Argentina is a child-friendly country, and Buenos Aires is a child-friendly city. In fact, since many Argentines enjoy large extended families, they may feel little in common with people in their late twenties and older who do not have children, and traveling with kids can open doors.

Many parks and plazas have playground equipment, so it’s easy to mix with Argentine families there. What foreign parents may find unusual is that toddlers and their families may be out on the swings and slides at 11 p.m. or even later. Likewise, kids are off across the street, around the neighborhood, and even on the buses and Subte at ages when anxious North American parents are driving their kids three blocks to school and waiting until the doors close behind them.

On public transportation, strangers may spontaneously but gently touch small children and even set them on their laps. While this may be disconcerting to non-Argentines, it’s not necessarily inappropriate in cultural context.

Many cultural activities are child-oriented, particularly during late July’s winter school holidays.