This guest blog post is from Alex Smith of PlayGround Chronicles - thanks Alex for this wonderful post! What's your favourite playground or piece of playground equipment? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

This top ten list of fun playground equipment is a result of flipping through photos and memories of trips to over 30 playgrounds in the last two summers. It’s heavily influenced by the fact that our kids are in the under 5 age bracket. I’m sure a list made in three or four years time will look considerably different.

With Earl’s big blow behind us, there’s still plenty of time to get out and explore our local playgrounds and test some of these top ten pieces before the north winds have their chill effect. We’ll be getting a few more reviews in before shutting down until next summer. Next on deck are the Portland Estates playgrounds.

If you have a suggestion of a playground we should visit, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a note at – playground.chronicles@gmail.com.

For the list below, click on the photos to link to more photos from the same playground and click on the bolded playground name to go to the google map location. (Note from HRM Parent: Also check out our Playground Directory for more info.)

10.

This is the eggbeater at Caudle Park Elementary School. We haven’t come across anything similar. In case you’re wondering an adult can fit and give it a twirl.

9.

See-saws are few and far between in the playgrounds we’ve had an opportunity to visit. These ones located at Ocean View Elementary School, provide a vista on the harbour entrance and the Atlantic beyond – up and down with the waves.

8.

This is the Seussian covered bridge and bubble bay (on the flip side) at John W. MacLeod Fleming Tower Elementary School. A great little spot for an improptu disappearance followed by a back again taa-da in a bubble seconds later.

7.

Twin blue whale spring riders at Tallahassee Community School 1. When you’re taking two under fives to the playground, this is the perfect play piece – no ‘me first’, no quarrels, just fun.

6.

This is the fruitalicious climbing board at the toddler section of the DJ Butler Playground. This is a nicely designed spot for the toddlers that makes them feel like big kids.

5.

This is the beam me up Scotty tire climb at the DeWolfe Park Playground in Bedford. Adults – don’t try and climb up here unless you’re on the slim side.

4.

This is the retro monkey head slide-climber combo – a relic from the 60s or 70s at the St. Mary’s Boat Club Playground. I think it’s safe to say that this is a one of kind find in Halifax.

3.

This rollicking X-Wave² at Oxford Street Public School is a ride ‘em bronco treat that will leave you sproingin’ an achin’ for more.

2.

For small ones with a love for space this shuttle at the Morris Lake Road Playground with the Shearwater base on the horizon is a must. There was a time back in the 1960s when the space motif was a colossal presence in North American playgrounds. Now, not so much.

1.

Rounding off the list in the number 1 spot is a more familiar means of transportation. We’ve dubbed this one, located at Oxford Street Public School, the magic school bus. Our first time here it was a cracking hot day and the playground was chock-a-block full of kids and the bus was getting put through its paces. That day, we made the low, low budget short below. Our son Noah wanted to replicate on a subsequent visit. On that occasion we were alone but he had just as much of a blast on the bus.

Happy playgrounding….

All materials, unless otherwise attributed or credited, copyright ⓒ 2010 Alex Smith.