London things to do for an 8 year old

[Giraffemonkey8]

Our son loves London. We are taking him on a surprise trip soon and have already done all the obvious attractions so don’t want to do them again. Please let me know the weird and wonderful things which would appeal to an 8 year old that I might not have heard of!

Things we have done/not interested in:
Tower of London
Museums
Art Galleries
River cruise
London Eye
Palace
Covent Garden
Bus Tour
Chinatown
Harrods
Hamleys
F&M
Lego store etc
Leicester Square
Madam Tussauds

Battersea Power Station? Loads of activities including:

Lift 109 | Battersea Power Station

If you don't mind heading out into Zone 3/4 there is the Horniman Museum at Forest Hill and nearby are the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.

Zoo

M&M's World...it's near Leicester Square if I remember correctly. If he likes M&Ms it's 3 floors of sweets and includes a wall of M&Ms in every colour, it's tacky but fun.

Have you been to the Postal Museum? There's a journey on an old mail train included with entry which I think most 8 year olds would find really cool!
https://www.postalmuseum.org/visit-us/what-to-expect/mail-rail/?_gl=11l6o8c9_upMQ.._gaOTcxNjUwOTI5LjE3NDU5NTI3NjM._ga_FVHFC2XYM3*MTc0NTk1Mjc2My4xLjEuMTc0NTk1Mjc5MS4wLjAuMA..

Tower Bridge
the cable car in east London
Twist Museum
Sea Life Centre
Young V&A (I know you said “museums” but obviously there’s an awful lot of them so I took that to mean South Ken)
London Transport Museum
Museum of Docklands
various city farms
Loads of Harry Potter shops
Waterstones Piccadilly if he’s a reader
if it’s warm, the Diana paddling pool thingy in Hyde Park (or maybe Kensington Gardens, can’t remember which)

There is an interactive minecraft game pop up in London that he is the perfect age for... you play the game with a cube.

Book tickets to go up 22 Bishopsgate or 8 Bishopsgate- they are free but need booking one month and one week in advance respectively as very popular. Views from the top are great- you can see all the sights!

A west end show is always a winner too... my son is the same age and loved the Lion King and Matilda.

Boating on the serpentine.

Diana Princess of Wales memorial playground in Kensington gardens, or

Coram Fields play area.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel: take the DLR to Island Gardens (sit at the front and pretend to drive), then walk through foot tunnel under the Thames to Greenwich, coming out by the Cutty Sark.
Loads of space to run around in Greenwich Park, plus the observatory and museums if you want them.

Wellcome Collection (medical museum)

Kings Cross ( to see platform 9 3/4) then loads of things to see and do in surrounding area, canal, Coal Drops Yard etc. There is also a mini nature reserve in between Kings Cross and St Pancras - Camley Street Natural Park.

St Paul’s Cathedral and Whispering Gallery

Clink Museum

I second the postal museum- perfect for an 8 year old.

Emirates cable car
The Shard
Battersea Power Station is a good shout for both different views (but fixed time at the top) and also the Lego store/other shops.
Bubble Planet
You could walk from Kings Cross up the Regents Canal to Camden Lock - quite a short walk but something different and lots of things to mooch round in Granary Square.
Cat cafe?

walk over the o2

There is an immersive Tutankhamen experience/ exhibition in the Docklands at the moment - might be a good shout although I've not yet been.

Otherwise I'd say Greenwich is a great idea - the Maritime museum and Cutty Sark are both perfect for that age.

Diana memorial playground - would be convenient to tie in with ice skating at Queensway

Minecraft experience

twist museum Oxford Circus
paradox museum - more like camera obscura than a museum definitely weird and wonderful

life size monopoly- if he knows the game

there’s loads of climbing centres & clip and climbs
areial zip line things.

west end show

Abba Voyage

you said river cruises but going to mention the horrible histories one.

the zoo

The Bank of England Museum is fun at that age. Kids get to hold a real gold bar. It’s in a good location for other sights like St Paul’s, Monument, Pudding Lane etc.

Treasure Trails are great fun, we do them with our kids all the time. They're usually a great walk around but with lots of looking and exploring. Buy and print in advance and take a couple of pens with you too!

We took a regular TfL boat up to Greenwich, was quite fun and not as expensive as a sightseeing one.

Definitely Greenwich, and also HMS Belfast.

Assume you're not writing off every museum? The National Maratime Museum and the Postal Museum are both brilliant

The Cutty Sark is well worth a visit, particularly if you head to Greenwich on the cheap Uber boats. Combines well with Maritime Museum; Royal Observatory and a mooch in Greenwich market.

Probably a bit young for one of the Shoreditch street art tours unless that is their thing.

8 is a good age for a musical like Matilda

Climb The Monument, designed by Christopher Wren to commemorate the Great Fire of London. (Fish St Hill)

Leadenhall Market with Harry Potter links.

Museum of London is very interesting and a great location in the Barbican. Maybe see what's on at the theatre there too, it's an absolutely stunning design and if there was something child friendly to see, it would be a fantastic experience.

Museum of London at Barbican has closed and is moving to different premises.
Museum of London Dockyards (at Canary Wharf) is open though.

Museum of London is closed until next year when it will reopen in Smithfield. It sounds like it will be amazing, not least because you'll be able to see trains running through the middle of it!

Horrible histories boat tour
Greenwich - Cutty sark, observatory, amazing playground

Tower bridge is really good- you can walk across glass on the upper walkway and look down as the bridge opens.

Have also heard postal museum is great although haven't been!

My 8 year old really enjoyed Shrek’s Adventure.

RAF museum in Hendon ?

What does he love about London?

Not sure which things on the list are ‘not interested’ so not sure how to skew suggestions