Amsterdam museums with ‘younger’ kids.
The candid advice you won’t find on google…
If you search Amsterdam museums for young kids (under 5), you will likely be suggested a whole list of very good 'grown-up' museums, which also have sections and activities for young kids and as controversial as this may be...if you excitedly take your pre-schooler, full of expectation, you are probably going to leave slightly disappointed. From around 4 you can probably start with the science museum Nemo, depending on the child, however that said my 4 year old was only mildly interested in the activities at Nemo and certainly more interested in the chocolate sprinkles on offer in their cafe. My sense was that, especially during busy holiday periods, it is just too overwhelming for the smaller ones and a lot goes over their heads. It’s a truly fantastic museum, but I'll be waiting another year or two to take her again, when I expect she will get much more out of the experience. The Maritime Museum is really for adults and older children, but it does have a fun section for toddlers and some younger boating enthusiasts may well enjoy walking around the old replica ship docked outside.
The reality is, yes Amsterdam has a wealth of world class museums, it is a cultural playground for us lucky adults, however if truth be told it is a little dry on the museums for small children front. Of course if you are a tourist on a short trip with your family, you may well be limited to Amsterdam museums, however if you are living here with your young family, you need to be casting your net wider and also be looking outside of the city for the best children focused museums.
Luckily these top three museums are short days trips from Amsterdam and all easily accessible by train or car. In top spot is the Spoorwegmuseum (aka, to us expats, the train museum). This is a stunningly beautiful, old museum in Utrecht, which whilst not officially being a kid’s museum…is very much a kid’s museum. It is spacious (kids can run around till their hearts content), it has huge old steam trains, there are plenty of interactive activities for children, as well as impressive theatre performances, a great outside playground and an entire large playroom filled with Brio train sets. The only challenge was eventually extracting my toddler son from said playroom. You can easily spend hours here with younger or indeed older kids.
Up next is the Kinderboekenmuseum (aka the children’s book museum) right in the centre of the Hague. It is quirky and seriously fun, with lots of little rooms themed around popular children’s books (think Hungry Caterpillar) and it is perfectly set up for imaginative play. It’s a magical spot to entertain children on a dreary winters day (of which there are many). If only there were more museums like this one…
The Nientje Museum in Utrecht is still on my list of places to visit, but I have been told by numerous friends living here that it is an absolute winner for young kids…and with so many parents saying the same thing, they must be right. Designed with toddlers and pre-schoolers in mind, this interactive and charming museum is much loved by parents with younger ones. Oh and if you aren’t sure who Nientje is (you must be a fresh arrival), it’s Miffy, the iconic, really rather cute, Dutch rabbit.
Once the children are a little older and a little more ready and ‘willing’ for a proper dose of culture, there are some really popular and fun activities at the main museums, such as The Rijksmuseum, The Van Gogh Museum and The Wereld Museum and i’ve heard wonderful things about the junior section at The Jewish museum, where children can also learn to bake Challah bread.
Unless of course you have a highly sophisticated toddler or pre-schooler, with a strong attention span, i’d personally look at the more play based and interactive museums specifically designed with young children in mind, which are mostly located outside of Amsterdam.
