This is a great playgound for all ages with separate fenced toddlers section (which is under shade sails) but also areas that should challenge pre teens and an adult fitness section that teenagers might want to try. There are clean toilets, a coffee cart in the carpark and a room…
This is more than just a café, as Flat Hills is also home to friendly animals that can be fed, bouncy castles, a maze and a small playground area (although the equipment is probably better suited to kids up to about 5 years). There’s also lots of space for kids…
There is space to run around and benches/picnic tables if you’re looking to take a break from a car journey on SH1 south of the Desert Road. While there is a small playground at Memorial park it is quite tired but just next door at Taihape Area School there’s concrete…
This cafe is also known as The Exchange Café as it is housed in what was once a telephone exchange and there’s still a telephone booth inside. It’s light and airy with indoor and outdoor seating and one table that’s in a snug if you’re wanting to be a little away…
Great place to stop with kids if they need some fresh air during a car journey but you’re not necessarily looking for a full meal. This cafe has a large outdoor courtyard with a sandpit that’s covered if it’s drizzling but not protected if it’s cold. There are clean toilets and…
This is the only fast food place currently on Kids on Board and it’s here because it’s a McDonalds with a difference! It’s the only McDonald’s restaurant in the world to be situated inside a decommissioned DC3 plane complete with an indoor playground! Makes for an interesting rainy day activity!…
The Domain is home to Taupo’s largest playground with some interesting equipment. There’s a space net with a ‘waggle bridge’, swings and a good selection of equipment suitable for smaller kids like a collection of pods that kids can climb into and then exit via a short slide. There’s also…
Kelly Tarlton’s is the biggest aquarium in New Zealand. It is well stocked with sea life of all kinds including a large penguin enclosure, sting ray, rock pool area that kids can put their hands into and a moving walkway through a glass tunnel with hundreds of fish in it…
This park is probably best known for its playground but there’s also beach access and a huge area of grass suitable for picnics, running around and ball games. The playground is wheelchair accessible and it also has a special area for preschoolers with a low level platform for kids to…
This playground has a particularly good selection of equipment for school aged kids with some quite different pieces like the wobbly balance beam log. There’s lots of climbing opportunities, a high fireman’s pole and monkey bars. Preschoolers are only really catered for with things like climbing on a tuatara and eel sculpture,…
