Phoenix Park Playground

3 Ivanhoe Grove,
Malvern East VIC

What a find! This park isn’t new, but I only discovered it last week. I was wanting to meet a Footscray friend (I’m in Cranbourne) and hoping to find somewhere child friendly, and half way, to grab lunch and hang out. Well Phoenix Park more than fulfilled my requirements and expectations. Just off the Monash, it was the perfect spot to meet up.

This very large, entirely wooden playground has soo many good things going for it, I was actually surprised to find it was so quiet when we visited.

For starters it is fenced! There is one small opening into this very vast playground and the play space has been cleverly designed to have seats right next to the entry/exit point. So for my friend and I we parked ourselves down and let my daughter go off and explore. We knew she was safe, and we could relax with our cuppas.

That’s right, in addition to being a great play space there’s an on site café. We grabbed coffees and a cookie and later returned for lunch. I later learnt that the Small Ideas app would have gotten me a free muffin…so remember that if you choose to visit.

It is literally right there….

Throughout Phoenix Park there is a little bit of a transport theme, or at the least, lots of steering wheels and vehicles to climb on and “drive”.

Missy Moo thoroughly enjoying the chimes, and the many wobbly bridges throughout the park.

IMG_9234 (2) — I’m often jealous of her outfits; today was one of those days.

I think the quality I loved most about this park was just how much clever planning had gone into it. There were heaps of swings throughout, tonnes of slides, seats for parents everywhere, and despite being old it was just classically cool. We all really loved it.

Here’s a little video to show it off a little more…. you’ll see me point out the café at the end.

As for the café we really enjoyed it. The food was yummy, and there was a large range for both adults and kids. The location is superb, and I imagine it probably gets pretty busy on a nice sunny day or on weekends. But on site ice-cream and coffee, that’s a win from me.

If you have bigger kids, there is also a skate park on site too…enjoy!

Check out Phoenix Park Playground and Café next time you’re heading to Chaddy, or wanting to meet up with some friends. You’ll love it!