Día del Niño in CDMX With Matty and Sophie: Where We Took Them
We flew Matty and Sophie down to CDMX for Día del Niño weekend — Tía Rosa hosted, Papalote happened, Chapultepec happened, and we ate a truly ridiculous amount of gelato at La Bella Italia. Aquí va la lista.
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Mira, I'll just say it — Día del Niño in Mexico is the holiday Brian still can't believe is real. "You get a whole national day to spoil the kids? Just the kids?" Yes, cariño. Sí. And we honor it the way my mamá honored it for me growing up: by flying down to CDMX and turning Tía Rosa's Coyoacán apartment into base camp for 72 hours of museums, parques, and helado.
This year was Matty's third Día del Niño in CDMX and Sophie's second one where she actually remembers it. Híjole, the difference a year makes — last year she napped through the Papalote ball pit. This year she ran it like a tiny board chair. Anyway. Here's exactly where we took them, what worked, what didn't, and the four photos I cannot stop looking at.
Where we stayed (and why this time we didn't stay with Tía Rosa)
Normally we crash with Tía Rosa, but her apartment is one bedroom and Sophie at four is — how do I say this delicately — a kicker. So we booked two nights at a small boutique hotel in Roma Norte that's walkable to a million tacos and 12 minutes by Uber to Coyoacán. Ya sabes, the kind of CDMX place where the lobby has a courtyard with an enormous jacaranda and the staff remembers your kids' names by day two. Here's the Booking search I used for Roma Norte hotels — I always filter for "family rooms" and "free cancellation" because with kids you do not commit to anything ironclad. Brian likes to remind me that flexibility is a love language. Sure, Brian.
Day 1: Papalote Museo del Niño
If you have not been to Papalote Museo del Niño, no manches, drop everything. It is the children's museum that other children's museums apologize to. It sits inside Chapultepec, the giant building looks like a colorful spaceship, and inside there are seven thematic zones — bubbles, body, communication, expression — designed so kids 2-11 can touch literally everything. Sophie went straight for the soap-bubble room and stayed there for forty minutes. Matty, who is seven and now Too Cool, pretended he didn't care and then spent an hour building a marble run.
Practical: buy tickets in advance on the Papalote site (they sell out on Día del Niño weekend — ándale, plan ahead). Snacks are allowed in the courtyard. Stroller parking exists. The IMAX is a separate ticket and Sophie was way too young, skip it under five.
Day 2 morning: Chapultepec Zoo (free, and yes really)
The Chapultepec Zoo is free — gratis, cariño, completely free — and it's right next door to Papalote so we made it a one-park combo day. The pandas (Xin Xin!), the elephants, the cóndores. Matty was obsessed with the jaguar enclosure. Sophie cried at the hippo because the hippo yawned. Híjole.
Two things to know: it gets HOT by 1pm so go at opening, and the kids' sunscreen is non-negotiable. I pack Sun Bum mineral SPF 50 in my purse on every CDMX trip because the altitude burns you faster than you think. The 7,300 ft elevation is no joke — Brian learned this the painful way in 2019.
Day 2 afternoon: Frida's Casa Azul in Coyoacán
Okay, real talk — is the Casa Azul "for kids"? Officially no. Realistically — if your kid has even a tiny art bone in their body, sí. Matty has been Frida-obsessed since age four because of the Little People, Big Dreams Frida Kahlo book that Tía Rosa gave him. He walked through Frida's actual kitchen, saw her actual wheelchair, and said, quote, "this is the lady from my book." I cried. Tía Rosa cried. Brian pretended his allergies were acting up. Sure, Brian.
Buy your timed-entry ticket on the museocasaazul.org site at least a week ahead. Día del Niño weekend they were SOLD OUT three days out and I was on the phone with Tía Rosa pulling strings (she knows someone, she always knows someone, she's a cookbook editor in CDMX, she knows everyone). Strollers are not allowed inside. Carry small kids or rent the museum's baby carrier.
Day 3: A real CDMX food tour (yes, with the kids)
I know, I know — a food tour with a 4-year-old sounds insane. Pero óyeme: a 3-hour kid-friendly Centro Histórico tour with stops at El Cardenal for chocolate, a tamal pop-up, and the Dulcería de Celaya is actually a perfect kid day because it's basically structured snacking with sightseeing in between. We booked through Viator and got a guide named Lupe who handed Sophie a little notebook to draw each food. Sophie's birria drawing currently hangs on Tía Rosa's fridge.
Book the CDMX Centro Histórico family food tour on Viator — request the morning slot and ask for a stroller-friendly route at checkout.
The helado moment: La Bella Italia
La Bella Italia is the Roma Norte gelato spot that ruined regular ice cream for my children forever. They serve a pistachio that tastes like someone bottled childhood. Sophie ordered three flavors in one cup which is technically illegal but the server, qué amor, let her. Matty did mango-chamoy because of course he did.
The packing list I actually used
- Hydro Flask kids 12oz — CDMX dehydrates, refill everywhere
- AirTags in both kids' backpacks — Chapultepec is huge
- Sun Bum mineral SPF — the altitude WILL get you
Would we do it again? Pues, ya sabes
We're already plotting Día del Niño 2027. Tía Rosa has requested an extra day. Brian has requested an extra night in — sí, you guessed it — Jalisco. "Just one day, Jess. Una nochecita." Mi vida, you have been to Jalisco more times than my actual abuela. We will see.
If your kids are between 3 and 10 — do this. Día del Niño is the holiday I want my Texas-Mexican kids to have a real relationship with, and that only happens if we show up. Hasta el próximo, cariños. 💛