Despite today’s “refreshing” blast of cold air, we’re fairly confident in saying that spring has now sprung. Which means it’s time to unleash the kids on the great outdoors — or, at least, let them run around in a park for a while. Despite the recent fiery demise of the once-awesome castle-style playground at High Park, this city still has more than its fair share of outdoor adventures for youngsters to get into. But which to choose? Here, we give you five of the city’s most kid-friendly outdoor spaces.
 

Kew Gardens Playground

Kids come to this quintessential park at the Beach to toss a few shovelsful around the sandbox, ride on the seesaw and cool off in the wading pool (its bottom has been painted in vibrant shades by the neighbourhood’s youngsters). Parental companions, meanwhile, can survey the scene with an iced latte in hand, courtesy of one of the many adjacent purveyors of the stuff. And if the kids tire of the facilities on offer, there’s always the nearby beach awaiting their attention.
2075 Queen St. E., at Lee
 

High Park

Last week’s arson attack on the Jamie Bell Adventure Playground — a rambling kids’ space featuring a multi-tiered wooden castle-like play structure — caused outrage, and locals have vowed to restore the place to its former glory. In the meantime, the cherry blossom-festooned, 400-acre sprawl of High Park has much to offer visitors, including another playground at the upper end and a funky zoo (though it is threatened with closure).
1873 Bloor St. W., at Parkside
 

Dufferin Grove Park

This park is special not just for its vast sandbox, rocking tetherball pole and extensive jungle gym, but for the extracurriculars that regularly take place around them. A pair of wood-burning pizza ovens at the north end kick into gear in the summer, with junior chefs transforming local ingredients into pies that they sell.
875 Dufferin St., between Bloor and College
 

Sherwood Park

This fanciful spread of green, tucked into the belly of the Sherwood Park Ravine, is most celebrated for the burst of blue that is its centrepiece. The wading pool here is the bomb, decked out as it is with such bells and whistles as water-spitting bulrushes and fishing poles. The park has change rooms and an abundance of snaking nature trails.
190 Sherwood Ave., near Lawrence and Mount Pleasant
 

Pricefield Park

This park is impressive for its spectacular proximity to the CP Rail train tracks, where more than three dozen massive locomotives rumble by every day: an eyeful for the Thomas and Friends-loving crowd. The sandbox features a digger that kids can actually ride, and the bounty of the nearby Summerhill LCBO looms as a post-park reward for the more mature parkgoer.
50 Pricefield Rd.