Confession time. I’m not a park-loving mum. I get a tad bored pushing the same swing a thousand times and mustering up excitement for sandpit creations. So I went on a mission to find some of the best playgrounds in the world: amazing play spaces that simply couldn’t fail to spark the imagination of both kids and park-weary parents alike.
Now all I have to do is buy a round-the-world ticket to get to them all! Check out our list …
The Beijing Olympics’ swimming venue has been converted in to this incredible water park. The Happy Magic Water Cube features slides, a wave pool and a lazy river – as well as giant gelatinous jellyfish and undersea-themed architecture. Happy indeed! (via Architizer)
Giant building blogs with noodle-like connectors are the highlight of the flagship Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in NYC. Kids can build their own play spaces, interact with the ‘listening forest’ or indulge in water play. (via Imagination Playground)
A ‘shipwreck’ on a Copehagen Street is a an immediate invitation for adventure. Trinidad, The Lost Coaster features a broken-up, precariously angled hull surrounded by cargo boxes, ropes, logs and an undulating sea floor. (via Monstrum)
Sydney’s Blaxland Riverside Park is a huge landscape of tunnels, slides and nets, with a flying fox, sand pit, waterplay area and treehouse thrown in! (via JMD Design)
Built from recycled wind turbine blades, Wikado Playground in Rotterdam, Netherlands takes the traditional Dutch windmill on a wild, deconstructed ride! (via inhabitat.com)
OK, so technically it’s not a playground, but this ingenious space that combines reading and playing is well worth a mention. Kid’s Republic Bookstore in Beijing invites visitors to follow a colourful trail, crawl through tunnels, climb secret stairs, and find an elevated circular nook in which to devour stories. (via Design Rulz)
Better have the ‘germ talk’ with your kids before visiting Charlton Park in London’s Greenwich, as these play structures look good enough to lick! Designed by Gary Webb, this candy-like play space is is dubbed ‘Squeaky Clean’ and effectively blurs the line between art installation and playground. (via Frieze Projects East)
