One of the great ways to enjoy playing outside is to visit local parks and play areas. We are really lucky to live in a part of England where there are lots of green spaces. Over the years we have tried and tested lots of playgrounds and gone on many day trips. Here are my favourite 3 places in East Berkshire to play outside.

The Look Out, Swinley Forest, Bracknell

Situated in a lovely area of woodland, the Look Out Discovery Centre features an indoor science exhibition with a range of fabulous hands on activities for kids to explore, great for rainy days. However, the jewel in the crown here is the opportunity for outdoor adventure. The forest has paths to explore on foot or by bike, there is a den building area and large play area. The play area is split into three parts; an inclusive area, 3 – 6 year old area and 7 – 11 year old area. The inclusive area includes carefully planned equipment (wheelchair accessible roundabout, slide and swing). This accessible space is for children to play together. It is also ideal for toddlers who are just beginning to want to explore more independently, as potential trip hazards are reduced with sloped access to equipment like the slide rather than stairs which new walkers may find trickier to navigate. There is no entry fee to explore the outdoor spaces but there is a small charge for parking.

Top tip: After building your den settle in to tell ‘campfire’ stories.

Dinton Pastures Country Park, Wokingham

Dinton Pastures has a well-designed play park built with a lot of natural materials. There is a wealth of opportunity for free play and sensory exploration here. The natural materials and leafy surrounds encourage visitors to reconnect with nature. Walks are enjoyable here, with a lovely lake area. Parking is ‘Pay and Display’.

Top tips: The play park is quite big and on busy days it can be tricky to keep track of little ones, it may be helpful to put your munchkin in a brightly coloured t-shirt. Arm yourself with a picnic blanket as seating is limited in the play park. Visitors are encouraged to take rubbish away with them and therefore there are no rubbish bins in the play park, do take a bag along to gather up any ice cream wrappers!

 Wellington Country Park, Riseley

This is our favourite place to go as a family! There is just so much to do and for two years we had an annual pass to maximise our opportunity to visit. WCP has a lot of lovely space set out around the side of a lake with a variety of play areas to explore. There is every kind of outdoor play you could possibly want in a day, including adventure play areas, sand play, splash pad, toddler play areas, a small soft play, huge slides, jumping pillow, mini golf, nature trails, miniature railway, farm and even some model dinosaurs! As the play areas are well spaced out in the countryside setting, even when the park is busy it doesn’t feel overcrowded. During school holidays and long weekends there are special events to enjoy such as inflatables or circus shows. Each year improvements are made to the park and everything is amazingly well kept.

Top tip: arrive early to get the most out of your day, there is a lot to enjoy!

To get more of our top tips and tools join our Confident Communicators Group (supporting development for 2 – 5 year olds).

The group is open to parents/ carers/ grandparents and early years practitioners.

Do come along and join us!