Family / playgrounds
‘I visited 50 playgrounds and this quirky spot is my number one pick’
A software developer and parent has relaunched a popular playground discovery app designed to help families plan free outings in the city.
For the past six years, Emily Smithson has meticulously added destinations to a digital map and inventory in her self-coded Android and iOS app, Bristol Playgrounds.
With her young daughters in tow, she has visited and rated 59 playgrounds in Bristol and beyond.
is needed now More than ever
Each location’s entry lists key amenities and includes a short summary of a park’s highlights – photo: Sam McEvans
New for summer 2026, the redesign includes features like virtual “postcards” that are sendable when you check-in to a park.
Parents can also print passports and check-lists from the app to encourage screen-free fun.
The Bristol Playgrounds app lets you send digital postcards to your friends and family – photo: Sam McEvans
With an encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s playgrounds, Emily shared her top three favourites with Bristol24/7.
In first place was Mowbray Park in Hartcliffe. It is a modest-sized playground with two unusual bridges and a zipline, as well as carved animals and cartoonish rubbish bins that all add to its charm.
The Mowbray Park zipline is a big hit with the kids – photo: Sam McEvans
Emily said: “Mowbray Park has so many little quirky features and unique play equipment that my family really liked.”
Her next top pick was the new play area in Kingswood Park and in third place was Page Park in Staple Hill.
“Page Park has really good play equipment for different ages and different zones. It’s always beautifully maintained and has fantastic flower beds,” she added.
Emily first started blogging about Bristol playgrounds in 2015.
Later, she was inspired by the Gromit Unleashed trails to create a scavenger hunt style app and began to teach herself to code.
Emily Smithson, creator of Bristol Playgrounds – photo: Emily Smithson
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Emily found time to double down on the project and launched a basic version of the app.
The coding hobby prompted her to retire from teaching maths at a secondary school and to instead pursue employment as a software engineer.
Emily said: “Looking back, this simple project inspired by visits to Bristol’s playgrounds ended up leading to an entirely new career.
“It’s also created a resource that helps locals discover playgrounds and green spaces across the city.”
Bristol Playgrounds has been downloaded more than 1,000 times.
Jessica, Sophie and Martha Smithson, now ages 11, 13 and 17, have been involved with their mum’s project since the beginning – photo: Emily Smithson
Emily added: “There is such a wealth of different play areas in Bristol.
“I think the generation of kids who were brought up during COVID not being able to go out and explore really need playgrounds more than ever.
“They need to be physically active and exploring things. I think it’s so important.”
The Bristol Playgrounds app is available for £3.99 on the Apple App Store and Google Play. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/BristolPlaygrounds
Main photo: Sam McEvans
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