Thompson Park Playground

A ring of six swings hanging from one hexagonal frame is the signature of Thompson Park, a sports park off Banks Road in Mount Wellington, Auckland. The playground sits on a woodchip island between two big sports fields, the home ground of Mt Wellington Rugby League Club, so there is room to run in every direction once the climbing is done.¹

Equipment

Older kids head for the high timber play tower, which carries a roofed lookout, a spiral slide and a long run of blue rope nets. Smaller children have their own junior module with steps, a tunnel, a climbing net, a short yellow slide and a steering wheel.¹ Between the two are rubber stepping mounds and low balance beams, and along one edge stands a set of bars at different heights for swinging and hanging, which one reviewer counts as fitness equipment for adults too.

The council rates the play space for preschool, junior and senior ages, and a Google reviewer notes some pieces are challenging for little ones, with plenty of chances to learn and experiment. Because the swings face inward around the frame, kids can see each other mid swing, a detail reviewers single out. Several also remark that the equipment is clean and well kept.

Access and Inclusion

A concrete ramp leads into the play area, and a sealed path runs past its kerbed edge.¹ The playground is not fenced. One side backs onto the car park, a downside one reviewer raises, so runners need watching there; the other sides open onto the fields rather than roads.

Practical Info

There is no shade over the playground, so bring hats and sunscreen in summer; mature trees stand at the park edges only.¹ Park at the end of Thompson Park Road, where toilets and changing rooms sit at the end of the car park, open 5am to 8pm daily. There is a picnic table by the playground, and walkers can come in from Harwood Road. Dogs are banned on the playground and sports fields and must be on a leash elsewhere.¹

For a second stop, Mount Wellington Children's Park is about 600 metres away.