says, ‘little kid,’ and I’m a little kid.”
We love our little monkey. We’re getting close to the end of our splash pad adventure. In just two more splash pads, we’ll have visited every water park in the city. Not bad.
“Can we listen to it again,” comes the fifth request.
Sure.
“Hey guys,” clarifies our three year old daughter, “I don’t just love this song I like all of the songs.”
That’s good, because we weren’t sure how much we liked the Party DVD at first, but it’s grown on us. Toddler crack.
“Hey guys,” continues to clarify our little girl. “Actually I don’t just love this CD, I love all of Laurie’s songs.”
I love how she’s on a first name basis with Laurie now. And, just a few weeks ago, our daughter didn’t realize she was a real person. We’re heading down to New York in October, so maybe we’ll get a chance to meet her in person.
I’m not sure if the splash pad at Bearbrook Park should count as a splash pad.
Sure, it’s a nice modern splashpad with aqua domes, ground sprinklers and a red fire hydrant, but the splash pad is part of the outdoor swimming pool.
You have to pay to get in, and the splash pad is only available during pool hours.
That’s why we snapped the photos from outside of the fence.
The splash pad does make Bearbrook Park a nice outdoor swimming pool. We’ve been swimming here before, but it’s too cold this morning.
There’s a wading pool for toddlers, a bigger pool for lane swimming, and a nice gradual pathway that winds around the splash pad for your little kids to play in.
The gazebo with the picnic tables is a nice touch, so it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon.
… is a wooden post.
A reader commented and told us this was a sad looking splash pad. And she’s right.
“Back in the day, this is what they were like when I was a kid and we had fun,” explained Mommy.
And, today, we have giant splash pad monstrosities like Diamond Jubilee and Chapman Mills Main Street Park.
We read some Dora, we slid on some slides, and off we go.
The splash pad at Morrison Park is simple, but modern: a couple of ground sprinklers and a giant red post that sprays water.
It took three pushes on the start button before the pressure built up enough for the red post, but eventually it worked.
I think we had more fun going down slides on the play structure. All of these Nepean splashpads are pretty close to each other, so it’s off to the next one.
Wow. There’s a dragon at the Leslie Park splash pad. Or, maybe it’s a giant purple snake.
Either way, it’s cool.
And, unexpected. The only other splash pad that we’ve seen with a dragon was Chapman Mills Main Street Park.
Leslie Park is a great place to spend the day.
“What a little treasure,” says Mommy as we drive away. “Easily accessible from surrounding streets.”
With four splash pads down, and only seven more to do, we knew we could finish off all of the splashpads today. Challenge accepted.
Three old red metal posts sit at the splash pad at Banner Park.
There’s some drainage near the splashpad which kind of suggests that at one point, there was a lot more water going on here, but right now, it’s only a trickle that comes out.
Overall, the park has some character – it’s a lovely park. But, if you’re looking for a splash pad, just drive a few minutes to
Leslie Park splash pad
It’s best to forewarn our little girl before we get to the splashpad that she won’t get a chance to play on the play structures. We’ve already had a busy day hitting nine splashpads and everyone is feeling a little tired.
But, we’re only two splash pads away from completing our summer goal, so we’re making a final push in the evening to visit the last two splash pads on our list.
(We told our little three year old that we could go to her favourite restauraunt once we finished visiting all of the splash pads. She’s been hard at work pressing start buttons, soaking her baby doll, climbing play structures, and patiently waiting for Daddy to take photos.)
As it turns out, when we arrive at the splash pad at Cummings Park, we don’t even bother taking our daughter out of the car. There’s no parking on the side street that we’re on, so Daddy hops out to snap a few photos while Mommy and monkey wait in the car listening to Laurie Berkner CDs.
Cummings Park is a basic splash pad with four ground sprinklers. It’s a perfect toddler splash pad because of the low predictable water pressure. And, just like that, we’re on the road to Whiterock Park.
Tonight, we visited our hundredth splash pad.
I’m not sure how many families in Ottawa can say that, but we did it. We’ve visited all of the splash pads in Ottawa. We started last year on a whim in the middle of July and we crossed off Whiterock a few hours ago.
Whiterock is an older splash pad with a simple metal post. And, even though it’s a one-star splash pad, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sure, it might have been nice to end at a modern splash pad with all of the bells and whistles (or perhaps dumping buckets and dragons,) but sometimes it’s nice just to share a quiet moment with family.
We ate chocolate cupcakes, drank Orangina out of fancy plastic glasses, and drew circles in the air with sparklers.
“I can’t believe we did eleven splash pads today,” said Mommy as we drove back home.
It’s been a busy day.
Splash padding across the city has been a great family adventure. Oh, we’ll still continue to splash pad with our friends, but today marks a nostalgic milestone.
The Laurie Berkner Band Party Day CD has been on repeat and it’s strangely apropros. Our favourite little girl loves the last track, Goodnight.
“I’m a little kid and my Daddy loves me, I’m a little kid and my Mommy loves me, and when they tuck me in to say goodnight, they say, Goodnight honey.”
We told our little girl that when we go down to see Laurie Berkner in concert in Ithica, New York, we should make a giant sign that says, “We love you Laurie!”
Our little monkey comments from the back seat, “Everywhere we went, we took Laurie with us. So, we should take pictures and put it on the poster so she could see where we went.”
I’m not sure if a hundred photos would fit on the sign, but we’ll see.
Goodnight splashpads. See you tomorrow.
At the front of the park, it gives you a list of things you cannot do.
Please don’t be tempted to bring your bow and arrow to Kiwanis Park. Target practice is forbidden in this tiny urban park.
(It’s not expressly forbidden at any other city park we’ve visited so I guess you’re good to go at those ones. We’re not sure about this, so you’d better check.)
The splash pad at Kiwanis Park is part of the wading pool.
The wading pool was closed when we arrived after 9AM on a Friday morning.
It’s an old under powered metal post, so there’s not really much more to say about the splash park.
You already know about the no archery rule.
A reader let us know earlier in July that there isn’t actually a splash pad at Lawson Park.
We were in the neighbourhood, so we thought we’d check it out to see what was hiding at the GPS co-ordinates given by the city (open data catalogue). Kinda like geocaching.
There used to be a splash pad at Lawson Park, but it doesn’t work any more. It’s a giant tree-sized wooden post, but there’s no start button anymore and the weeds have overgrown the grounds.
“That doesn’t look like a park,” comments our three-year old daughter who, by now, is used to things like Diamond Jubilee or Brewer Park.
“Where’s the real park?”
She means the curly slides and swings that we usually use after we snap a few photos. Usually there’s a play structure beside the splash park and we have fun throwing our baby doll down the slide. Lawson Park is mostly a giant field.
“I want a park to play,” she says, after we explain that the splash pad is broken.
So, we play hide and go seek behind the tall trees.
And then we’re off to find the next splash pad.
The splash pad at Stonecrest Park is a lot of fun.
We invited our cousin over to splash with us and have a little picnic. Stonecrest Park is a good place to do just that.
The splash pad is neat because it runs through different patterns and the water pressure changes.
For example, sometimes, the split stream is a quiet trickle and other times, it’s blasting across the splash pad.
(We told her we’d go to her favourite restaurant to celebrate the 100th splash pad that we visit. Hopefully by the end of August, although Mommy is pretty optimistic that we’ll do it sooner.)
Twenty splash pads in one day seems a little excessive. How about five?
The water park at Bluegrass park was pretty popular when we checked it out this morning, Tim Hortons in hand.
I really like those posts that create an umbrealla of water – especially when they’re short and at kid-level. It kinda looks like a jellyfish.
It’s a nice modern splash pad:
“It’s like toddler crack,” quipped Mommy, as we headed out towards three splash pads in the middle of town.
We’re really becoming Canadian Laurie Berkner groupies this summer. When we head down to the States to hear her play solo in October, we should make a giant sign: We Love You Laurie!
We hit three splash pads this morning and all three were unexpected gems in their own way. Then, we met up with a play date at a brand new splash pad that isn’t even listed on the city of Ottawa website.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
We were a little worried that the splash park at Celebration Park wouldn’t turn on before 9 AM. We got there around 8:30 in the morning and when we pushed the start button, only the red water cannon turned on.
But, after a couple of minutes, the water pressure must have built up because the rest of the water structures turned on.
A reader left a comment on our site about this park – clean, perfect for children of all ages – and we agree.
Celebration Park has a nice modern splash pad, plus shaded gazebo and other play structures make it a fun place:
Just one.
Our little monkey was disappointed we didn’t get to spend more time on the slides, so we did just that in Beacon Hill.
They’ve painted the City of Ottawa swirl on the splash pad at Beacon Hill / Eastvale Park. It actually looks kinda cool when you’re standing on the adjacent play structure.
This is a nice park. There’s a gazebo beside the splash pad and the play structure beside the water park is a lot of fun for little kids.
We came in the evening, so the community center was closed, but there are probably public washrooms in there.
A lot of people were enjoying the evening breeze, including two different dogs (and their owners.) I think the golden retriever and the pug were both a little surprised when the ground sprinklers went from bubbling fountains to giant geysers.
We’re trying to keep our eye on the prize. We’ve almost visited every single splash pad in Ottawa. After today, we’ll have finished 70 splashpad reviews.
“We could do thirty in a week.”
Maybe. It’s only taken us two summers to get this far…
Our three year old daughter is singing along to the acoustic version of Laurie Berkner’s My Family.
(We just borrowed the Party Day DVD and it has a bonus CD you can listen to in the car over and over and over again.)
We weren’t really expecting anything special at these four splash pads, so we were pleasantly surprised with the one at Winterwood and Greenboro. We’d come back to those two splash parks with friends.
The splash pad at Sheffield Glen Park is an older splash park with three really powerful jets. With the wind blowing, you’ll get wet pushing the start button.
There’s a shady area, a play structure, a swing… things aren’t new, but they’re not super old, either.
We didn’t stay very long here – just long enough to splash in some puddles and get our feet wet.
The splash park at Winterwood Park is your basic modern splash pad with incredible water pressure.
High powered stuff.
Twelve.
Nine from our tour of Orleans splash parks and three others from this afternoon.
“You can write them when I sleep, okay?” comments our three year old compadre.
So, here we are. Mommy and Daddy trying to catch up on documenting our adventures while our little one complains about not being able to fall asleep. Ironic.
“What are we going to do when we finish splash pads?” asks our little girl.
I dunno. Revisit the best splash parks? Move onto play structures (No.)
We took our homemade egg shaker – “Shaky” – to the splash pads today while of course, listening to Laurie Berkner in the car. (I know a chicken.)
The splash pad at Nault Park is pretty with two giant yellow flowers. They’ve cleverly put the start button on one of the green stems so you would have gotten a little wet if the water pressure was stronger.
Mommy thought the random cycle was fun, but Daddy thought it was a little under powered. You never had everything go all at once and even the archway seemed a little dribbly.
Still, the pretty flowers on the ground reminded me of last year when we first encountered these sprinklers. (“Roy Duncan was one,” says Mommy.)
The splash park at Cardinal Glen is a wooden post.
We came, we snapped photos, we played on the play structure, we left.
The park is a very small gated community park. I get why they would have a no-dog sign, but no baseball? Was that a big problem?
The coolest thing about Manor Park water park was standing underneath an umbrella made out of water.
(They have one of those yellow post aqua domes that shoots water out the top.)
I think this is one of Daddy’s favourite photos: it looks like a ripple of water across the sky.
Our little girl had fun running through the splash pad but passed on standing under the umbrella. She didn’t get wet when the umbrella closed.
It’s a good thing our iPhone case is waterproof.
Nine splash pads, two days, and only four wooden posts. (We thought there would be more.)
There are more than nine splash pads in Orleans, but this is all that we had left to do for our Ottawa splash pad directory.
“It’s not a real park,” said our three year old as we drove away from the splash pad at Champagne Park. “It has a train and a house.”
I suppose that’s one of the downsides of visiting so many splash pads and play structures. You get a sense of what’s out there.
Champagne Park is a pretty old park judging by the wooden post splash pad and old fashioned wooden play structure. It might be good for little kids who can’t go on playstuctures yet.
We didn’t stay very long.
The splash pad at Delorme Park has an impressively long run for a single push.
There’s a lot going on at this park, including a cool slide on the side of the hill that our little monkey enjoyed playing on.
“I would bring friends here for a picnic,” said Mommy and I agree. Fun splash pad and good play structure to boot.
The splash pad at Marcel Beriault Park is a wooden post with four nozzles.
I think the nice thing about wooden post splash parks is that there’s always a rainbow in the mist. If you look hard enough.
(It’s tough coming up with nice things to say about wooden post splash parks.)
The splash park at North Vineyard is creative.
It’s right beside the fire station, so it makes sense that there’s a giant post with a fire fighter cut-out spraying water out the top.
Overall, I can’t see us taking any friends to this splash park.
It’s a decent water park with ground sprinklers, but it’s a challenge to get to by car.
Our GPS told us to go to one of the side streets, but there’s no entrance to the park that way.
Also, there’s no play structure nearby when you want to take a break from splish splashing around.
The splash pad at Hiawatha Park is an old wooden post on the side of the path.
See the picture here? That basically sums it up.
There’s not even a play structure here… well, there is, but it’s around the corner, so our little girl wasn’t able to check it out this time during our whirlwind tour of east end water parks.
When we got out of the car, we thought the splash park at Joe Jamison Park was just an old metal post.
But, we were wrong.
It’s a high powered Vortex metal post with three nozzles around the sides and a fourth one on top.
It’s well designed: you can’t push the start button without getting soaked.
This shot was taken just as the water pressure was building up.
And yes, Daddy got soaked trying to get this shot.
The way of the garden.
There’s a lot of water coming out of the water park at Gardenway Park: simple, modern, effective.
We had some nice snackies sitting on the bench and admiring the view today.
There were a number of kids playing at the splash pad at Fallingbrook park when we rolled in.
We had fun running through the sprinkler, but it was even more impressive watching the day care provider run under the misty green leaf with a triple stroller.
This one is a classic nature-inspired urban water park:
Good times.
“It’s always relieving when you get to a splash pad and it looks like this,” said Mommy as we walked into the
splash pad at Queenswood Ridge
Maybe. We’ll see.
Someone left a comment on our website asking for more information about the splash pad at Bandmaster so we decided to hit a couple of splash pads on the west side. We were hoping to get them all, but our three year old daughter got a little tired, so we’ll have to come back.
The splash pad at Billy Bishop park is simple and nice. The park is named after WWI Air Marshal William “Billy” Bishop.
Our little girl made a new friend and decided to play with her at the play structure on the other side of the park. Just a short visit before we headed on.
We ran into a friend who lives near the splash pad at Upcountry Park. Small world.
He mentioned this is the only splashpad in Stittsville that he knows about and that field trips come to visit it.
As far as splash pads go, this is a pretty basic splash pad with some ground fountains and water mist. Great fun to cool off on a hot summer day, but it doesn’t have any of the water play structures that some of the newer splash pads have.
(Check out Diamond Jubilee just built in Findlay Creek to see what we mean.)
Still, this is a good place to get wet.
Not that we did. I think the highlight of this trip for our daughter was playing with our friend’s four year old daughter on the slide. That four year old role model was cheerfully fearless as she slid down the slide and jumped off the swing.
We checked out the splashpad at Bandmaster Park based on the request of a reader.
It’s a great splash pad and it has something we’ve never seen before: an Aqualien Rainforest.
I guess you could say that the splash park at Roy Park was a wooden post splash park that surprised us. (I guess Mommy was right: sometimes wooden post splash pads do surprise us.)
Normally it’s just a block of wood with a button. Push the button and water sprays out of the sides.
At Roy Park, the water comes out the truck of a blue elephant that swivels around. The mist is directed upwards, so it’s not really a water gun, but it’s still more fun than a regular wooden post.
Another thing that surprised us was that this urban water park is no longer on the city of Ottawa list of splashpads. I guess when they renovated the play structures recently, they decided to removed Roy Park from the list, but the wooden post splash park still remains.
So begins our morning trip to the grocery store. Daddy is busy trying to catch up with our splashpad adventure stories in the car. We’re hoping to get out to Kanata later this weekend.
(A reader had commented wondering if we had any info on the splash pad at Bandmaster. Not yet, but we will soon!)
At the time of writing, there are a few splash parks in the city that aren’t listed on the city of Ottawa website (or in their open data catalogue), so we decided to check them out on Thursday and add them to our photo gallery.
Our three year old daughter had a play date at the splash pad at Provence park.
(Provence park is not a new splash pad. It’s on the city website, but for some reason, we haven’t added photos from the water park… even though we’ve been here a couple of times. Daddy is dropping the ball!)
The splash pad at Province is nice: a water cannon to squirt your friends and a tall post with buckets to dump water on you. I like the contrast of the blue circle and the yellow doorway to run through.
“When will you write up the splash pads?” asked our friend as we told her our plan to check out the new splash pads…
Oh, tonight. (Or maybe, in a couple of days.)
Next on the list was the splash pad at Bradley Ridge Park.
“You know, you don’t build a new community without building a new park,” observed Mommy.
Sure enough, there is one and it has a splash park.
“They’re building a second park further on but it’s hard to tell if it will have a splash pad.”
Bradley Ridge Park has some fancy cool water structures, but it’s a basic water park. There are two of those green misty leaves which are lots of fun and a blue spinny flower. It’s like a natural oasis in an urban landscape.
The splash pad at Diamond Jubilee park is incredible. It gives the splash pads at Brewer Park and South Nepean a run for its money in terms of size and number of water play structures.
We had a little bit of trouble trying to find it. Our friend said you can see it from the road, but when we googled the map locations, even Google had trouble finding the address – it’s that new.
The new Findlay creek splash pad is located at 2810 Findlay Creek Drive but we’ve entered in the GPS co-ordinates so you can find it on the map easier by clicking this link: VIEW MAP: Diamond Jubilee Splash Pad
A lot of cool new structures that we’ve never seen before:
It’s a natural oasis. One of the things they’ve done well here is have different sections for different kids. Part of the splash pad has little trickling fountains (with the green turtle and red aqua dome), so it’s perfect for quieter kids.
As a new splash pad, the tiny saplings can’t really compete with the established trees at Brewer Park. But all in all, the new water park in Findlay Creek is impressive.
Whitehaven / George C. Brown Splashpad (*New in 2012 – on city website, but not in Open Data catalogue)
We love you.
Sincerely, our family.
Mommy borrowed a Laurie Berkner Band CD from the library at the start of July and it’s still our summer anthem.
Our little three year old girl loves Laurie Berkner. (“No, Daddy, it’s called ‘Laurie Berkner Band.” I stand corrected.)
We listen to her all the time, especially since Daddy put Laurie Berkner (Band) on “her” iPad. We have daddy-daughter disco dance parties to The Goldfish song complete with spinning disco lights for underwater effect . We bought a copy of the “Best of” CD so our little monkey could listen to it wherever we drove. (Now, we need to negotiate “quiet” time in the car.) We had to find a kid safe YouTube app for the iPad so that we could watch Laurie Berkner videos without other stuff popping up.
Later on, our pink power ranger confirms with Mommy that Laurie Berkner is indeed a real person.
So, it seems like we’re destined to become Laurie Berkner groupies. It doesn’t look like the Laurie Berkner Band has any Canadian concert dates. Their website says the closest she’s playing to us is a solo concert on October 12, 2013 at the State Theatre of Ithaca in NY (view map). Google maps tells me this is just over 4 hours away from Ottawa.
We could do it!
Hop in the car before the crack of dawn. Get to the lunch time concert. Drive back. Tickets are only $20 for adults and $15 for kids. The $75 VIP package for the meet and greet / photo opp with Laurie would be a dream of a lifetime for our kiddo – well, let’s be honest, she hasn’t been alive for that long – but I don’t think we can swing that in the family budget right now.
Mommy asks a very important question: “Is she still going to be into Laurie Berkner by October?”
I think so. We’re into year two of Dora and we still wear Dora everything, although princesses are entering the landscape despite our best efforts. (Thank goodness for Olivia.)
Right now, Laurie Berkner punctuates our life everywhere we go. The DJ requests we get from the back seat of our car are based on track number. That’s how well she knows the CD:
Driving home at night and we see a full moon – cue Moon, Moon, Moon. (The alternative version – track nineteen.)
“Eighteen, please, and then Daddy, you get to pick number nine.”
Eighteen is the alternate version of pig on her head and number nine is my all time favourite: I’m not perfect.
We end with number twenty: Open your heart.
If you haven’t heard Laurie Berkner, and none of our friends have, as a daddy, here are the three things I love the most about the kindie rock superstar.
1. Really empowering messages that I want my daughter to know:
“Is that your favourite right now?”
“Yup.”
We’re listening in the car to the Laurie Berkner Band after getting hooked on their “Best of” CD.
Our little one’s favourite is constantly changing, but she is three, after all. A few days ago, we were singing along to “This Hat” complete with silly hats and actions. Then it was, “I’m Me and You’re You.” That’s still one of my all time faves.
“What number is it?” I ask.
“Six,” replies Mommy changing to track six.
When did we all become such big Laurie Berkner groupies?
Our family is heading towards two splash pads that Mommy and Daddy spotted while floating in a hot air balloon.
Drifting across the city skyline at 7:30 in the morning was surprisingly hot. Oh, the weather hadn’t warmed up yet, but the heat from the burners was pretty intense.
Originally, we were supposed to go on Canada Day, but the weather was bad and we had to reschedule. (You have to call the evening before to find out if the weather is good enough – not too windy, but not too calm either, apparently.)
Then, we were supposed to go the following week, but it was cancelled due to rain.
Third times a charm. We brought monkey along for the ride since our real monkey couldn’t join us. (Our daughter has to be 10 years old before she can go up.)
Our Sundance Balloon experience was quite lovely (altitude sickness aside.) Your problems seem so small when you’re floating 4267 feet above sea level. (Kinda cool that altitude data is included in the photos you snap on an iPhone.)
We landed at the aviation museum. Gradma and our little girl drove out to wave hello as we floated by.
Back on land, we looked up the two splash pads and headed out for adventure.
We had snapped a few photos above the splash pad, but wanted a few more from the ground below.
(Daddy had to make sure to include part of the basket in the photo… otherwise, the pictures just look like screenshots from Google Maps.)
Dr John Hopps splash pad has a lot of cool water structures:
We saw a few of the guys from the basketball court come over to cool down. There’s a row of eight sprinklers that form a little arch… kind of like a drinking water fountain.
The Thorncliffe Park splash pad is more basic with just a set of different ground sprinklers.
At the time, I accepted that comment at face value, but now that I’m writing about our adventure, I’m not so sure.
Sure, there have been times when we thought a splash pad would be a wooden post because it was in an older neighbourhood, and then were pleasantly surprised when we got there to discover a modern urban water park. (The four bandaid incident at Glen Park is an example of this.)
But once you arrive at a splash pad and you see that wooden post… there are no surprises. You know exactly what’s coming.
“Where’s the splash pad,” asks our three year old daughter as we cross the road hand in hand. I explain it’s a wooden post.
“Oh.”
We’ll push the start button and snap a few photos, and then we’ll spend our time on the nearby play structure. Later, when we get home, we’ll try to spin up with nice things to say about the park. But, deep down inside, we all know, it’s just a wooden post.
The splash pad at Gerald Poulin is a wooden post. It’s right beside a cool adjacent green space, volleyball net, basketball court, and newer play structure. There’s also this road that circles the splash pad.
“Oh, I know,” exclaims Mommy. “It’s so you can rollerblade or practice riding your bicycle.”
She might be right. Our little belle enjoys running on the “road” without Daddy and Mommy.
While, we’re at it, let’s get another wooden post splash pad review out of the way.
The splash pad at Chapel Hill is a wooden post. There’s a lot of shade at this park. We giggled as we tried to touch the rainbow and then we had fun climbing the adjacent play structure.
Ah, wooden posts. Gotta love ‘em. On the plus side, they’re really easy to review because there’s nothing to say.
In all seriousness, one of the things we’re working on is creating a search tool of Ottawa Splash Pads so that you can get a complete list of the city water parks… without the wooden posts. We’re workin’ on it…
“What did you like the best at McCarthy Park?” I ask the wee-one at the end of the day.
“The frog.”
The frog is pretty cool. They’ve turned your standard splash loop into the mouth of a frog. Combine that with a giant cattail that sprays mist into the air and you get pretty wet.
Mind you, today, we waited until the water had run out before we had fun jumping through the mouth and filling up our princess buckets.
The splash pad at Citiplace Park is in a new development and we gave it top marks because of all the stuff it has.
We’re listening to the Laurie Berkner Band as we tackle three splash pads that we haven’t been to yet: Owl Park, McCarthy Park, and Citiplace Park.
The splash pad at Owl Park is old school, but still cool. It’s a giant shallow circle painted blue with rocks and bushes planted around the edges.
“It looks like ice,” says our three year old as she and I run across the splash pad. This time, there’s no dragging involved, so we won’t be needing any Dora band aids.
“Oh, it’s a wooden post,” says Mommy. “But, where are the sprays?”
Our little girl presses the button on the side of the wooden post and three pairs of powerful water fountains come blasting from the shrubbery.
It really is impressive, as far as the old-style water parks go. Points for creativity – it doesn’t look like a splashpad because of all the rocks and bushes. The Owl Park splash pad is good for getting wet, and it’s one of a kind so far, but who knows. We have another 40 splashpads to go before we’ve seen them all.
Our little family trio settle down for some snacks in the sun and get down to some serious splashpaddin’ conversations (in between the mouthfuls of home grown peas and store bought cantaloupe.)
What makes a good splash pad? Is it the novelty and creativity of the water park? High water pressure? Variety of splash pad play structures? Overall ambiance?
“I find it’s not just a splash pad, it’s location.” Mommy goes on. “Developed area, basic splash pad but points for novelty. This is a destination: hills, facilities, mature trees, picnic tables…”
I’m not sold.
I think it’s all about the play structure and total amount of water that flows through the place. The water jets at Owl Park shoot pretty high, but I’m still not sure this place is in the same category as a Brewer Park splash pad (complete with water slide) or the splash pad at Chapman Mills Main Street Park (which has a water squirting dragon.)
Two more splash pads to write about…
A special package arrived in the mail. It’s the Best of the Laurie Berkner Band CD that Mommy bought online from Chapters.
(She ordered it from the kiosk in store and it was $4.00 cheaper than going to the Chapter’s website online. Wierd. I don’t have the heart to tell her it was even cheaper to buy it on iTunes.)
We’re really into Laurie Berkner right now. We saw her advertised at the beginning of a Wiggles DVD and decided to check her out. Her flavour of kindie rock is strangely addictive.
(What’s Kindie Rock? Cool rock music that’s family friendly about stuff for kids.)
Daddy and Daughter decided to check out the splash pad at Blue Willow park. We’ve been here before, but they’ve painted this cool swirly design that actually makes the park a lot more fun. (Think: trying to run out of the center of the splash pad without getting wet and staying only on your colour.)
Of course, we sang Laurie Berkner songs on the way to the splash pad: Oh, bumblebee, can’t you see, it’s just you and me.
Buzz, buzz.
The birthday girl wanted to celebrate at Vista Park and the splash pad here is pretty awesome!
Our little girl had a lot of fun playing with their little girl, trying to recreate the sand castles from our last splash pad adventure. We had fun fetching water in our new princess pail from the drinking fountain.
Between the delicious green heart shaped cake and running around blowing bubbles, we’re exhausted.
Nap time!
Apparently, when you mix water from the splash pad with sand from the nearby playground, you can make sand castles.
Who knew.
(It’s only taken us 40 splash pads to figure that out.)
The water park at Queenswood Heights is very nice. There’s actually two separate splash pads separated by some shady trees and picnic tables.
The first splash pad is kinda set up like a runway.
We didn’t really play at the second splash pad only meters away.
No, seriously.
We went splash padding the other day around the New Edinburgh area.
The first splash pad was Bordeleau Park beside the Chinese embassy. They had this cool red dumping bucket which was translucent so you could watch it fill up before it dumped water on you.
Our daughter, however, was more interested in running around the park. The splash pad gently slopes down and then eventually meanders into the river. Our little explorer had fun running around on the rocks… until she scraped her knee.
So much for that splashpad. All in all, it’s a pretty nice park. The start button is in the center of the splash pad, so it’s a giggle to turn the water on without getting wet.
Next, we decided to hit the splash pad on the other side of the river at New Edinburgh Park. Daddy, in his infinite wisdom, decided to let the little munchkin hold the iPad to watch the little blue dot move 2.3 kilometers across the screen.
“Why aren’t we moving? It’s not moving.”
“Why is the dot moving into a different road! We’re still not on the blue line.”
The splash pad at New Edinburgh is hidden just behind the park building. It’s pretty small – just 4 sprinklers in the ground. On the other hand, the water pressure is pretty impressive. There are two really high water fountains, and two really, really high jet streams of water.
The three of us took turns running through the water park, trying to avoid the geysers. A moot point, since it was already raining.
We spent some time hanging out at the nearby play structures with the rest of the mommies, nannies, day care providers and their charges. (Our little girl served us timbits made from the finest playground sand. They were delicious.)
Pushing our luck, we decided for one more splash pad adventure.
The splashpad at Sir Wilfred Laurier Park was a popular place. Mommy and our little girl snacked on some strawberries as Daddy drenched himself running through the three yellow rings. When those spray loops are going full blast, watch out!
Mommy thinks we could hit twenty splash pads in one day.
When that day comes, we won’t be needing Siri to give us play-by-play directions. I’m sure we can count on our little back seat driver to tell it like it is:
“Why aren’t we moving! The dot’s not moving!”
To enable our three-year old navigation system, we’ve added the GPS co-ordinates of all of the splash pads onto this site so it’s easy for our iPad to show us, er her, where to go.
Just click on the list of ottawa splash pads at the top of the site and then click “view map” beside any splash pad. The link should open up in Apple Maps (or Google Maps if you’re running Android.) Splashpad GPS co-ordinates are from the City of Ottawa open data catalogue.
We’ll see if we ever hit twenty splash pads in a single day. I think our toddler navigation system might lead us astray. (Or, to the closest Tim Horton’s.)
The splash pad at Glen Park was better than what we were expecting. We thought it would be one of those old school wooden post splash pads.
Instead, it had a giant leaf and a tall flower post to sprinkle water down. Not bad, not bad at all.
We took a moment to splash around at Glen Park. Daddy made the mistake of trying to run through the sprinklers holding hands with an uncertain three-year old. We only needed four Dora band-aids for our knees and one big squishy hug afterwards before we could try to run through the sprinklers again… this time with Daddy carrying the little monkey.
Too cold to play in, we just ran through the blue archway and had some grapes under the gazebo.
All in all, the splash pad at Heatherington Park ain’t bad. Here’s what it has:
There’s no gazebo, so it probably gets pretty hot out here in the middle of summer, but, there is a play structure hidden behind some trees, so you can still have a picnic in some shade. There’s also a library across the field.
Here’s what they have at the Barrington Park splash pad:
We had a lot of fun snacking on watermelon slices beside the water park and shooting the blue cannon.
Our daughter had a lot of fun discovering you could wiggle the handle up and down to make pretty waves in the sky.
(Sorry to the little girl who was a casualty of friendly fire.)
Montgomery Memorial Park is one of them.
When Mommy heard that comment, she promptly commented, “big or small, we do them all.” So, here’s the review.
There is a splash pad at Montgomery Memorial Park beside the Old Town Hall Community Centre in downtown Ottawa.
It has one blue post that squirts out water on all four sides.
The end.
Last summer, our little family tried to visit all of the splash pads in Ottawa. There are over 90 splash pads in the city and we managed to hit 32 of them.
Some of our all-time favourite splash pads include Brewer Park, South Nepean Park, and Cardinal Creek Valley.
Now that summer vacation is here, our little girl is all excited. Ottawa splash pads have been open since the May long weekend. (The water was turned on May 19, 2013.) It’s been a rainy spring and summer so far, but that’s okay. We still have fun!
We’ve had a chance to play in a few splash pads here and there over the past few weeks but haven’t had a chance to blog about them.
So many splash pads to visit, so little time. Game on.
Two nice fellas from the city of Ottawa explained that there was a problem with the computer, but it would be fixed soon, and sorry about the inconvenience. Who knew there were computers running these sprinklers!
Fairfield Park has a modern water park:
The only question is what’s the water pressure like?
Our two-year old daughter is learning to go potty when she has that ‘funny feeling.’ (Thank goodness for Mo Willems and Smarties. He’s our favourite author right now and he blogs as well which is pretty darn cool.)
Any hoo, we had a funny feeling, so we’re rushing home.
Yes, it is. And as far as spash pads go, that ain’t a good thing.
Wooden post water parks in Ottawa tend to be low pressure, older splash pads. (Compare that with the new dragon splash pad that was just built at Chapman Mills Main Street Park that has a water breathing dragon!)
The splash pad at Elmridge Park is one of the better wooden post splash pads (but that’s not saying much):
Not much to say about this splash pad. We didn’t stay long at all. After all, it’s a hop, skip and a jump to Fairfield Park and that one has a much newer splash pad facility.
The Jasmine Park splash pad is a nice urban water park in Gloucester near Gloucester high school.
The park was empty when we swung by save for the City of Ottawa truck that was driving around. No kids, but it is the rainy season after all.
We had a nice little picnic and then head off for our next adventure!
A few days ago, it was nothing but rain which was refreshing since it’s been such a hot summer. We weren’t able to go splashpadding, but our street flooded so we were able to float our boat and go puddle jumping instead.
Ahh, summer.
We’re running out of time to go see all 90+ splash pads in Ottawa. We hit a few more splash pads out in Gloucester this week, so we’ll post those shortly.
Here’s to the last few weeks of our staycation!
We’ve been to 28 splash pads in Ottawa so far and this is the first dragon that we’ve seen. The new splash pad at Chapman Mills Main Street Park is worth checking out. (Not to be confused with the older and less impressive splash pad at Chapman Mills.)
This is the second stop we made with our older cousin. The water park is right beside Greenbank, but you’d never know it from the main road.
The splash pad was fun, but I think the girls had a bigger blast playing hide-and-go seek at the nearby older wooden play structure.
The strong water pressure shoots up so high that the jet of water is visible through the trees from the road. I say it’s a two star because the water pressure is so strong. Mommy wasn’t quite sure.
“Well, you said ‘one’ was a broken splash pad.. And this had a bridge, too.”
So, two and a half stars?
“I guess so.”
One more splash pad and then we’ll go to lunch. (And, I think the next one will be the last splash pad in Barrhaven for us to check out. Rock on.)
We’re back in Barrhaven today visiting splash pads with our cousin. Kilbirnie Park has a lovely splash pad – I really liked the yellow archway!
The Kilbirnie Park splash pad was pretty popular today. (The gazebo stroller parking lot was full.) Lots of kids playing around with their day care providers and mommies and daddies. Kids were climbing the nearby play structure, running through the water park and doing arts and crafts with city of Ottawa staff off to the side.
Good times.
Oh, and the splash pad ain’t bad:
There’s lots of shade beside the play structure, and I particularly liked the stone amphitheater effect around the water park.
The very cool spiderweb play structure is designed for older kids, but our little girl had fun climbing the first section with Daddy hovering around. There is a second climbing structure beside the spider web that our little monkey could climb and slide down by herself.
The thing that pours water out at the top seemed a little broken… Or at least the water pressure was pretty low compared to the exact same water structure at Brookshire Park. All in all, we gave the splash pad at Walden Park four stars.
We’re coming in from the Carp Water Splash Park and we’re happy to hit another 5 star water park in Ottawa. Here’s what they have at the Brookshire Park splash pad:
I guess it all depends on how close you live to Carp.
The Carp splash pad is quite nice. It’s the eastern most Ottawa splash pad and it’s definitely not boring with so much to do:
It’s true. Today is a gorgeous summer day and lots of families are out splashing around. (Great to see the splash parks being used, but it takes longer to snap photos of splash pads without getting anyone in the shots.)
We managed to visit three splash pads out in the west end: Carp Water Splash Park, Brookshire Park in South Marsh, and Walden Park near the Kanata Golf and Country Club. Wow, they have some nice splash pads.
What was your favorite part?
“I think my favorite part was seeing the horse,” said Mommy.
“Seeing the whales and the dinosaur at the museum,” said our little girl. (We went to the Muesum of Nature after lunch. This post was written in the car.)
Sigh. What was your favorite part at the splash pads?
“I liked the water spray. The first water spray with the flower.”
Me too. Carp had a pretty cool splash pad. We’ll tell you all about it when our little one goes down for a nap. Actually, I think Mommy and Daddy need a nap too.
We really liked how this splash pad and park is surrounded by forest. Sure, it’s behind the Telesat buildings and the Queensway, but if you park on Aurele, you have to walk through the forest to get to the splash pad. Plus, if you continue through the forest behind the splash pad, the path comes out at another park.
Even though the nearby play structures are simply okay, I really like the splash pad at Queensway Park in Gloucester.
I thought this park was a four-star, but Mommy thought it was less – she thought the splash pad at Cedarcroft Park was better because of the all-around mist factor. I liked the splash pad at Queensway Park because it’s the first park where our daughter got completely soaked. (Thank goodness Mommy remembered to pack a complete change of clothes.)
I think our little girl liked the Queensway Park splash pad because it has simple spray up fountains that don’t vary in intensity so you know exactly what you’re in for. The two buckets that fill up and dump water below are for the more daring…
The water park at Cedarcroft Park is a lot of fun:
The splash pad at Cedarcroft Park is only a few blocks away from the Meadowbrook park splash pad, but it’s arguably cooler (literally). The great thing about this splash pad is that there’s almost 360 degrees of water fun – it’s easy to get soaking wet in this one. There’s more mist than spray which Mommy loved.
Right beside the splash pad is a rocket ship play structure that looks fairly new. There’s a toddlerish structure, a preschool agish structure, and a gigantic hill which must be a blast to toboggan down in winter.
You’ll have to decide if the splash pad at Cedarcroft Park is cooler than the splash pad at Queensway Park.
We thought it was broken at first, but that’s only because we had to hold the button in the first time to get it going.
The Meadowbrook Park splash pad looks like it has been recently redone (compared to the older wooden post at the Cyrville Park splash pad.) We liked the cool interlock and shade. The interlock looks like something that someone would have in their backyard with their pool.
The splash pad itself is just mediocre compared to the super cool play structure beside it. It’s a vast multi level structure that really makes this place.
We had fun swinging on the swings and kicking the water at the splash pad once the water pressure died down. The splash pads at Gloucester are getting better and better. Can’t wait for the next one!
Don’t be tricked by the close-up photo of misty goodness. This is another basic splash pad, although it does have a cool trough that we’ve never seen before.
We liked the pirate ship play structure beside the water park. It’s like a smaller version of the pirate ship our friends showed us at Millenium Park in Orleans. (Unfortunately, the Cyrville Park ship structure has been vandalized with spray paint.)
The red water trough was a cool novelty, but we were more interested in the pirate ship. (Especially because there’s that great Dora episode where the pirate piggies take the costumes and Dora needs our help to get them back! Argh!)
There are several splash pads that live just behind the Horse who Lives on Innes Road.
The splash pad at Stonehenge Park in Gloucester is closest to the pasture at Apple Saddlery, but this water park is pretty basic:
Usually after we check out the splash pad, we play on the slides at the park but the only play structure nearby was for older kids. Our little pre-school toddler couldn’t climb the ladder to get to the slide, so off it was on our adventure.
When Mommy decides to go splash padding, she really goes all out. Personally, I was getting a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to hit all 90+ splash pads in Ottawa. After all, it’s almost August, FutureShop has already started it’s “Back to School” marketing, and we haven’t hit a quarter of the splash pads yet. (The splash pad at Silverbirch Park is number 17.)
But Mommy is very strategic. She chose Gloucester as our next spot because there are so many clustered together. Plus, we saw a horse on Innes road. I’m sure he has a real name, but we decided to name him the Horse who Lives on Innes Road since it sounds like a book title.
There are five splash pads in the area… This is only the beginning!
It was our cousin’s first splash pad ever, so she really just watched from the sidelines as my daughter and I splashed around…
My favourite part is the giant red circle of happiness that sprays refreshing misty goodness as you run through it. I think my daughter preferred washing her Dora sunglasses in the fountain after the water pressure dropped.
The adjacent play structure is a little older, but we still had fun sitting in the swings. Unlike other splash pads which are on a timer and turn on in the morning, it looks like the Silverbirch Park water park is always on – at least, it turns on in the wee hours of the morning.
As far as wooden post water parks go, the one at the Charing Park splash pad is okay. (It’s nowhere near the coolness that you find in splash pads like Brewer Park or South Nepean Park. After all, it’s a wooden post.) Once you push the button, the water sprays for some time (unlike some other older parks where you have to hold the button in.)
Overall, if you’re looking for a good splash pad in Ottawa, I’d probably give this one a pass. There’s a play structure beside the splash pad, but it’s an older play structure as well without some of the bangs and whistles of the newer play structures.
We went to watch Mommy play ultimate tonight, but unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of girls for the game so she didn’t have much time to chillax on the sidelines with us. The splash pad at Charing Park didn’t really hold our interest. We played in the sand and went down the slide at the play structure and then rinsed our hands at the splash pad. That’s pretty much it.
There’s so much to like about this water park. Emerald Wood Park itself has some great play structures nestled into a foresty backdrop, so it only makes sense that the spash pad fits this woodland theme.
Unfortunately, there was no water for the turtle. (A dad later told us that he called the city. Apparently, this splash pad will be fixed on Friday, so we’ll have to come back.)
Turtle Park looks like it could be a nice splash pad.
There are a few different water structures at this splash pad:
(We arrived just before nine during our daddy-daughter date this morning after snapping some photos of the water park at Brewer Park. That place is incredible! Two words. Water. Slide.
Anyway, apparently Ottawa splash pads run between 9AM and 9PM, so we’ll have to come back.)
Yup, Rogers has LTE coverage here as well.
Five stars are not enough to rate the splash pad at Brewer Park in Ottawa South.
It’s probably closer to seven stars (out of five stars.) Five stars because there are so many water fountains and structures, six stars because it’s so big that it takes up two levels, and seven stars because there’s a water slide. Wow.
If you haven’t been to Brewer Park, you need to go. Hanging out at this splash pad felt like we were at a destination resort. (The nice brown wooden chairs on the upper level are a nice touch.)
The splash pad itself is pretty weak.
I like Roy Duncan Park in Westboro. It has a pretty gazebo beside a simple splash pad. Three different home day care providers swung by with their little kids to play in the water while we snacked on our blanket.
The splash pad is basic, but enough.
We went to an ultimate (frisbee) game the other night and our friends told us to check out the splash pad at Brewer. (Apparently, there’s a water slide!) It’s not listed on the city of Ottawa splash pad website yet, but it is included in their open data (kml map). Did a quick google search and Brewer park does look cool. Maybe we’ll head out tomorrow after all…
Speaking of Google, they’ve found us.
We started this site on July 17. We signed up for Google Alerts to see how long it would take for Google to index our website. Two days later (July 19), we got a little email saying they had found us.
I just googled Ottawa Splash Pads and at the time of writing, we’re sitting at number eight on the first page. Let’s see if we can’t get to number one.
(Actually, the first two spots are held by the city of Ottawa, and I don’t think we’ll be able to be knock them out of first place. Still, it’d be nice to become somewhat of an authority and land at number three.)
If you have any splash pads in Ottawa that you recommend, let us know. This website recommends Brewer, Centerpointe, Plant and Citiplace. Can’t wait to check them out.
Wow, is it ever cool.
We had more fun playing on the play structure beside the splash pad, but this water park might be nice on a really hot day. At least Rogers had LTE coverage here.
The wooden post is basically a tap for filling up buckets. Push the button and get some water. Fill up a bucket or soak your feet. Our little dinosaur chose to soak her shoes, but the dried river bed in the nearby sandy play structure makes me think that other kids choose the first option.
The metal post, on the other hand is deceptively cool. It’s the first time we’ve seen the “Vortex” with its three brightly coloured button. Push the metal button and instead of water shooting out of some other nozzle, the water blasts out of the button itself!
You’ll probably end up with a faceful of water the first few times before you figure out how to direct the jet with your hands. It’s a pretty powerful spray which is probably why the play structures are so far away.
There’s a label on the “Vortex” post with a website address and that’s when I realize that “Vortex” isn’t the name of the metal post… it’s the name of the company that makes some very cool water structures.
After surfing around their site, they have a very nice definition for splash pads:
“A Splashpad® is a zero-depth aquatic solution that takes its cue from nature by combining the sensations of different water movements – flowing, misting, jetting – with over 200 standard products for uncompromising design and unequalled play adventure. From a small 500 ft2 neighborhood installation to a spectacular 10,000ft2 amusement park , a Splashpad® provides entertainment for the entire family.” (Vortex, Splashpad Experience)
Portobello Park is great and the splash pad is very popular.
Lots of families playing today and a large day care group came by for lunch. Our daughter and her friend had a lovely picnic beside the splash pad.
There are several different water activities here:
There’s lots to like about this place. We liked how easy it is to turn on the water. Some splash pads have a button that is hard to hold in for the water to squirt (Chapman Mills splash pad, for example.). Portobello Park splash pad has a single black dome on top of the fire hydrant post that is touch activated so even little kids can turn on this splash pad (as long as they’re tall enough to reach the top.) Sometimes the splash pad didn’t turn on right away, so you could see kids rubbing the button trying to get it to magically turn on.
The splash pad was pretty basic. A simple blue post that sprays water when you press a button. The nice thing was that you didn’t have to hold down the button for the splash pad to work. The second nice thing was that Rogers had LTE coverage in this area. That’s about it…
The splash pad is a single red tower with two buttons – one controls the two nozzles on the pole and the other button controls a spray way up high on the roof. Take your pick.
The button has to be continuously pressed for the water to come out, but its really too hard for a child under six to press, so you’d need an older child or adult to hold the button down.
Chapman Mills seems like an older park before fancy splash pads made. The park is made out of wood, and it’s quite lovely. The fenced-in toddler area would be a draw.
Personally, I didn’t like the fact that Rogers only had 3G in this are because google maps on my iPad failed. What did people do before GPS?
The splash pad is pretty simple. There are two concrete walls with whales engraved on the side and a water spray nozzle.
You have to hold down the button to get the water to come out but it’s hard to tell because the park was broken. The one nozzle that had water leaking out only worked if you held the button in.
It’s a good water saving strategy, but what kid is going to want to hold the button while everyone else is splashing around? (You know, if the park actually worked.) The rest of the park is pretty basic – not the kind of place you’d be able to spend copious amounts of time.
It’s hard to feel excited about this broken splash pad.
(The place was so busy when we went that we weren’t able to snap photos of all the coolness because we didn’t want to accidentally photograph any kids.)
It’s almost like there’s two splash pads side-by-side. One is a circular water fountain area and the other is like a basketball court.
Did you know that Ottawa has over 90 splash pads scattered in parks across the city? We’re going to try to visit them all!
C’mon, let’s get to it. I know that we can do it!
