VERY kid-friendly activities in Spain

FYI This summer is going to be HOT and DRY in Spain, especially in Andalucia (100F+) so make sure not to push too much, seems like you are covering a lot of ground especially with little kids all in a car. You may or may not know that Barcelona and Andalucia are currently experiencing their worst droughts ever recorded, water is being rationed, fountains turned off, water parks shuttered, beach showers shut off etc...

Kid friendly day trips/activities for Barcelona:
Tibidabo Amusement Park
Daytrip to Dali Museum
Aquarium
Daytrip to Tossa de Mar
PortAventura World/Water Park (check for drought impact)

Kid friendly day trips/activities for Madrid:
Warner Amusement Park
Daytrip Roman Ruins of Segobriga
Daytrip Ciudad Encantada geological site
El Retiro Park

Hope this helps!

Not on your itinerary, but Valencia had one of the funnest kids parks I've ever seen. Right smack in the middle of the city was a giant park with a Gulliver's Travels theme. And it is near to the Hemisfèric, the Sciences museum, and L'Oceanogràfic aquarium.

I agree with Tom R, Valencia is my new favorite city in Spain and hardly known to Americans. It's also doing better drought wise than other neighboring regions like Catalonia.

Kid friendly day trips/activities for Valencia:
Peñíscola Castle
City of Arts & Sciences
Roman Ruins of Saguntum
Albufera Natural Park Kayaking/Paella tours

It’s going to be very, very hot so I’d focus on water based activities: pools, beaches and lakes. Local children will be up until after 10pm to use the playgrounds when it’s a bit cooler. There’ll be no one there in the daytime.

With 7 and 9 year olds several years ago, we went to the playground and splash pad at Madrid Rio one day. We also stopped at little playgrounds frequently, often just before or after a "sight".

I think the kids might enjoy visiting Temple Debod in Madrid. It's in a park not far behind the palace, free, and I think open most hours (or was the last time I was there). It's an Egyptian Temple that would have been covered with water when they built the Aswan Dam. Spain had sent some engineers to help with the project, so Egypt dismantled the Temple and sent it, as a gift, to Spain - where it was reconstructed in a park. I'd probably go early in the morning or later after sunset, if possible, so it won't be too hot.

We took our three kids (7, 5, and 2) to Barcelona in February 2023 and had a fantastic trip. There are so many kid-friendly activities

Our favorite ended up being the science museum CosmoCaixa near Tibidabao. The kids were free! I just had to pay 6 euros for my own admission. The all-you-can-eat buffet in the museum cafeteria was really quite good. It had a mini-aquarium inside, which made the ticket even more of a great deal compared to the steep cost of the actual aquarium.

We gave each of our kids their own camera (free from Facebook Marketplace) and they had such fun taking pictures.

Barcelona Zoo (we wanted to go, but ran out of time)

Barcelona Aquarium (fun for our kids)

Cable car to Montjuic (our kids loved taking the cable car up and down and had fun exploring the castle)

Other possibilities: Magic fountains, chocolate museum, maritime museum, natural science museum, botanical gardens, sports museum, camp nou soccer stadium, citadel park. We also liked the playground across the street from the Sagrada Familia, and all the gelato :)