Two-and-a-half-year-old Elliot Banyer's favourite thing to do at the park is play in the sand and scoop it up with the digger.
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His baby sister Josie, who's 10 months old, loves going down the slippery slide.
Mum Trish Banyer says, currently, their favourite park was Boundless Playground in Parkes.
"It's just a nice environment and there's so many different activities for all different ages," Ms Banyer said.
"We were here a week ago, we're back here today and we're probably going to be coming again next week."
And it seems they're not the only ones who think the park is great. According to a new University of Canberra report Boundless Playground is the most popular playground in Canberra.
"I'm not surprised that the park has been named the most popular in Canberra, I think it's because it's central, it's new and upgraded and the facilities are quiet good," Ms Banyer said.
"You can come here with kids of different ages so there's something for really young children or with some of my friends who have older children we can meet here and the kids can have a good time."
The report, which surveyed 1300 people, found Canberra playgrounds, both destination and local, played an essential role in people's lives. Eighty one per cent of those surveyed visited one of Canberra's playgrounds at least once a week.
In identifying destination playgrounds, the most popular types of playgrounds in Canberra, the report considered size, equipment, setting, and remoteness or distance from residences. Seven of the top 10 playgrounds were destination, including Pod Playground at the Arboretum (number 2), John Knight Memorial Park in Belconnen (3), Kambah Adventure Playground (4) and Weston Park in Yarralumla (5).
Survey co-ordinator Dr Cathy Hope said the report showed playgrounds were still a form of entertainment, activity and means of exercise for children, and their parents and careers.
"On average, respondents said they visited a playground at least once a week primarily to engage children in play, to socialise with others and to spend time in the natural environment," Dr Hope said.
"While Canberra already has some great playgrounds, there are improvements that can be made when creating future playgrounds to ensure play facilities are exemplary in their siting and design."
The survey found people wanted more shade, challenging and diverse forms of plays and better facilities and equipment for a wider range of ages.
"My mothers group and I were just talking about what makes a park good recently and for our age group of children we quite like it if there's change facilities to be able to change kids - I've already changed nappies since I've been here," Ms Banyer said.
"It's nice if it's fenced in because you can give a child attention without worrying about the other one running into traffic or something like that."
The top 10 playgrounds were larger-scale with multiple and/or interesting play equipment.
The report also said 84 per cent of people who responded preferred fewer and better quality playgrounds.
Canberra's top 10 playgrounds
Boundless Playground, Parkes
Pod Playground, Arboretum
John Knight Memorial Park, Belconnen
Kambah Adventure Playground, Kambah
Weston Park, Yarralumla
Community Recreation Park, Moncrieff
Yerrabi Pond District Park, Gungahlin
Fadden Pines
Playground near Chifley Shops
Black Mountain Peninsula Park, Acton
