There are some great places to play hide n seek with little ones, a cafe and a skate park to burn…read moresome energy off. This fort built play area will give hours of enjoyment and with toilets, shade, swings and climbing equipment for all ages there is plenty to do. Enjoy.

Sometimes I wish I had kids, just so that I could have an excuse to spend hours at playgrounds like…read morethis. Then I remember that it's a free world and disapproving looks from the more mature members of the grown-up community does not prevent me from having a jolly good time on what has to be one of the most fantastic playgrounds in suburbia. It has everything. Everything. Wobbly things, running things, things to stick your head into and get it stuck, swings, slides, bridges, flying foxes and other general obstacles. I can only imagine how brilliant a game of tiggy would be (but at night, so as not to injure small bodies with my own lumbering clumsy one). Built by a team of parents, friends and workers, this playground is a wonderful gift to children, child-minders and child-minded alike. A great way to spend an afternoon in the sun, or even the gloom.

Templestowe you have done it again with yet another totally awesome park. This one is located on…read moreThe Grange and is surrounded by large houses. The park itself is always pretty quiet as not many cars tend to peruse this street. There is a fun playground with lots of unique play equipment. It is very colourful as well. There is a swing set, a climbing frame and some springy toys for young children as well. For older patrons there is a netball and basketball hoop complete with little concrete squares to allow a small game. For cricket fans there is even a set of three wickets in the middle of the reserve. There is plenty of grass to run around on and a nice scattering of trees that provide just the right amount of shade. To help you enjoy the surrounds are three wooden seats. It is a really nice place to relax on a warm afternoon and is big enough for a few people to share without feeling cramped.

This place is sooo fun. The play ground was huge, the slides were really fun to go on, and the food…read moreis amazing! This is a perfect way to spend a birthday party, and a rainy day. This is highly recommended to me. And now I recommend this place to you. Trust me, it is so fun, time will fly past in an instant.

My kids loved it. So did there dad big kid. Customer service was excellent friendly helpful. Great…read moreway to spend hot or rainy day.

Quarries Park is probably the only inner city patch of green that can boast an epic adventure…read moreplayground, skate park, sports oval, BBQ facilities, open dog spaces and breath taking views of the city. Quarries Park lies on the edge of Clifton Hill, bordering the Eastern Freeway and Merri Creek and is a series of tiered, manicured spaces. Due to Clifton Hill's geographic nature of being......a hill......it has the topographical benefit of several vantage points over looking the city, the best being Quarries Park. There are two sports ovals catering to local cricket teams and after school footy matches. The middle plateau has a covered BBQ area and a playground that even the adults quietly envy. Large wooden structures, forts, dizzy poles (im not sure if thats its actual name but its the best description I could come up with) swings, sand pits, bridges, and climbing ropes. The skate park usually has a handful of teen/young adult skaters who are respectful of the space, the skate park is far enough removed from other facilities to avoid potential "stacks". The real point of difference is the lookout, a peaceful space to gaze out over the city and be quietly thankful you are standing there and not stuck in traffic. It would be 5 star but during the late afternoon the noise from the Eastern Freeway commuters is rather audible.

Absolutely over the moon with this playground - which we found by accident while desperate for a…read moretoilet! The place is themed like a moon base. There is a moon crater, a moon worm, rockets, a space ship etc. Boo loved the mini rockets and the music making areas. The place is spotless and very well maintained - and lots to entertain for hours! There is an area at the back that has some information and learning areas about plants. Try pushing the button on the rocket! All in all we had a ball here and wish this was near our house as boo loved it! Check out the pictures to see her smiling face! There is a Liberty swing and toilets and a big car park.

Mahoneys Reserve in Forest Hill is HUGE. When I say huge I don't just mean HUGE, I mean MEGA HUGE…read more Read on and you will totally agree with me! Reasons to validate not only how HUGE this place is, but also how damn good it is: 1.This place has two general grassy areas surrounded by trees. These are wicked picnic spots with fluffy, comfy grass to lounge on. There are plenty of shaded areas as well as sunny spots. 2. It is right next to the Bob Saker Oval, which has a fence and is great for allowing your furry friend to run around without fearing that he/she might run away. Make sure to clean up after them though as this is used for sport regularly. 3. There is a massive multi-purpose field with goals and line markings used by various clubs. This is fenced off however so you will have to join a club to utilise this. 4. There is a large, un-fenced soccer field complete with goals at one end. This is a little shabbier than the oval with the fence, but at least it's free right? 5. There is a decent sized kids playground behind the oval. It is great for kids, or for getting a good view of the footy games played on weekends. 6. There is a heap of parking spots. 7. There are batting cages around the back of the clubhouse. (Did I mention there was a clubhouse?) 8. The Clubhouse is available for hire. Seriously guys, Mahoneys Reserve is the place to be if you are into sport. It totally rocks and is awesome to relax at on a sunny day.

Big enough to lose your kid in .. (Which one mum did whilst we were there)…read more Big wooden playground which has 2 sections, one for older and one for the younger kids. My 4 yo enjoyed himself .. And it tired him out.

If you've got a kid with energy to burn, this is the place they need to be. My 18 month old nephew…read morehas two speeds; fast and faster. This was an awesome place for him to run himself ragged. Until he ran himself into a table and the fun was over... The big play area has some cool stuff in it. Lots of slides, cushioned rollers and hidey holes *just* big enough for supervising adults to squeeze through, and in the centre a big funnel that sucks up and spits out balls. This delighted the kids to no end. There's also a smaller kids area for the 1-3 year olds and a jumping castle for bigger kids. They say suitable from 1-12, but I'd guess probably 1-9 is more accurate. There is an option to leave your kids there while you shop, but none of the [very] young attendants came anywhere near the play area. Not sure if it was because there were no unsupervised kids at the time, but probably only a decent option for older kids that can look after themselves. I don't know what the standard pricing is for these kind of places so I thought $10 per kid for 1-2 year olds was a tad steep given their attention spans. It's $4 for supervising adults which covers the 'complimentary' drink. Then again, he loved it and will no doubt sleep well after the run around so I'm sure his Mum got her money worth.

I am unable to post my feedback directly onto this companies FB page, as they keep deleting my…read morereview. So I will have to post it here. I do not appreciate your company deleting my review of your facility. This is social media, and you need to take the good with the bad. Perhaps the best way to 'handle' my poor review of your facility, is to respond that you will try better next time, and perhaps look into allowing children under 1 year of age in for free or a reasonable fee, since you do not have any real play facility for them. I will re write my review below so you can adequately respond, should you choose too. Also know, that my mothers group of 129 women are linked to this page, and are expecting to see my review here. So disappointed in the Docklands Monkey Mania. We called the day before and confirmed a deal, as our group of near 10 mothers had young babies 5 months and younger. The staff member gave her name and said 100%, what she was saying could be done. As each member of our group arrived, the manager Prim was at the entry, and proceeded to 'argue' with each mother in our group, stating that the staff member gave us the wrong information and the deal was not possible. Then after arguing, he gave us the original deal 'just this once'. He knew from the first mother, that there were at least 10 of us under the impression we could get that deal. And yet he tried to push each and every mother to pay full price. I found his attitude to be condescending and his behavior ridiculous. Our entire group paid the adult entry, PLUS each of us ordered lunch (which took over an hour to arrive). I don't think Prim understands business. I don't think he understands that perhaps a group of near 10 mothers should be treated respectfully so they choose to return again. However, I can tell you, none of us will be. Prim ensured we each knew the 'deal' we had been offered was never to be repeated. The 'deal' was to allow our 4 month old babies into the play center for free, instead of $10.50. Why in the world should we pay $10.50 per infant, when there are no facilities for the babies to play. There was not even a safe area to lay out a mat to allow the babies to play on the ground. As stated, I am hugely disappointed with the way each and every one of us were treated upon entry. We will not be returning ***********UPDATE*************** Holly from Monkey mania responded to me via facebook message with Dear *Me* and the Mothers Group, You appear internet savvy as displayed by your proficient use of Facebook. We would have expected that with those skills you would have seen our entry pricing on our website prior to attending and failing that respected our large entry fee poster at our reception. Instead you have chosen to rely on a conversation over the phone with an employee that was held during a busy school holiday day. As much as we would like to throw our wonderful facility open to all our customers for free, unfortunately we are a business that strives to provide a safe and clean environment for our customers. To do this we unfortunately have to charge. Shame on you for calling a staff member's behaviour, who is merely following policy, as "condescending and ridiculous". You further assert that there are no facilities for anyone that was in your group to play. Interestingly, the video footage of that we have just viewed would seem to contradict that. You also assert that everyone in your group ordered lunch. Again our video footage would contradict that. I do note that you removed that comment in your second posting. For those that did order lunch, we do apologise as our kitchen did have an electrical issue today that did cause a delay. For that we are extremely apologetic. ************************** You decide if you want these sorts of people around your children, teaching them manners and such.

My equal fave nature place in the Northern burbs is Queen's Park. It's frequented by families,…read morechildren, the elderly and fitness fans who take advantage of the many perks about this tranquil park. There are two playgrounds either side of the lake, walking and bike tracks, a gorgeous pergola/gazebo complete with white turret roof. Situated right on the lake, this magnificent area is perfect for wedding photos and is quite often used as a place to get married or to have wedding pics taken. When the giant water feature display comes on in the background the beauty of the scene it creates, particularly from the pergola with ferns and lush greenery in the background, truly takes your breath away. The Queen's Lake Cafe is situated on the opposite side of the gazebo next to one of the two playgrounds. They serve up delicious, homely and oh-so-worth-not-packing-a-picnic sort of food. Fresh rolls, focaccia and hot food, as well as perfecto tea and coffee, this is one playground you won't mind taking the kids to! Even though it gets busy here and not as big as Coburg Lake it's always seemed to be more serene and peaceful each time I've been. Seating a plenty, picnic tables, swimming complex, cafe, playgrounds, free BBQ facilities, walking and biking tracks, peace, wildlife, romantic.... The list goes on and on. The best thing to do is come and experience it for yourself, particularly if you live on this side of Melbs.

Ive been going to Queens Park for over 30 years! I used to go there as a little kid with my parents…read moreand now Im still going there as a parent with my little kids now! Queens Park is a beautiful park and is more of a "botanical gardens" than a regular or wooded park. It contains a beautiful lake with 3 man-made islands and a large water fountain in the lake. Many different species of bird live on the islands including ducks, coots, black swans and others. Turtles can also be spotted. The walk around the lake can be done in 10 minutes but its nicer to amble slowly! There are 2 playgrounds in the park - on either side of the lake and have different equipment to each other - meaning that the kids get 2 playground experiences rather than one generic one. Parking is also remarkably easy around the perimeter of the park and it is quite normal to see joggers running through the park or newly weds having their wedding photos taken in the lush setting. The park borders a swimming pool (open in summer) and the Moonee Ponds bowling club and contains a small cafe near the western side playground. The park is perfect for a romantic walk around the lake at twilight with your lover (it is well lit with lamp posts and is not dangerous at night) yet is also a perfect place for taking the kids to burn off some of their excess energy in the daytime and is also a great place for a jog or exercise session!