Stuff to do in, or between, Amsterdam and Hamburg (+ kid)

We had a boat tour from outside the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which was good.

We also really enjoyed the Albert Cuyp market.

I wasn't sure whether you're looking for things to do in Amsterdam itself or only en route to Hamburg, but here are some more suggestions in Amsterdam

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/families-and-children

https://www.micropia.nl/en/

https://www.nemosciencemuseum.nl/en/

The Rijksmuseum is great for adults, if a little overwhelming, but I’m not sure how interesting it would be for an 8 year old.

Loads of good places for brunch/pancakes.

I’m not a great fan of Amsterdam, it’s far to touristy for me, but get away from the tourists and it's fine. Haarlem and Leiden are far nicer towns, with a lack of tourists,cannabis and hookers.

A great half day out is the Apenheul close to Apeldorn. Monkeys jumping on your shoulder. Public transport is great for it, the bus is regular from the train station to the park. reasonably close by to that is the Netherlands open air museum, my children were around 10/12 when we went, they loved it, as did we.

https://apenheul.com/

https://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/

https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

In Hamburg.  Can I come too?

Haarlem and Leiden are far nicer towns, with a lack of tourists,cannabis and hookers.

I agree but there are still plenty of all 3 in both places.

If you have any interest in military history, Arnhem is an hour from Amsterdam, the museum at Oosterbeek is well worth a visit.

Shmoke and a pancake?

As above - canal tour. Van Gogh museum for the oldies. FOAM photographic museum if you're that way inclined.

My in-laws live in Amsterdam so we've visited a few places there.

2 recommendations:

Zaanse Schans
Chief amusement (for them) is watching you try to pronounce it 😉
They have a few working windmills alongside the river that you can go inside and see them, learn about them etc. IIRC one's a sawmill, one's for making paint dyes and one's a peanut mill. Maybe more. They also have a clog museum and you can see them making cheese etc.

Archeon
An outdoor museum showing the history of housing & living in the Netherlands since prehistoric times.
Lots and lots of hands-on stuff and the guides there are living it, in costume and acting as people from those times. Very knowledgable and clearly with a love of their job!

Also not worth travelling but if you happen to be nearby the Amstelpark is a nice park.

Chief amusement (for them) is watching you try to pronounce it 😉

Aah yes - favourite pastime of the Dutch - criticising your attempts to speak their language.

It is not possible for you to go to Hamburg and not go to Miniatur Wonderland.

Its brilliant.

Also, if your at all of the petrolhead tendency, the Museum Prototyp round the corner is one the best (not biggest, but best) auto/motorsport collections I've ever been to

https://prototyp-hamburg.de/en/

The model railway in Hamburg. As has been mentioned above.

A visit to Amsterdam brought home to me how thick German soldiers must have been. Took them over a year to find where Anne Frank lived. But the last time I visited the city there were signs everywhere pointing to her house. 

Hamburg.

Miniature place as already mentioned.
Nautical museum is mega packed with stuff.
Tour of the dock on a boat, we saw an absolute monster setting sail. The scale of the boats and the infrastructure is mega.
Submarine in interesting

I cycled to Amsterdam with my son a couple of years ago, when he was 9 years old. He absolutely loved visiting The Upside Down, an "interactive social media museum", which is basically lots of rooms designed around taking selfies. It's a lot more fun than it sounds - have a look at their website https://the-upsidedown.com/ and its various pages. There are all sorts of rooms with optical illusions, fun scenes and stuff to play with (like massive teddy bears, or ball pools, or trampolines).

It's not high culture, but it's a fun thing to do for a couple of hours if your child likes taking photos of things, including themself.

hahahaha @kennyp , still got it 🙂

Thanks for the suggestions - miniature museum in Hamburg looks just the ticket. Boat tour + selfie museum sound good too.

Thank you!

 things to do in Amsterdam itself or only en route to Hamburg

Those are the two obvious places, but as we'll be travelling between them if anyone has a gem along the way we could stop there as well / instead.

Amsterdam is actually great with kids. The Rijksmuseum is too much at that age, but the Van Gogh Museum is not, especially with the Pokémon speurtocht they have now. Nemo is also excellent, as is Ripley's Believe it or Not. When you take the tram, try to sit by a monster window - you close one eye and bob your head up and down to 'eat' the pedestrians you pass.

The area around the station and Damrak can be a bit grimly touristy, but away from there and it's fine. Vondelpark is lovely to wander around on a summer's day, and PC Hoofdstraat next door is great for people watching and people watching watching - it's full of vulgar expensive shops and supercars.

You'll find lots of good eating pretty much everywhere, but you should also try shitty snack food from a wall. A broodje kroket is deliciously awful.