Parks and playgrounds rated by my kids

Yerevan has nice parks and some of them are really interesting for kids and others are not so friendly. Since we decided to spend the summer here this year, we tested most of the popular ones. In this post, I will present my kids’ most preferred green(or not so) areas of Yerevan and one in Ashtarak town.

The process of selection:

After going regularly to most of these places, I sat with my kids today and asked them to rate which one they liked and why? Opinions were different, so you will see at the end of each park the ratings provided by each – (A for  11 yrs old Amassia, V for 9 year old Varanta and Vk for 6 year old Vayk)

Based on their suggestions we formed a chart for parks in our area, here it is:

Yerevan parks tested by my kids(continued)

Lover’s Park: Very nice but not very suitable for very young active kids. Lots of restrictions (no playing on the green, no throwing pebbles in the water…). Unless you have a child who likes sitting on a nice bench and reading a book or taking a nice walk, it is not a place where children can play freely. I think it is mostly designed for adults or quiet and calm kids. My daughters enjoyed the art corner very much though. There is toilet facilities and the park is really clean and you can find good sandwiches for your little ones.
Disadvantages: not very big or no large areas to play active games (with ball).


Santa Fe’s playground(near cascade, facing Tumanyan statue): For the past couple of years, this place was a lifesaver for us. It has the most secure (relatively to others) play equipment for kids older than 3. Very interesting slides, climbers and swings. They also have real sand covering the play area, so children can go barefoot and enjoy playing with it. Last year they also added a craft corner (ceramics) in the afternoons. They also have a green area where kids can run freely and play ball. Near the playground you have the café and adults can sit and enjoy a drink or food while watching the kids. Toilet costs 100Drams per use.
Disadvantage: Gets too crowded especially in the evenings and not very fun for the younger ones. Service sucks at the café, so you have to be very patient.

Luna parks: I personally don’t like them at all, too noisy, artificial and very bad quality. We go there very rarely, on occasions to do something different. My kids enjoy some of the rides. The one on the corner of Khandjian and Tigran medz has rides for all ages. Toilets are very dirty and service unfriendly.

Freedom Park (monument): still very soviet era rides, weather is nice and is spacious. My kids have usually lots of fun there and you could spend almost half a day or more, nice shady areas. Usually packed in the weekends. It is nice to go there with a group. Toilet dirty but don’t have lots of choice.

Summer

If you are in Armenia during the summer, you have to be very creative to find good, fun and safe entertainment for your kids. The challenge was bigger a couple of years ago when even the basic necessities (baby food, milk, diapers...) were hard to find and activity centers for kids was almost non-existent.
Today you still find some good choices:

Public park: In Yerevan, there is a couple of nice spots, but if you are looking for nice well equipped and safe playground, that would be real hard. Most of the parks have nice green areas, colorful benches but rarely a playground for kids. Some of the parks have old soviet iron playground not very safe for small kids. The other disadvantage is that most of the public parks don't have bathrooms and that could cause a problem for newly potty trained kids and older ones.
In general, kids in Yerevan need more playground public safe spaces, something that no one is investing in right now.

the parks tested by my kids (4, 7, 9 yrs old):

The italian park (near the Sundukyan theater): very nice, shady, lots of trees and green spaces and cool water fountain in the middle. Kids play with sand near the fountain and you can sit near them on a nice bench reading a book and enjoying the breeze.
disadvantage: no toilet (unless you go to the nearest cafe or ask the theater), no playground-slides, swings, you need to bring your own toys.

The park near Poplovok: This is a very small park near the famous cafe Poplovok, and surrounded with many other cafes and is usually very crowded after 6pm. Here you have some playground equipments (not very safe) you have to be near if your child is too small. Slide, Climber and a swing. The interesting thing is that the park has a craft area where children from 3and up can buy their little ceramic statues and paint them. This is not expensive and usually children enjoy it a lot.
disadvantage: the slide is a little broken, you need to be careful. No toilet, unless you go to Poplovok.

The park on Khandjian (near swiss chalet): We went once to this park and did not like it. from far it looks so nice and colorful but once you approach it you see how badly maintained it is. The slide has a big hole in the middle, someone can cut itself if not careful. The swings are not attached very well and the park was very dirty with bottles on the floor and also too noisy (near a big street).

(to be continued)