15 things to do with your kids in Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria offers so many things to do to keep children occupied when on holiday,you just need enough time and planning to tick as many of these great places off your bucket list when visiting the island.

Take a look at 15 of the favourite things to do while you’re in Gran Canaria with your children.

Get close to nature at Palmitos Park

Palmitos Park is a subtropical park in one of the most beautiful settings for a zoo in the mountains of Barranco de Palmitos and was our favourite day out when visiting Gran Canaria. It’s the largest zoo in the Canaries with so much to see, including meerkats, primates, butterflies, turtles, toucans, reptiles and an aquarium.

Along with stunning scenery, and a cactus garden there are four shows to see during your visit. The birds of prey and dolphin shows are in particular really impressive and for an additional cost you can also spend time with the dolphins or have your photo with an American eagle.

We booked our Palmitos Park tickets with AttractionTix (a UK based company ) in advance.  The benefit of doing so is that as the ticket is a flexi ticket, it can be used any day during your visit and it is cheaper than the “on the gate” price.

Barranco de Los Palmitos s/n
Maspalomas
Tlf: (+34) 928 797 070 
Web: www.palmitospark.es

Ride on a camel on Playa de Maspalomas

Explore the spectacular sand dunes of Maspalomas on a camel for a truly unforgettable experience. With 6 kilometres of golden sand and massive sand dunes it really does feel as though you are in the desert. After this adventure, cool down in one of the beachside cafes or restaurants at Melonares promenade and its 56ft tall lighthouse.

Maspalomas
Web Camel Park Arteara

Take a Jeep Safari

This is the perfect opportunity to see the real Gran Canaria that most visitors never get to see. On this 4×4 excursion you travel through tiny charming Canarian villages and get to see spectacular unspoilt views. It’s worth taking your swimsuit as you often have the chance to cool off at a spectacular crystal clear mountain stream.

Web  Jeep Safari

Visit the beach

Gran Canaria has fabulous sandy beaches that children will love, the most popular is the famous stretch of golden sand at Maspalomas which runs all the way along the coast to Playa del Ingles.

At Playa de Mogan you will find a lovely little beach which is the perfect spot to look for small fish in the crystal clear waters whilst the beach at Playa de Amadores is definitely worth a visit.

If you love building sandcastles then you need to visit the beach at Las Canteras. This is a special beach because it’s here where sandcastle artists come to create their amazing sand sculptures.

After spending time at these great beaches your children won’t want to go back home.

Learn to surf

Gran Canaria is called the European Hawaii for good reason because of its volcanic landscape and is perfect for learning how to surf. There are lots of surfing schools who will make getting started a breeze.

Angry Birds themed play

Children will love this large Angry Birds themed outdoor playground in Puerto Rico. The Angry Birds themed activities include pedal cars, mini golf, scooter ramps, zip lines, laser maze, interactive football wall and even a brilliant 10D cinema!

Even though there are plenty of shaded areas I would recommend that you give the middle of the day a miss as it can get very hot. However once you have paid for entry you can return back to the park later in the day. If your children are Angry Birds fans then they will love visiting the great gift shop selling Angry Birds merchandise.

It can be expensive at 54 euro for a family of 4 but it’s a great change for children from the pool or beach.

Avenida Tomás Roca Bosch – Puerto Rico
Web: www.activityparkcanarias.com 

Visit the crocodiles at Cocodrilo Park

Cocodrilo Park contains around 300 crocodiles making it the largest collection of crocodiles in Europe. The spectacular crocodile show is not to be missed where you can watch the crocodiles being fed live where you catch a glimpse of just how powerful these creatures are.

As well as the crocodiles there are monkey’s birds, tigers, snakes and a reptile collection unique in the Canary Islands.

Los Corralillos Km 5,5 
Agüimes
Web: Parque de Cocodrilos

Fun at the fairground at Holiday World Maspalomas

This is the only theme park in the Canaries, and although it’s quite small, there are attractions for all ages including bumper cars, merry-go-round, roller coaster along with a panoramic big wheel offering views over the sand dunes and lighthouse of Maspalomas.

Campo Internacional Maspalomas
Web: www.holidayworldmaspalomas.com

Mundo Aborigen

Step back in time at Mundo Aborigen which is a recreation of an ancient Canarian village of the early inhabitants of Gran Canaria and their pre-Hispanic culture. The park has recreated ancient buildings and more than 100 human size figures depicted in various scenes of domestic life.

Located in a beautiful setting overlooking the Barranco de Fataga, the biggest gorge on the island, the views from the park are spectacular.

Carretera Fataga, Km 6, 35108 Fataga

Cool off at Aqualand

This is the perfect place to cool down from the Gran Canaria heat and have some family fun. This is a large open air waterpark with a wave pool and 30 different water slides, rides and attractions including Snake Falls a brand new attraction for 2017.

For younger children the Polynesia area is perfect with a safe shallow water play area full of child friendly attractions including water buckets, slides and waterfalls and if you just want to relax then there is the Pirate lazy river.

In their Sea Lion encounter you can make your day even more memorable and swim with sea lions.

Aquatic park
Carretera Palmitos Park, km 3
Web: www.aqualand.es

Elder Museum of Science and Technology

When visiting the capital city of Las Palmas make sure to take your children to Museo Elder de la Ciencia y la Tecnología a fascinating science and technology museum.

With over 20 interactive areas featuring lots of hands on exhibits for children to interact with. In fact the slogan of the museum is “Forbidden not to touch”!

Visit website

Set Sail and go Dolphin and Whale Watching

You can set sail on a glass-bottom boat to see dolphins and whales, or take submarine excursions. The Spirit of the Seas boat trip sets sail from Puerto Rico and takes between 2-3 hours and you are usually guaranteed to see dolphins and even whales during your journey.

Alternatively you can go on a submarine adventure from Puerto de Mogan to visit the lounge of a dolphin family.

Multiacuatic
Dolphin watching tours
Web: www.dolphinwhales.es 

Spirit of the Sea
Dolphin watching tours
Web: www.dolphin-whale.com

Submarine Adventure
Puerto de Mogán
Web: www.atlantidasubmarine.com

Go to the cinema under moonlight

The Moonlight Cinema in Maspalomas is no ordinary cinema. To start with you watch your movie outdoors and start your evening escorted across a red carpet before being seated in comfortable sofas. The first film of the evening is usually a kids film and starts whatever time sunset is.

Expect full waiter service throughout the movie so you can order delicious pizza, nachos, popcorn or drinks whilst watching the movie together.

Web:  Moonlight Cinema website

Visit the Wild West

Visiting Sioux City is like stepping into the wild west of America, and something you wouldn’t expect to visit when in Gran Canaria. The town in San Agustin was built for the movie industry in 1972 but is now an amusement park which is great family fun.

It really does feel as though you are in a western movie as you walk through this perfectly recreated town with its saloon, bank and of course cowboys, Indians and sheriffs.

The entertainment you encounter from duels, dancing and a western show provides an unforgettable experience. There is also a play area for younger children and a reptile area with snakes, spiders and their famous albino crocodile.

Barranco del Águila
San Bartolomé de Tirajana
Web: www.siouxcitypark.es

Explore Little Venice

Gran Canaria has its own Little Venice in the beautiful little fishing village of Puerto de Mogan. Spend the mornings exploring the cobbled flower filled streets that are lined with independent shops (children will love Ale-Hop) whitewashed houses and lovely restaurants.

Throughout the town are little canals that run down toward the sandy beach and marina. Every Friday a large market is held through its main streets.

How to book your tickets

Many of these activities are available to pre-book before your holiday with AttractionTix.

For example we booked our Palmitos Park tickets with AttractionTix (a UK based company ) in advance.  The benefit of doing so is that as the ticket is a flexi ticket, it can be used any day during your visit and it is cheaper than the “on the gate” price.

We found it was convenient as once you have booked your tickets direct with AttractionTix, you instantly receive an e-ticket to print off at home before you travel and saved us waiting in a long line for tickets once at the attraction.