A splash pad is a recreation area, often in a public park for water play that has little or no standing water. This is said to eliminate the need for lifeguard or other supervision, as there is little risk of drowning. Splash pads have existed in the commercial industry for decades.

Typically there are ground nozzles that spray water upwards out of the splash pad's raindeck. There may also be other water features such as a rainbow (semicircular pipe shower), a mushroom shower, or a tree shower, water cannon, water slide so on and so forth. Some splash pads feature movable nozzles similar to those found on fire trucks to allow users to spray others.