People seem to take older children to the park much less which is really a shame as, in my experience, they love it. Lots of parks have great features for older children that allow them to experience risk by climbing different structures and relaxation by just swinging peacefully. Here are the parks in Chelmsford that my children are really loving now that they are a older.
Lionmede Recreation Ground
Lionmede Recreation Ground was recently refurbished and has some great features including a really unusual convex slide on the climbing frame and a great bouncy seesaw. There is also a great spinning swing which my kids loved, you can see a photo in our Lionmede Recreation Ground review.

Boleyn Gardens
While Boleyn Gardens is looking a bit dated now and isn’t fully surfaced, my kids loved the obstacle course and spent ages going round it, making me time them! It also has swings, an older children’s climbing frame and a maze to explore. Have a look at our review of Boleyn Gardens for more details.

Chelmer Village Green Playground
Like Lionmede recreation ground, the playground at Chelmer Village has been recently refurbished. It’s a great little playground and also make it onto my list of the best playgrounds for toddlers. For older children it has a selection of swings, a nice climbing frame and a fun seesaw that you can either stand or sit on. The highlight for my kids is the zip wire that you hand from instead of sit on. You can find out more in our full review of Chelmer Village Green Park.

Hylands Park
Most people in Chelmsford with children are regular visitors to Hylands park and the playground is really great for older children. There are big slides, wobbly bridges, ladders and cargo nets. My children are especially fond of the tyres you stand on and bounce up and down, have look at the picture in my Hylands Park review to see what I mean. The woodland next to the playground is great for den building, weather you want to remodel one that’s already there or build you own.

Oakland’s Park
Oakland’s Park has a play area for older children and a play area for younger children but actually the younger children’s play area has some features that older children will enjoy too like the zip wire. The playground for older children has a hesitant shaped structure which is filled with ropes for children to climb around, if they make it to the top they can go down the slide. There is another climbing structure with some good challenging features and a rotating seesaw. Check out our review of Oakland’s Park for more photos.

I’d love to hear about your favourite parks on Chelmsford in the comments!