South Park and Sprayground (179 Good Days in Tacoma: A Quiet, Shady Park)

While the weather is warm, we're on a mission to cover all of Tacoma's spray parks and wading pools. Yesterday we spent a few hours at South Park, a surprisingly bucolic spot tucked just a block behind South Tacoma Way, in an industrial area.

The mood at this park was much more subdued than at the other spraygrounds we've visited, even when a local preschool arrived and stayed for a while. The sprayground is a little smaller and has fewer features, there's nothing that shoots or dumps water. It's surrounded by mature trees that provide great shade, and make a perfect spot to sit and read a book while the kids play. (Something I could only dream of doing before this year, ages 4 and 6 are pretty sweet.)

Before and after the preschool, there were no crowds at all at South Park, just enough children to keep things interesting. In addition to the sprayground, there's a large and small Kompani play structure, and big-kid swings, with a wood-chip surface. It's all close enough to park a camp chair under a tree between the water and the playground and see what everyone is doing.

I have to mention how great the staff were at this park. My eldest collided with another child and got a bloody nose, and they were great about standing back and letting me deal with it, then gently encouraging her to get back out there and play when she was feeling nervous. Later, they had a fairly big group of kids of all ages totally focused on making origami swans. We were there at snack time, (4:00, free for anyone under the age of 18) and they went over the rules and led the kids through washing their hands and lining up for snacks with authority, without being overbearing. The staff definitely contributed to the calm, happy mood of the place.

South Park is a great place to go for shade and water play on a hot summer day. (Or a nice playground any other time) Partially fenced and set back a block from busy South Tacoma Way, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone watching multiple age groups.

South Park (Picture on Metro Parks website is old.)
50th St. at South Puget Sound Ave.
Tacoma

parks, parks map, Summer fun, playgrounds, Summer playground program