Spanish Village Park, Bridgeton

Location: 12827 Spanish Village Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044

Amenities: playground, tennis court, picnic shelter, basketball court, ball field

Website: https://www.bridgetonmo.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Spanish-Village-Park-18

Playground ground cover: Wood chips

There are 2 playground structures at Spanish Village Park, however, both need significant ground cover before they can be considered safe for children of any age. You'll see from the picture below, that the preschool slide has approximately a 25-inch drop-off at the bottom of it.

The entire structure is too high above the ground, notice the huge step to climb up the stairs onto the equipment in this next picture.

The playground is rather old but still has plenty to do. There is a bubble window, tic tac toe board, slides, and lots of bars and poles.

The backside of the structure has bouncy spring toys, and the cement bases holding them to the ground are exposed.

She had fun on the bouncy horse after I turned the plastic handguards around to empty water from them - might be a better solution to drill holes in the backside of them to drain water - if it rains during warm weather these are sure to breed mosquitoes!

The second playground structure is designed for school-aged children but it too needs more ground cover. Below the hand-over-hand bars, the cement bases are so exposed that they are sticking up several inches out of the ground.

Ballfields

Restrooms

The Lodge at Des Peres Outdoor Pool, Des Peres

Location: 1050 Des Peres Rd., Des Peres, MO 63131

Amenities:

• Family pool with zero-depth entry and children's slide oceanic entry
• cool water whirlpool
• sunning pad with just enough water to cover your feet
• lazy river (single and double tubes)
• flume slide and 75-foot speed slide
• splash pad
• concession stand

Website: https://www.desperesmo.org/150/Aquatic-Centers

The Des Peres outdoor pool is a very nice facility. The family pool is great, with slides for preschoolers - kids need to be able to go up the stairs and sit down on the slide by themselves. Parents can stand at the bottom of the slide to catch their kids.

photo credit: http://chah2o.com/projects/TheLodgeDesPeres.aspx

The splash pad area is wonderful for kids and has a ton of sprayers and moveable animals that spray water.  My daughter loved standing under the buckets waiting for them to dump water on her head.

The 2 big slides are for kids 48" and up and they are fun! The blue slide is slow and twisty and the yellow speed slide sends you flying straight down into the water at a very fast speed. It was intense and so fun!

Love Park, Ballwin

Location: 2239 Mason Lane, Ballwin, MO 63021

Amenities: playground, trails, picnic shelters, restrooms

Website: https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/places/love-park/

Playground ground cover: Poured Rubber

This quiet park in the woods features a 3 story play structure and swing set with 2 baby swings and 2 regular swings. There is not a separate playground structure for toddlers, but on the main playground structure, there is a tunnel at ground level and a tic-tac-toe board.

The large play structure features slides, tunnels, a bubble window, pretend storefronts, steering wheels, gear boards, a rock wall, speakers, and several maze boards.

The restroom and a large pavilion are right next to the playground.

The creek

Note- This playground was reviewed originally in 2011, so I don't want to change the date since it's the first playground on the blog, but I can assure you I've been there since and it looks exactly the same.