Making plans with children in Madrid may seem more complicated than it actually is. The capital is a city that is constantly changing, that does not rest and moves fast, but fortunately there are many alternatives to go at the pace of the little ones. There are green areas, leisure areas, cultural centers and museums with activities designed for the little ones.
1. Puppets of the Retiro
If there is a classic plan for children in Madrid are the Puppets of the Retiro. Since the 50s, in this point of one of the most emblematic parks of Madrid have gathered generations of children who have grown up and now accompany their children or grandchildren to see the same functions that they enjoyed as children.
Every Saturday and Sunday, very close to the entrance from the Plaza de la Independencia, where the Puerta de Alcalá is located, the puppets are once again the center of attention with their varied program and companies from all over Spain.
Location: Avenida México, 4 (Retiro)
Free admission
2. Jurassic World: The Experience (from May 30)
In how many houses is it that dinosaurs are a real obsession among the little ones? And not so little ones. From May 30, an exhibition will open at Espacio Ibercaja Delicias that unites the love for the mythical saga of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World and the knowledge of these gigantic beings that continue to obsess entire generations. In immersive format, we will find recreations of iconic scenes from the movies like that of the breath of the T-Rex, there will be a space dedicated to the velociraptors … and much more. It will be like entering Isla Nublar.
📍 Location: Paseo de las Delicias, 61 (Delicias, Arganzuela).
Tickets: from 22€.
3. The FRIENDS™ Experience: The One in Madrid ( from March)
Although FRIENDS™ was a series of the 90s, its spirit has permeated all subsequent generations. Not because of the universal and timeless themes on which the plots and jokes were based, but because today it is still the series of reference to watch at lunchtime.
In addition, it is ideal to go with children as it has many interactive options and has a historical (let’s not feel old, please) and educational touch. Props, objects of the shooting as the scripts or many of the outfits of the protagonists will be explained and exhibited from March 17 to June 29 at IFEMA.
📍 Location: IFEMA Madrid. Pavilion 14.1. Avenida Partenón, 5. (Barajas)
🗓️ Dates: from March 17 until June 29.
Tickets: general admission 15€.
4. Boats on the Casa de Campo lake
Although the boats of the Retiro Park are more famous, those of the Casa de Campo lake have an advantage: they are less crowded and there is more space to navigate.
This is an ideal plan to spend the day and get to know some of the 1,700 hectares that make up the park. After the boat tour, it is a good time to sit and enjoy the sun, the food and the flowers. The surroundings of the lake are ideal for picnics and you can also observe the emblematic Edificio España from some points.
Location: Casa de Campo Lake
5. The playgrounds of Alcobendas
The playgrounds are no longer a metal slide and wooden swings, now they are the most creative children’s areas with rubber floors to avoid the friction of the past. In this sense there is an area of Madrid that has passed the game, never better said.
Alcobendas has parks inspired by the ocean, space, a huge ship or even a giant anthill (for children, of course). The best to encourage imagination and time outdoors.
Location: various locations
6. The best playground in Spain
The Osa Menor park in Leganés is considered the best playground in Spain according to the Parques Urbanos awards, organized by Simposium Urban Solutions. It also has the largest castle in Europe and is 10 meters high, with 6-meter slides, climbing towers and a 32-meter zip line. It is open from Monday to Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekends and school vacations from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and in summer the opening hours are extended until 10:00 p.m.
Location: Calle Osa Menor, 2 (Leganés)
7. DroneArt Show (May 22, 23, 24)
An open-air classical music concert in which hundreds of drones fly over the sky creating figures and “dancing” to the rhythm of Vivaldi or Tchaikovsky. This madness is called DroneArt Show and will only be available for three days in Madrid. The experience allows access to children from 8 years old, who will rediscover classical music while letting their imagination fly looking at the sky.
🗓️ Dates: May 22, 23 and 24
📍 Location: Avenida del Padre Huidobro, S/N, A6 KM 8 (Moncloa – Aravaca)
💸Tickets: from 29€.
8. Banksy Museum
Banksy is an essential figure in the world of Street Art, but also in the field of the most combative and subversive art . His works, scattered halfway around the world, make people think with shocking images, double meanings and placing themselves in key places at the right time. His works also appeal to the most pressing problems: inequality, wars, unbridled consumerism, the consequences of capitalism? Now, a new permanent exhibition space opens in Madrid paying tribute to his life and work, and also addressing the youngest with an exhibition full of references to street art and inspiring messages.
🗓️ Dates: every day from 10:00 to 20:00 (last access at 19:15)
📍 Location: Paseo de la Esperanza 1 (Arganzuela).
Tickets: from 14€.
9. Railroad Museum
Delicias station became the Railway Museum in 1984, and since then this clear example of industrial architecture of the late nineteenth century houses trains from all eras.
Its central nave is a journey through railway history through which the little ones will be able to understand the evolution of trains from steam to diesel. There are also three rooms dedicated respectively to station clocks, model railways -with animated models-, and another room explaining how railway infrastructures work. In addition, this museum, which is aware of its public, has Educa-Tren, a special program for schoolchildren and families with activities designed for children.
Location: Paseo de las Delicias, 61 (Delicias).
General admission: 7€. Reduced: 4€.
10. Quinta de los Molinos Open Space
Espacio abierto Quinta de los Molinos is a cultural center to encourage the creativity of children and families. Thinking, play, coexistence, empathy, art and knowledge of nature are worked on through theater, music, film, dance and other activities that fill the days of this innovative institution.
There are different rooms for each age range. The urban library is a playroom for children from 0 to 12 years old; while in the #PlayQuinta room, designed for an age range from 13 to 18 years old, there are spontaneous activities and artistic proposals are also programmed.
Location: Calle Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, 20 (San Blas)
Tickets for activities from 4 €.
11. House-Museum of the tooth fairy
In January 2003, the Madrid City Council institutionalized number 8 of Arenal Street as the residence of the tooth fairy, unveiling a commemorative plaque in his honor on the facade of the building. The Rombo Plaque reads: “Here lived inside a box of cookies in the Prast confectionery, tooth fairy, according to the story that Father Coloma wrote for the child king Alfonso XIII”. And five years later it opened its doors to the public in the form of a House-Museum, which can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, mornings and afternoons, and on Mondays only in the morning.
Location: calle del Arenal, 8 (Downtown)
Admission: 5€ from 3 years old onwards
12. Neon Brush Kids
Between the Príncipe Pío Shopping Center and the Temple of Debod, there is a fluorescent painting workshop for the whole family. It is called ‘Neon Brush Kids’ and offers the little ones the opportunity to explore their creativity and infinite imagination in a space illuminated with ultraviolet light and full of neon colors that glow in the dark. The activity, designed for ages 4 and up, lasts 90 minutes, an ideal time to unleash that inner artist.
Location: calle del Irún, 23 (Príncipe Pío)
Admission: 19,50€ Family Pack Adult + Child
13. Matadero: youth program
Matadero, in the district of Arganzuela, is one of the most important cultural centers in the city. And it has a year-round program of activities for children and young people that includes a wide variety of educational projects: its plans for children include theater in English, creative reading workshops or fanzines that will make the afternoons very entertaining.
Location: Plaza de la Independencia, 5 (Arganzuela)
14. Museum of Happiness
The first museum in the city that analyzes happiness does so through interactive, fun and engaging rooms. It is one of the family experiences of the year with more than 600 m² in which we will find a ‘risódromo’, the cashier of happiness or the Auditorium, with a show of ‘Happy Magic’ by the magician Miguel de Lucas.
📍Location: Ronda de Valencia, 8 (Embajadores)
15. Museum of Natural Sciences
Disciplines such as paleobiology, geology and ecology and issues such as climate change, environmental biology and biodiversity coexist in the Museum of Natural Sciences, a space that has numerous activities for children. There are plans specifically designed for children such as camping in the museum, dinosaur workshops, extracurricular activities throughout the school year to bring science closer to the little ones.
Location: 2, José Gutiérrez Abascal Street (República Argentina).
16. Rocódromos
Most of the city’s climbing walls have special children’s areas for the little ones to start practicing the sport. There are even special plans for birthdays and special events for children. Some climbing walls such as Sputnik Climbing, Urban Monkey, Indorwall or Sharma Climbing have taken advantage of the wave of climbing enthusiasts and have all these perfect options to introduce them to the sport from the early years.
Location: various locations
17. Multi-adventure parks in nature.
Ziplines, archery, paintball… all of them are complete plans for children to discharge energy and awaken their adrenaline. In Madrid there are several options of multi-adventure plans for children such as Multiaventura Park, in Las Rozas and Pozuelo de Alarcón, or some as exciting as Tirolinas Go! in the reservoir of Las Encinillas in Guadarrama, where you can see the mountains from another perspective.
Location: several locations
18. InsectPark
A different and original way to bring the natural world closer to the little ones is undoubtedly InsectPark, the Insect Museum of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It is a pioneer outreach center in Europe that displays specimens of both live and naturalized insects that have been collected after decades of expeditions and scientific work.
In addition to visiting the different rooms, activities such as sensory workshops where you can see, smell and touch tropical insects are organized.
Location: El Tomillar recreational area (km. 5,800 of the M-600 road) Tickets from 6€. You can check all the rates here
19. Candlelight
Candlelight concerts are ideal for making plans with children (over 8 years old) to enjoy music in a special environment. By candlelight and in the best venues in Madrid, you can share with your whole family an unforgettable experience that not only includes classical music, but also many other musical genres. Who says that children are too young to appreciate good live music?
Location: various locations
Tickets from 10€.
20. Musicals
The offer of musicals in Madrid is wide, and there are almost always several options to share with the family. There are classics that repeat season after season, such as The Lion King, and others that you have to hurry to see. This season is full of proposals for children, such as Aladdin, which complete a very attractive billboard for a plan with children in the center.
Location: various locations
21. Micropolix
In Micropolix there are streets, squares, traffic lights, city hall, market, hospital and everything a city needs to function, only here its inhabitants (always passing through) are from 4 to 14 years old. Its 12,000 square meters are designed for educational leisure, a great plan for children. It consists of 30 themed spaces where they learn social norms while playing.
Upon arrival, they receive a passport, a map of the city and 50 Eurix (official currency of Micropolix), from then on, they will have to manage their own money. Some activities will earn them Eurix and in others they will have to pay to enjoy them. The lines of leisure and work they will be able to them: a plan with children not to fail.
Location: Salvador de Madariaga street, S/N (San Sebastián de los Reyes).
Price varies according to days and age
22. Ball parks and trampolines
The classic ball parks have evolved, now they have giant foam rubber pools from which you can jump from a trampoline. The little ones share space with those who are not so little, because now in indoor multi-adventure parks like JumYard and Altitude Madrid they have zip lines and Grand Prix style competitions where everyone fits.
Location: various locations
23. Urban Planet Madrid: jumps, sport and adrenaline for the whole family.
Urban Planet Madrid is everything we ask of those hours we spend with the family: fun activities for all ages (recommended from 4 years old), with different levels of difficulty and with five locations in Madrid (in the neighborhoods of San Blas-Canillejas, Rivas Vaciamadrid, Leganés, Las Rozas and Collado Villalba). All these spaces have a very large area dedicated to jumping, full of trampolines; but there are also obstacle courses, climbing walls, “playgrounds” for children, soccer and basketball courts…
📍Location:different locations.
💸 Tickets: from 10€.
Wax Museum
A classic of the city, an immersion in the most famous characters of the historical and current scene. But in addition to political figures, characters from the world of sports, arts and sciences, show business or history, we will also find a children’s section, with characters like The Simpsons or Mortadelo and Filemon.
📍Location: Plaza de Colón, 1 (Downtown)
Tickets: from 0 to 3 years old, free admission; from 4 to 12, 12€.
25. Moncloa Lighthouse
One of those dizzying plans that will cause quite a stir at home. Climbing this imposing tower is a Madrid classic that Madrilenians don’t normally do. But for all those little ones at home who want to spend a different day and be amazed by the views, this is the plan. 110 meters high and a game: who can point out the Royal Palace, the Almudena Cathedral, the Telefónica building on Gran Vía, the Cuatro Torres or the Sierra de Guadarrama?
📍Location: Avenida de la Memoria, 2 (Princesa)
💸 Tickets: 4€.