Things to Do with Kids in Barajas

Circlassica is a family circus show from Productores de Sonrisas, the company behind Circo Mágico and Navidad Circo Price. This year's production, Extraordinarios, follows Isa, a dreamy whiteface clown who travels the world gathering one-of-a-kind performers.

More than 30 international artists perform high wire, aerial silks, unicycles and acrobatics, with the Circlassica Orchestra playing live throughout. It suits kids who can sit through a long show with one break.

Spain's biggest horse show is back after a year off. In the main arena, riders compete for three World Cups: show jumping, dressage and carriage driving. The crowd favorites are Pony Turf and the Jump & Drive race.

Next door, the Horse Hall has brand stands, food, a pony park and a kids' zone. Horse-mad kids could stay all day; others may last a couple of hours.

CantaJuego's new stage show turns the sing-along videos toddlers already know into a live musical. Coco, Pepe and Buby play at what they'll be when they grow up, from gardener to astronaut, with songs, dances and interactive moments that get kids on their feet.

It's built around the group's best-known hits, so fans sing along from the first song. Kids past 7 may find it young.

Parque Juan Carlos I spreads over 160 hectares around a one-kilometer ring, with a 1.9 km ría crossed by footbridges, a lake, an old olive grove and 19 giant outdoor sculptures. Kids get several play areas, including a wooden pirate ship, plus fountains and water jets, a mini train and bike loans, so it suits a whole morning on wheels.

El Capricho is a duchess's 18th-century garden full of follies: a laurel hedge maze, a small brick fort, a boathouse on a winding canal, temples and fountains. Kids hunt for black swans, ducks and red squirrels and try to get lost in the maze. It is a walking garden, so balls, bikes, scooters, picnics and dogs stay outside.

A small electric train, built to look like an old steam engine, pulls open carriages on a 30-minute loop around Parque Juan Carlos I. The route runs past the ría, the lake, the Estufa Fría greenhouse and the park's long promenades, and an optional recorded commentary tells the park's story along the way. Each train seats 50 and has a space for a wheelchair.

A big wooden pirate ship, with masts, rope rigging and an anchor painted on the bow, is the centerpiece of this play area inside Parque Juan Carlos I. Kids climb onto the deck and across the rope net, then come down a spiral slide or a straight one into the sand. It sits on the park's quieter east side, well away from the busy main entrance.