Argentina or chile starting in mid January for six to twelve months
 

We are a family of five...boys are 10, 8 and 3 and we are planning to go to either chile or argentine in mid January. The thought is to integrate as much as possible and have the kids in summer camps with the locals and enjoy some fun, quaint summer destinations that the locals love. Afterwards, we would like to enroll the kids in school in a smallish town thatbstill has enough activity, restaurants, etc.

Can anyone recommend towns and summer activities that would be fun... Or a place to rent a summer house with lots of kids around and also a place where we may want to live for awhile,

Thank you very much!!

You should probably post on expat forums rather than travel ones. Not to discourage you too much, but so that you know: firstly, January is high season in both countries so you will find summer destinations will have very high rents. Those rents will increase in February and only drop in March. In Chile summer camps for children are virtually unknown. Families tend to holiday together. The possibility of enrolling the children in a school as a tourist would be virtually impossible. You are allowed 90 days as a tourist and would have to exit and re-enter the country to extend that. Do check the requirements for entering each country. You are probably from one of the countries which has to pay a reciprocity fee (US$140 each if flying into Santiago or Buenos Aires). Try posting on a website for expats like http://www.allchile.net/.
Good luck.

www.saexplorers.org join check there for good info discounts

you will have visa issues for yor proposed stay

might be best to split 90 days per country...

Buy some guidebooks do lots more research,

Thank you!!! I so appreciate this and will check the other sites... If we were to go just for a visit during the summer, are there any beachnor lake destinations that you could recommend that would be fun and where there would be lots of other kids? Thanks again!

If you will be in Chile in Dec/Jan/Feb then the beaches around Viña del Mar will be packed with people. In the lakes there are sometimes beaches on the lakeside (as in Pucón) with lots of activities and plenty of kids around. All sorts of special activities are set up in the summer for kids and adults alike. Pucón would probably be better as you can rent a cabaña there and do self-catering.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/pucon/cabanas.html
Many Argentines go to Uruguay for the beaches. You might consider that. No reciprocity fee flying into Montevideo - a big plus with a family.

If you hadn't considered Peru you might look into that. The jungle lodges are very much camp-like. I stayed at Tahuayo Lodge (www.perujungle.com). You may find lower fares to Peru in January and there is no visa fee, only departure tax of about $31 per person.