Rain is part of the deal here, so we keep a list of indoor places that make a wet afternoon easy: big play halls, a wave pool under a glass dome and museums where kids get their hands busy. Here's what we checked, from the lab coats at NEMO to the trampolines at You Jump Amsterdam-Noord.
NEMO is a hands-on science museum where kids test things for themselves. Fenomena covers light, sound and static electricity, Technium the technology around us, Elementa space and lab experiments, and Humania the human body through games and tests.
In the daily lab workshop kids put on lab coats and safety glasses for experiments with everyday objects. The roof is the highest city square in the Netherlands, with wide city views.
An indoor play center inside the Akerpoort shopping center, with play zones parents can watch from the café. Kids from 4 climb and slide through the Fun House, everyone bounces in the Trampoline Zone, and under-4s get a Toddler Zone with soft mats and mini slides.
There are also ball pits and a laser game arena, and the hall is climate controlled, so it works on wet or cold days.
An indoor trampoline park with 18 attractions, including a ninja course, a trapeze, an Airtrack arena and Valo Jump, a two-player gaming trampoline. Parents can jump alongside their kids, and the café serves coffee, drinks and toasties.
Kids who want more can join JumpScool to learn stunts and tricks from the park's Jump Masters.
The National Maritime Museum fills a 17th-century naval storehouse on the Oosterdok with 500 years of Dutch seafaring. Moored outside is a full-size replica of the East Indiaman Amsterdam, where kids swing in hammocks, haul cargo and take the helm.
Inside, Doris the Diver is a story-led play exhibition for the youngest visitors, and The Tale of the Whale lets older kids step inside a life-size whale.
Naturalis is the national natural history museum of the Netherlands, holding over 45 million objects. The galleries run from the Life hall, which climbs from ocean depths to a mountaintop, through Dinosaur age with Trix the T. rex, to Ice age, Earth and Evolution.
On the free ground floor, kids can watch researchers at work in LiveScience. The Rexperience adds a bumpy capsule ride back to the T. rex.
This railway museum is built around a real station, Maliebaan, with platforms and halls full of historic locomotives.
Kids ride Steel Monsters, a cart on real rails through the dark past hissing engines, and Trial by Fire, a prize-winning attraction through 200 years of railway history. In the Techlab they close a circuit to move a train, pedal to feel its energy use and pull an emergency brake.
An indoor playground on the Johan Cruijff Boulevard, a short walk from the Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium. Kids climb through a labyrinth, race down the big slides and dive into the ball pit, while children under 5 have a separate play area of their own.
A café serves meals, snacks and drinks, and the venue also hosts kids' birthday parties and school trips.
De Mirandabad is the city-run pool complex on the south side of town. Its best-known part is the subtropical wave pool under a glass dome with palm trees, where kids go down the high slide and climb on floating toys.
There is also a 25-meter lap pool looking out on the garden, and an outdoor pool with a small playground and picnic tables.
Candy Castle is an indoor play paradise inside a restored historic church, with climbing frames, slides and tunnels set under the old church interior. The main play structure is for bigger kids, and a separate toddler zone keeps the youngest apart.
Play zones are laid out so parents can watch from the seating, and a café serves food with halal and gluten-free options.
Micropia is a science museum about microbes, the living things too small to see with the naked eye. More than 40 species grow in a working lab inside the museum, and kids look at them through microscopes and watch the lab technicians at work.
Interactive exhibits like the Kiss-o-meter and the Bodyscan show how many microbes live on and inside a person, and a new microbe goes on show each month.
Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, formerly the Tropenmuseum, collects objects and stories from cultures around the world, from its colonial history to games and holidays. Its family program, Wereldmuseum Junior, is built for touching and trying. In Raad van de Raaf, kids test their balance in a kayak, step onto a Greenlandic dog sled and listen to melting ice caps. CELEBRATION! Worldwide is a party shop of festival objects from many countries.
Playhood is a roleplay play space built as a child-sized neighborhood: a bakery, a supermarket with shopping carts, a fire station, a theater and more, all stocked with props and dress-up outfits. Kids run the shops while parents play along or sit in the Good Hood Café on site.
At the Good Hood Pizza shop, kids put on a chef's hat and apron, pick their ingredients and top their own pizza.
Rain is part of the deal here, so we keep a list of indoor places that make a wet afternoon easy: big play halls, a wave pool under a glass dome and museums where kids get their hands busy. Here's what we checked, from the lab coats at NEMO to the trampolines at You Jump Amsterdam-Noord.
NEMO is a hands-on science museum where kids test things for themselves. Fenomena covers light, sound and static electricity, Technium the technology around us, Elementa space and lab experiments, and Humania the human body through games and tests.
In the daily lab workshop kids put on lab coats and safety glasses for experiments with everyday objects. The roof is the highest city square in the Netherlands, with wide city views.
An indoor play center inside the Akerpoort shopping center, with play zones parents can watch from the café. Kids from 4 climb and slide through the Fun House, everyone bounces in the Trampoline Zone, and under-4s get a Toddler Zone with soft mats and mini slides.
There are also ball pits and a laser game arena, and the hall is climate controlled, so it works on wet or cold days.
An indoor trampoline park with 18 attractions, including a ninja course, a trapeze, an Airtrack arena and Valo Jump, a two-player gaming trampoline. Parents can jump alongside their kids, and the café serves coffee, drinks and toasties.
Kids who want more can join JumpScool to learn stunts and tricks from the park's Jump Masters.
The National Maritime Museum fills a 17th-century naval storehouse on the Oosterdok with 500 years of Dutch seafaring. Moored outside is a full-size replica of the East Indiaman Amsterdam, where kids swing in hammocks, haul cargo and take the helm.
Inside, Doris the Diver is a story-led play exhibition for the youngest visitors, and The Tale of the Whale lets older kids step inside a life-size whale.
Naturalis is the national natural history museum of the Netherlands, holding over 45 million objects. The galleries run from the Life hall, which climbs from ocean depths to a mountaintop, through Dinosaur age with Trix the T. rex, to Ice age, Earth and Evolution.
On the free ground floor, kids can watch researchers at work in LiveScience. The Rexperience adds a bumpy capsule ride back to the T. rex.
This railway museum is built around a real station, Maliebaan, with platforms and halls full of historic locomotives.
Kids ride Steel Monsters, a cart on real rails through the dark past hissing engines, and Trial by Fire, a prize-winning attraction through 200 years of railway history. In the Techlab they close a circuit to move a train, pedal to feel its energy use and pull an emergency brake.
An indoor playground on the Johan Cruijff Boulevard, a short walk from the Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium. Kids climb through a labyrinth, race down the big slides and dive into the ball pit, while children under 5 have a separate play area of their own.
A café serves meals, snacks and drinks, and the venue also hosts kids' birthday parties and school trips.
De Mirandabad is the city-run pool complex on the south side of town. Its best-known part is the subtropical wave pool under a glass dome with palm trees, where kids go down the high slide and climb on floating toys.
There is also a 25-meter lap pool looking out on the garden, and an outdoor pool with a small playground and picnic tables.
Candy Castle is an indoor play paradise inside a restored historic church, with climbing frames, slides and tunnels set under the old church interior. The main play structure is for bigger kids, and a separate toddler zone keeps the youngest apart.
Play zones are laid out so parents can watch from the seating, and a café serves food with halal and gluten-free options.
Micropia is a science museum about microbes, the living things too small to see with the naked eye. More than 40 species grow in a working lab inside the museum, and kids look at them through microscopes and watch the lab technicians at work.
Interactive exhibits like the Kiss-o-meter and the Bodyscan show how many microbes live on and inside a person, and a new microbe goes on show each month.
Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, formerly the Tropenmuseum, collects objects and stories from cultures around the world, from its colonial history to games and holidays. Its family program, Wereldmuseum Junior, is built for touching and trying. In Raad van de Raaf, kids test their balance in a kayak, step onto a Greenlandic dog sled and listen to melting ice caps. CELEBRATION! Worldwide is a party shop of festival objects from many countries.
Playhood is a roleplay play space built as a child-sized neighborhood: a bakery, a supermarket with shopping carts, a fire station, a theater and more, all stocked with props and dress-up outfits. Kids run the shops while parents play along or sit in the Good Hood Café on site.
At the Good Hood Pizza shop, kids put on a chef's hat and apron, pick their ingredients and top their own pizza.
