Amsterdam with a tweener

Boy or girl? What are their interests? And what time of year will you be there?

hey hey camino
when are you planning this trip, what month, how much in your euros do you want to spend, do you want an apartment or hotel, interests between you and him? what's your plans before or after?
aloha

Our tween boys liked the Anne Frank house. They also enjoyed cruising around the canals in bikes. They also liked the market in the Jordaan neighborhood.

We took our daughter there at age 11. The Anne Frank house make a big impression on her. There's much there for young people.
I can tell you where not to take him, however.

There are exciting things to discover and to explore, depending on the interest, of course:
The Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum) with a replica of a seventeenth-century ship.
The Our Lord in the Attic (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder), which not only has its hidden church, but also gives a view of the life in a canal house.
The Rembrandthuis, a not boring way to get acquainted with the painter.
All unique Amsterdam things.

Kids like the Van Gogh museum. It’s small/manageable and his paintings are recognizable to that set. I second the Anne Frank Haus and also a canal cruise.

Good suggestions. They may enjoy a visit to see the windmills. There is an animal petting area and a wooden shoe carving demonstration. The canal ride would be fun.

As many have mentioned, windmills, Zaanse Schans village is great but try to get there early. You don't need to book a tour, just go on the train, its easy, cheap and takes about 20 minutes.

If your tweener is at all musical there is the Pianola Museum open on Friday,, Saturday and Sindays in the afternoons.

There is a small but very interesting private museum of everything that glows in the dark called Electric Ladyland.

Cycling in the Vondel Park can be fun, you can rent biikes nearby at this branch here: MacBike

Please be careful biking in Amsterdam! If you have not biked before this city is not the place to start practising as a local cyclists go fast and generally do not appreciate the bike lane being held up by tourists.

I would recommend the zoo (Artis) and the nearby museum (Microopia) for kids interested in animals and science. For museums I would recommend visiting the Rijksmuseum - I do not think there is a "boring" way to get to know Rembrandt or his contemporaries. The museum provides various activities for children and families, many free of charge, so make sure you check out their website before visiting.

I’ve had the good fortune of traveling with our gender neutral daughter/son to Europe many, many times since they were pint sized (they are 23 now) including at least four trips to the Netherlands. I feel I can speak with confidence what appeals to tweens and youth. I agree Zaanse Schans is an excellent choice to keep them interested and in motion.
In addition, I would highly recommend visiting Royal FloraHolland flower auction. It’s absolutely amazing to see the action of 30 million flowers and plants being sold daily. Standing on the catwalks above, you see a beehive of amazing flowers from all over the world coming in, being auctioned, sorted and buzzing off again. Visually it’s stunning to see. It’s a big place so it keeps you active and involved. Something I’ve found important with the younger traveler. I can also say my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. I’m traveling there later this month with my friend. She’s let me know it’s on the must do list after seeing videos of my previous visit there. I wish you the best trip possible. Lucky you!