Our Favourite Kid-Friendly Museums in Utrecht
Kid-friendly museums in Utrecht are as abundant as can be! Utrecht is a city that is – quite unlike Amsterdam – focused around both young families and students, and therefore has a lot of kid-friendly, interactive museums that you must pay a visit! We’ve listed some of our favourites here!
#1: Nijntje Museum
This museum is more of a playground, that’s how interactive it is! Completely built around the Nijntje theme (Nijntje is a cute little cartoon bunny that was created by Dick Bruna, an artist from Utrecht in the 1950’s, an English equivalent is Miffy), kids are allowed to interact with and touch everything in the museum, and play in multiple themed rooms. Kids will feel like they’ve entered Nijntje’s colourful world, and it’s a great way for international kids to connect with a very fun and proud aspect of some Dutch culture! You can even bring your own lunch, one of the rooms is especially meant for a lunch break!
#2: Spoorwegmuseum
If your kids like trains, this is the place to take them. Apart from having a pretty intense history – as this station used to be the central station of Utrecht in the 20th century, and a lot went down here (definitely worth reading about as an adult, the history is a bit too intense for the ears of young kids as it deals with the Holocaust, but the historical significance of this place is definitely not something to skip over!), it is now a place filled with impressive trains and interactive and educational activities. Kids are allowed to enter the trains, and take a ride in a small train outside. Also, during Christmas time, this entire station is filled with Christmas markets and shows, which is definitely worth a visit. Also, fun fact, our brand manager used to work here!
#3: Museum Speelklok
In the centre of Utrecht, you can find this super playful, cheerful, and surprisingly big museum! There are loads of musical toys kids can play with to make their own music, and playing-wise they’ll learn a lot about self-playing musical instruments which are quite a staple of Dutch culture (you’ve probably seen them around the city on a Saturday). There’s a nice little cafe with affordable food and drinks for a little break, but you and your kids can probably spend a whole afternoon here!
#4: De Oude Hortus
If you’d like to experience some nature in the middle of the city, this is the place to go! There is a cute garden where kids can go around and see different flowers and plants. Inside of the garden is also a nice museum cafe, with delicious food! It’s a calm place, but kids can play and relax in the sun, a nice place to be after a day at school!
We hope that we’ve given you some good inspiration with this list, we highly recommend all of them! Let us know if you end up visiting one, and tag us in your Instagram/Facebook photos, we’d love to see your experiences!