While I always drag my kids along with me to the things I want to do when I travel because I wanna see what I wanna see, it’s always important to mix in things for them.
How will they learn to love travel if they don’t have activities that they love along the way?
And a solid playground in the morning ensure you a happier kid throughout the day.
Luckily, Buenos Aires does playgrounds well.
Along with museums, ecological parks, and play areas galore, there is a lot to do with kids in Buenos Aires.
As my oldest is getting closer to 4 he’s getting a bit more adventurous and brave, so it’s been fun exploring these parks and museums with him now (and his little sister who has never lacked boldness/bravery when it comes to play and following her brother).
Here are things to do with kids in Buenos Aires because a happy kid means a happy parent.
It also means a tired and napping kid which means a coffee in peace for mom.
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Things to do in Buenos Aires with Kids
Here are my favorite things to do with kids in Buenos Aires.
If you’re coming from the US, get ready for a pleasant surprise when it comes to the cost of these activities.
I went to the US last year and when I saw costs of 30-50 dollars per person for children’s museums and the zoo etc. we quickly became park people.
Come to Argentina, live a little, go to the museums.
What to do with kids in Buenos Aires: Top 2 Picks
Looking for something to do in a hurry and don’t want to read the list, here are my two favorite things to do with kids in Buenos Aires.
TLDR the list below or click on the names to scroll down for more information on these 2 top activities:
- Ecoparque – Best outdoors activity with kids in Buenos Aires, it’s free, centrally located in Palermo, educational, your kids will see a lot of animals, there is a playground and a carousel, and it’s steps away from even more parks (like the Botanical Gardens and Palermo’s 3 de Febrero parks).
- Museo de los Niños in Abasto Shopping – Best indoor activity for kids in Buenos Aires, very affordable at under $3 US per child, 2 solid hours of entertainment inside if it’s too hot or rainy to be in a park.
Read more: A Logistical and Practical Guide to Buenos Aires with Kids
Parks & Outdoor Children’s Activities in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires overflows with parks, plazas, and playgrounds.
Below is a list of the best for kids but here’s a complete list of the best parks in Buenos Aires to go even further.
Ecoparque
📍Instagram, Av. Sarmiento 2601, Palermo
Cost: Free
Open: 11 am – 6 pm (closed Mondays), they also close on rainy days
Ecoparque is a free park in heart of Palermo with entrances on Plaza Italia and Libertador (across from the 3 de Febrero park and Rosedal Rose Garden).
It focuses on conservation and the protection of our environment, focusing on Argentina’s native animals and ecosystems.
You’ll see mara (a wild Patagonian hare) and peacocks roaming the park freely.
In enclosures you’ll see some native animals like monkeys, guanacos, tapir, and even carrion birds that are all unable to live in the wild.
There are dining options in the park as well, including a Croque Madame cafe, kioscos and food trucks selling drinks and snacks.
It even houses one restaurant that made the Michelin guide: the Pabellón El Águila (housed in one of the first cafes in the city, it was impeccably restored in 2023, a remnant of the famed “Paris of South America.” (But perhaps this isn’t as kid friendly as the rest of the park).
My kid’s favorite section are the animatronic sea lion, dolphin, and sea turtle. Push a button and they move, chirp, and spit water on you. It could entertain them for tens of minutes (a.k.a. a toddler eternity).
On the Libertador end of the park there is a beautiful two story carousel and a fun playground in the shape of an otter.
While in Ecoparque, you may come across a sad camel or an out of place giraffe or two, that’s because for decades this park was an extremely depressing zoo.
When it was first constructed, zoos were in fashion and this was on the far edge of town in the countryside.
Then the city grew and enveloped this previously peaceful green space with buses, avenues, and city noise.
Due to overwhelming public protest the city closed the zoo in 2016, sending every animal that was healthy enough to sanctuaries around the world and began work on the Ecoparque. You’ll still see the remaining animals that were too old or ill to be moved.
Rosedal & 3 de Febrero Parks
📍Av. Infanta Isabel 110, Palermo
While you’re at Ecoparque, if your kids still have energy to burn, you can cross Libertador Avenue to the biggest park in town: known as the Bosques de Palermo.
Designed with Central Park as inspiration, there’s a small lake with a running path circling it and home to geese and ducks ready to gobble up your cracker crumbs.
For older kids it can be fun to rent paddle boats on the lake or even roller skates.
On the weekends you’ll see vendors set up along the running path renting skates.
The Rosedal rose garden here is beautiful but note that it’s the only gated section of the park, open from 10 am to 6 pm (closed Mondays).
If you get hungry there are great restaurants in the arches underneath the train tracks (the address for the arches is the actual listed address for the park, Infanta Isabel 110).
You can also get some street meat (choripan and lomito sandwiches) at the carts along the edge the park.
The Planetarium
📍Av. Sarmiento and Belisario Roldan
Third on the list yet we’re still in the Palermo parks – the Planetarium is inside the 3 de Febrero park.
Great for older kids, lay back in one of their 360 reclinable chairs and watch the stars on the domed ceiling overhead.
Check their website to confirm hours, to get tickets, and to see any special events (especially during winter or summer school holidays).
Thematic Playgrounds
Playgrounds abound in Buenos Aires but recently they have really leveled up their game, debuting thematic playgrounds all over the city.
I already mentioned the actual three level otter in Ecoparque.
There is also a playground designed after San Martin crossing the Andes in Recoleta in Plaza Republica de Chile.
Climb into the mountains, ride bouncy revolutionary horses, and free Argentina all in a morning’s play.
Another I love is the Robot playground (pictured above), also in Recoleta a stone’s throw from the cemetery on the corner of Vicente Lopez & Junin.
Aside from the specially designed themes, your average playground in Buenos Aires is generally pretty great.
Some fun designs are repeated throughout the city, like pirate ships.
Playgrounds are also generally fenced in and gated, keeping your kids in and dogs (and their pee) out.
The only downside is that there is rarely any shade. In summer it can be hard to enjoy the playgrounds for most of the day.
There are a number of other really interesting playgrounds going up, like one dedicated to the country’s third World Cup victory or another designed after the port in La Boca.
These aren’t in areas I’d typically recommend for tourists so I won’t list them here (but it is great to see the city invest in these neighborhoods).
If you live here and feel comfortable exploring the city, you can find these new playgrounds by comuna here, and I recommend following paseosconchicos and buenosairesparachicos on Instagram for family-specific travel tips.
Museums for Kids in Buenos Aires
When it comes to museums dedicated to play in Buenos Aires you have more than one to pick from.
Museo de los Niños
📍Av. Corrientes 3247, Abasto Shopping Center
Open from 12:30-8 pm with set appointments,
$3,000 pesos per child, $1,100 per adult (January 2024)
Imagine the city of Buenos Aires scaled down to the size of a child and that is the Museo de los Niños.
Located at the top of the massive Abasto Shopping Mall it takes up two floors and has everything.
There is a mini supermarket, a dulce de leche factory, a bank, a child sized colectivo (major hit among everyone of all ages), doctor’s office, dentist’s office, gas station. You name it. Your kid can play it.
I was most in awe by the boat in the harbor delivering packages to the post, where your child can operate a functioning crane to move the packages to customs where they can be pretend x-rayed for contraband(!).
Next to that is an enormous toilet that “flushes” your child via slide into a series of pipes and slides. I’m obsessed.
It’s great for ages 3-12.
My 19 month old LOVED it but if it were just her, I’d maybe wait as most areas were better for older kids (she just loves tailing her brother).
There is a soft play area for babies but it’s nothing to write home about.
My almost 4 year old hasn’t stopped talking about this museum a week later
My 19 month old also had a blast and took a record breaking SECOND nap on the way home, exhausted from so much fun.
HOW TO VISIT:
The day is split into three blocks of time and they clean the museum in between. The turnos are from 12:30-2:30 pm, 3-5 pm, and 5:40-8 pm.
You can buy your ticket in advance on their website, we got it the day of at the museum.
Get there 10-15 minutes early, people were queuing up, we played our entire time slot.
As many adults as you want can come in, there is plenty of room for everyone here and chairs set up around the museum for the grown ups to rest.
There is no storage for your things so diaper bags, backpacks, and strollers are all coming through the museum with you.
We had a stroller (I didn’t know if my youngest had it in her to walk for 2 hours, she did). It wasn’t a hassle having it, though.
MIJU – Museo de Imaginacion y Juego
📍 Av. de los Italianos 851, Puerto Madero
Closed Tuesdays
Reserve your time slot online in advance.
MIJU is the new children’s museum in Puerto Madero, housed in the historic Cervecería Munich building (more recently it was home to the Museo de la Historieta comic strip museum).
The museum is for ages 0-12 and is divided into three sectors by age.
The first floor is for ages 0-3, with ball pits, slides, and sensory play.
The ground floor is more like an indoor playground, for ages 4-7.
The basement is for ages 8-12, with digital, musical and visual arts play.
While your playtime is limited to under an hour indoors, there’s an outdoors playground completely in shade under the park’s trees (shade is a rare blessing on Buenos Aires playgrounds).
There are picnic tables here, as well, if you want to bring lunch.
Alternatively, you can cross the street to grab a choripan or steak sandwich at the infamous Costanera Sur food trucks.
More energy to burn? You’re not far from the Reserva Ecologica here.
Museo Prohibido No Tocar
📍Centro Cultural Recoleta, Junín 1930, Recoleta
General entrance is $8,000 for visitors aged 4 and up. (Residents pay $4,000)
Described as a participatory science museum, this children’s museum focuses on science, math, and the weather.
There is no need to reserve in advance, purchase tickets at the ticket booths on arrival
They recommend budgeting 2 hours for the visit.
Prohibido No Tocar is located inside the Centro Cultural Recoleta right next to the Recoleta Cemetery (and also just a stone’s throw from the San Martin’s Andes Crossing playground).
There are different themed rooms, you can read about them here.
Children’s Bookstores in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is a cultured society and treasures its bookshops.
There are more bookstores here per capita than in any other city in the world
Naturally, you can expect to find some spectacular bookshops for children here.
Tienda Lechuga is a favorite of mine. Their second location in Villa Urquiza is complete with books, toys, and a cafe.
Tienda Lechuga’s concept transcends age so you’ll find things for adults and children here. It’s a dream.
Abrazando Cuentos in Palermo and Bety Gino in Las Canitas are two other excellent shops.
Normal bookstores typically have great children’s sections as well, like Libros del Pasaje in Palermo.
Further Afield – Day Trips with Kids in Buenos Aires
There are a couple destinations made for kids near Buenos Aires if you’re willing to drive an hour or two.
Apart from these, most of the best Buenos Aires day trips are great for kids.
Horseback riding on a traditional ranch, exploring Tigre’s river delta and running around Colonia in Uruguay would all be fun for families.
Bioparque Temaiken, Escobar
The best way to spend a day with an animal lover, Temaiken is the closest thing to a zoo you will find in Buenos Aires.
It’s in Escobar, a suburb about an hour’s drive north of the city.
Check their website for opening hours and days as it varies according to the season.
As of January 2024, general entry was 18,000 pesos for adults, 15,000 for children, and free for ages 3 and under.
There are special rates for Argentine residents and forth everyone you can get 30% off by reserving your tickets online in advance.
If paying in person, they no longer accept cash.
Temaiken is a great day out with the kids, we go every year with the extended family and cousins.
There are a number of dining options throughout the park of underwhelming quality (but they get the job done).
PRO ICE CREAM TIP: Temaiken is owned by the same family that owns Munchi’s ice cream.
You can get it within Temaiken but the best move is to visit the large location (also on Av. Sarmiento) outside the park before heading home.
Exit the park and head back towards the highway, you’ll see the Munchi’s on your right fairly quickly.
The ice cream is VERY GOOD, as is the playground on site to continue making your child’s day.
La República de los Niños, La Plata
La República de los Niños is a theme park in the city of La Plata, about an hour south of downtown Buenos Aires.
The park is open 7 days a week from 7 am to 10 pm.
Open since 1953, rumor has it this is the park that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland.
It’s an entire world designed for children at their size and it’s very high on my list of places to take my kids.
I’ll definitely update this once we make it there!
Parque de la Costa, Tigre
For a good old fashioned roller coster, head to Tigre’s Parque de la Costa.
This is an easy Buenos Aires day trip with kids because you can take the train here.
Read about how to get there with my Tigre guide and my Tren de la Costa guide.
There are rides for little kids like rides reminiscent of Dumbo’s flying elephant ride or Disney’s spinning tea cups.
For the whole family there are bumper cars and bumper boats, and of course, there are adrenaline inducing roller coasters and all sorts of rides that fling you into the air (no, thank you).
Check their website for a variety of tickets and packages.
All tickets have the guarantee that if it rains (and they are forced to close the rides for at least an hour during your ticketed day) you can return for free within 30 days.
Read More about Buenos Aires
- Things to do in Buenos Aires – A Detailed Guide for the (Non Kid Focused) Highlights
- 3 days in Buenos Aires Itinerary
- Best Buenos Aires Food Tours – Most can accommodate children
- Best Estancias near Buenos Aires – A great day trip for the whole family
- Bike Tours of Buenos Aires – Great activity if you have teenagers
Argentina Travel Resources
- TRAVEL INSURANCE | It is always a good idea to travel insured. It protects you in so many cases, like lost luggage and trip cancellations, medical emergencies and evacuations. It’s very affordable with the potential to save you thousands in the case of an emergency. I recommend SafetyWing.
- PHONE PLAN | These days, traveling with data is essential. Especially in Argentina where everything is managed on Instagram and WhatsApp. I recommend this E-SIM card. It’s hassle-free and affordable, for more read how to get an Argentina sim card.
- ACCOMMODATION IN ARGENTINA | booking.com is the most common hotel site used in Argentina and it’s where you’ll find the most options.
- RENTAL CARS | I love to travel Argentina via road trip, I’ve always used rentalcars.com, now they are operating under the umbrella of Booking.com’s car rental system.
- BUS TICKETS | Check Busbud for long distance bus routes and tickets.
- VPN | If you’ll be using a public WiFi connection and want to secure your data, I highly recommend using a VPN, I personally use and have had a good experience with ExpressVPN. I also use it to access Hulu and American Netflix from Argentina.
- FLIGHTS | Always check Google Flights and Skyscanner for flights to and within Argentina. Aerolineas Argentina is the local airline with the most routes. FlyBondi and Jetsmart are two budget airlines with dirt-cheap prices (but expect to pay for every add-on like luggage).
- BOOK A CONSULTATION | I offer one-on-one travel consultations to help you plan your trip to Argentina. Pick my brain to get a local’s insight. Click here for more information.
