Playgrounds and kid stuff to do in Venice, Italy?

Question

I am going to be in Venice, Italy for 5 months with my two year old son. Does anyone know of any playgrounds there for sunny days, or have ideas for what to do on a rainy day? Thanks for the suggestions.

Answer 1

There aren't a lot of things in Venice for children that young. The Parco delle Rimembranze in the Castello district has play areas, and there's a small play area in the Giardino (garden). A lot of the smaller kids seem to like chasing the pigeons in Piazza San Marco. Sometimes there are puppet shows that the little ones enjoy.

Look for local celebrations while you're there. Italian celebrations usually include something for the whole family. If you're there for Carnevale, there are scheduled children's activities

Answer 2

Venice may be a great town for kids to live in, but it probably wouldn't be anyone's first choice as a tourist destination for the preschool through junior-high crowd. Hand a copy of Venicewalks or Venice: A Literary Companion to a child, and you're likely to hear, "Mommy, why can't we go to Disney World?"

Answer 3

There are two parks (that I know about) with a play ground for children in Venice and it's at the Giardini and the other on Saint Elena (about a 10 minute walk from the Giardini).

Basically Venetian children play in the "campo" - the wide open plazas. Kids under twelve can play soccer and even ride their bikes (illegal for 13+ year olds) in the "plazas". Most churches have (behind the wall - as in you can't see them from the "streets") play grounds for children. Check at your local church. In Campo Santo Stefano the parish priest has set up a small play ground with plastic play ground toys for children... and on sunny days it's full of two year olds .

The Guggenheim and maybe other museums have "kids days" on Sundays where children are invited to learn about art and play creating art things.

Rainy days are museum days but unfortunately there are no children's museums in Venice. You'll have to net work and figure out what the other moms are doing to keep the kids busy.