Grandview Estate Dinosaur Park Playground

Kids love the dinosaur park playground at Truganina, Vic

Jurassic Park? No, a dinosaur park and playground in the suburbs!

The Dinosaur Park in Truganina (west of Melbourne, Vic) is a fun attraction for local kids. Set within Stockland’s Grandview residential estate, it provides a place for children and adults in the local community to meet, interact, play and relax. 

As well as inspiring young minds to engage in active outdoor play, the prehistoric theming acts as a tribute to an ancient dormant volcano in nearby Mt Atkinson Reserve. 

Giant T-Rex head playground sculpture at the dinosaur park
Giant Tyrannosaurus Rex head at the Dinosaur Park

Climbable dinosaur sculptures for exciting prehistoric play

A giant dinosaur head – the ferocious T-Rex – guards the entrance to the dinosaur park. Children can climb on the head (avoiding those fierce teeth!) or go up nearby ladders to get to the play slides. The head is reinforced with a steel substructure, making it more than strong enough to cope with young dinosaur-hunting explorers or budding palaeontologists.

At the bottom of the slides, the landing pads are shaped like giant dinosaur feet. There’s a fossil dig, dinosaur tail bones to walk on, and various prehistoric-themed play items like swings and seesaws. Children love seeing the dinosaur eggs with a baby dinosaur hatching. 

The dinosaur park is in a natural setting within the residential estate. The play equipment has safe, soft-fall surrounds and the landscaping includes shaded areas and picnic tables.

Photos of the dinosaur park playground

Safe, strong playground sculptures

The dinosaur park sculptures were designed and built for children to climb on, encouraging active play. Natureworks has  extensive experience designing sculptures for playgrounds and public spaces, so we know what gets kids excited! We also know how to make climbable sculptures that are safe, strong, long lasting and fit for purpose. Read more about playground safety here.

Contoured insets on the giant dinosaur head sculpture allow for safe climbing, with no sharp points or crevices to trap little hands. To cope with lots of curious children climbing on it, the giant dinosaur head sculpture was reinforced with an internal steel frame. You can see this in the construction drawings and photographs of work in progress below.

Safe, strong playground sculptures

Seeing the baby T-Rex bursting from a dinosaur egg delights young visitors to the Dinosaur Park. Although made specially for the purpose, the sculpture is now available as part of our prehistoric collection, as are hundreds of other dinosaur, egg and fossil sculptures. For example, see dinosaur eggs here.

The Dinosaur Park also includes a fossil dig, which is a creative way for children to play and learn. For more info, see fossil digs and sandpits

The dinosaur park is popular with kids and adults

Stockland produced the following video to show what the residents of Grandview Estate in Truganina think about the dinosaur park.

Project scope

For this project, Natureworks supplied the following:

  • Giant climbable T-Rex Dinosaur Head
  • Set of Dinosaur Eggs with baby dinosaur hatching
  • Dinosaur bones designed for kids to walk on
  • Dinosaur feet for the landing areas of two main slides
  • Delivery of all items to Truganina, Victoria

Project details

ClientBild Group (for their client, Stockland)
ProjectDinosaur Park for Grandview Estate
AudienceLocal residents and visitors with children of all ages
LocationAltezze Drive, Truganina, VIC (see map)
Date2020
Related productsDinosaur Eggs, Fossil Dig, Dinosaur sculptures
Related catalogues Child’s Play, Prehistoric Fossil Digs, Prehistoric Fossils, Bones & Eggs; Big Things
Similar projectsDreamtime themed adventure playgroundNational Zoo AdventureLand, Jungle Adventure PlayGumbuya Wildlife Park Critter Cave

Playground sculptures enhance communities

Active outdoor play is good for children and local communities, so it’s great to see Stockland commissioning an imaginative dinosaur park play area for the Grandview Estate development

At Natureworks, we want to encourage creative, nature-based play.  To this end, we produce a wide range of child-friendly animal art, climb-on play equipment and nature-themed kids’ furniture. We have a number of Australian playground certified products, while many others can be designed and built to meet those specifications. We can advise on safety and practical considerations, or contribute to funding proposals for a community playground or visitor attraction.

The Natureworks team loves to create sustainable, engaging play spaces. To do this, we work with landscape architects, property developers, project managers, councils, childcare centres, schools and community groups. 

If you need inspiration and ideas for successful playgrounds, we can provide a custom playground design service.

For information about nature-based playgrounds, or quotes for specific sculptures and playground products, call Natureworks now on 07 3289 7555 or email us at [email protected].