Madrid with Kids in Autumn

A certified organic family farm in the Jarama valley where kids push a wheelbarrow into the field and pick their own pumpkin. Between rounds there's a hay maze, a slide and hay-bale photo spots, plus a shop terrace where parents can sit. On workshop days a booked session adds a tractor ride, farm animals and hollowing out and decorating a pumpkin. Works well for toddlers and younger school kids.

Madrid's yearly festival of Spanish-speaking cultures, with the United States as guest country this time. Most of it is outdoors: big Latin and pop concerts in the main squares, flamenco and dance, and clowns, circus, acrobats and giant puppets for families in two city parks. Kids who like music and street shows get the most from it; the talks and exhibitions suit older kids and adults.

Spain's National Day military parade, opened by the King and Queen. A paratrooper lands with a giant Spanish flag, jets and helicopters fly over, then about 4,380 soldiers, police and rescue crews pass with armored vehicles, horses, rescue dogs and the Legion's goat mascot. It is a formal ceremony with a lot of standing, so it suits kids who can wait for the big moments.

Each fall, shepherds walk a flock of sheep from Casa de Campo into the city center, down Calle Mayor to Cibeles, where they hand the City Council a symbolic toll of 50 maravedíes. Kids get to see a real flock up close on streets they know from the car or the bus. It is on foot, so it suits kids who can wait for the flock to reach them.

Madrid's day for its patron saint, the Virgin of La Almudena. After an open-air mass beside the cathedral, her statue is carried through the old center to Plaza Mayor and back. It is also the season for the corona de la Almudena, a ring-shaped pastry that bakeries all over the city sell for the occasion. Best for kids who like a procession and a treat after.

Labs, museums and universities across the region open up for Madrid Science Week, and part of the program is built for kids. They explore models of the human body with a guide at CaixaForum, watch stone tools being made and fire lit by striking stone at the Museo de San Isidro, or design a Roman building. Preschoolers get short color workshops in Alcobendas.

Halloween is a Saturday this year, with All Saints' Day on Sunday and a school holiday on Monday, Nov 2. Theme parks, the zoo and neighborhood cultural centers all join in. Madrid's own traditions are quieter: marzipan huesos de santo in the bakeries and chestnut sellers on street corners. Casa de México adds a Day of the Dead altar. Here's what we checked, from free neighborhood parties to Parque Warner.

Yes, Madrid has pumpkin patches! Farms in the Jarama valley and around Aranjuez open their fields in October, and kids grab a wheelbarrow and pick their own. Some add tractor rides and corn mazes, others keep it to a field and a scale. All are under an hour's drive. Book the Monjarama workshops on Oct 10 and 11 early, and bring boots. Here's what we checked, from Aranjuez to Retiro.

From late October to late November, the forests north of the city turn yellow, orange and red, with peak color shifting each year. One beech forest only lets you in with a guide, chestnut groves fill the hills below El Escorial, and mushroom season brings guided walks and a big show in November. Here's what we checked, from nature workshops in city parks to the beeches at Montejo.

The Fuenfría Valley above Cercedilla is Scots pine forest crossed by old roads, including an excavated stretch of the Roman road that climbs to the Fuenfría pass. At the bottom, the national park visitor center has an exhibition and short films about the valley, a rock garden and a plot of native plants. Kids can play El tesoro de La Tuerta, a self-guided treasure hunt around the grounds.

Hayedo de Montejo is a protected beech forest on the banks of the Jarama river, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can only go in on a guided walk in a small group, along one of three paths. In fall the beeches turn gold and copper.

It suits kids who can walk a couple of kilometers on forest paths and stay with the group.