Three giant tomato climbers at Blatchford Tomato Playground, Edmonton
Toddler climbing inside a tomato structure at Blatchford Playground

Blatchford Tomato Playground

Yes, those are giant tomatoes. Three of them, big enough to climb inside — and they've turned a corner of Edmonton's old City Centre Airport into the most photographed playground in the city. The Blatchford Tomato Playground drops kids into the middle of an oversized garden patch, complete with a canopy of towering flowers and a view straight to downtown.

The Garden Tour

The three big tomatoes are the main event, and they're cleverly levelled: one is an easy in-and-out for toddlers, the second takes a bit more effort and opens into a walkable platform inside, and the third is a proper climber with multiple routes in — enough challenge to keep older kids interested in what is otherwise a little-kid park.

The garden theme runs through everything around them. Kids weave through small tomatoes wrapped in climbing vines, bounce across spring-mounted leaves, spin the vine spinner, crawl through tipped-over flower pots, and chat through the flower-shaped talk tubes. The design flows from one feature to the next, so play moves naturally around the whole space instead of clustering at one structure.

Good to Know Before You Go

  • Bring shade and water. The site is wide open with almost no natural shade — a summer visit without sun protection gets rough fast.

  • No swings at this playground. Everything here is climb, bounce, and spin.

  • Surface: Wood chips with plenty of benches and picnic tables — this is an easy park to settle into.

  • Parking: Park on Airport Road near the old air traffic control tower; the playground is a few minutes' walk behind it.

Who It's Best For

Toddlers and preschoolers are the sweet spot — the scale, the theme, and the gentler climbing all favour the under-6 crowd. Older siblings will get some mileage out of the toughest tomato and the novelty factor, but this isn't a big-kid challenge park. If your little one loves this scale of play, Rondeau Park's natural playground in St. Albert and the Eton Musical Playground in Sherwood Park make great follow-up adventures.While You're There

The retired air traffic control tower looms right beside the park — a guaranteed hit with plane-obsessed kids and a great photo backdrop. The open sightline to downtown Edmonton makes this a surprisingly scenic picnic spot, and the wider Blatchford site is fun to explore as the neighbourhood grows around it.

Nearby Playgrounds and Parks