Berlin for a 10 year old?

[ChimChimeny]

DH and I went to Berlin pre DD and found it fascinating with all the history and have always wanted to back. DD is learning about WW1 and WW2 at school so we thought about going back but we're not sure if she's a bit too young. We're also not sure if there is enough child friendly stuff to do as well.

Have a look at the visitberlin.de website, they have lots of information on child friendly things to do in Berlin. There’s loads to do.

What time of year?

The zoo is excellent. Lake swimming in the summer.

I think some of the museums would be 'too much' - the Holocaust memorial would be fine, but maybe not the exhibition underneath.

Reichstaag dome very good.

I‘ve raised two DC in Berlin, there’s loads to do for that age group, the big issue will be how much of it is accessible for someone who doesn’t speak German. Another factor is the time of year you’re planning in going: there’s no point me recommending outdoor lidos if you’re going in November, for example.
A few things off the top of my head:
Kids usually like a trip up to the Reichstag dome, but you would need to book that online a while beforehand. Going up the Fernsehturm is a hit too - when mine were about that age I booked brunch for us all in the restaurant at the top.
There‘s an outdoor high ropes course at Nordbahnhof (do check it still exists!), and there’s definitely one down at Wühlheide.
The best museum for kids hands down is the Museum für Naturkunde, it’s worth going for the dinosaurs alone. Most if not all of the information is now in English too.
The Humboldt Forum also tries to have one exhibition at a time with a child-friendly focus, and will often produce a little ‚activity booklet‘ in German and English for kids going round the exhibition. It’s pretty rare to have tours for children in English though - you mostly have children‘s tours in German or adult tours in English.
I‘d keep away from the Checkpoint Charlie museum in favour of the Mauer Museum.
And quite frankly I wouldn’t be taking a 10-year-old around anything Holocaust-specific like the small museum at the Holocaust memorial (next to Brandenburg Gate). It’s very graphic - and necessarily so, but that means it’s not for kids. Sachsenhausen has a minimum age of 14 for entry, IIRC, which seems about right.
But the Jewish Museum would be really interesting for a 10-year-old. I remember DD2 did a school project on it at that age and she found it fascinating.
Then there’s the zoo and aquarium. We used to have season passes for the west zoo so we went a lot and had quite a few birthday parties there. The playground there is fab, if your DD is still into that kind of thing. I do have a few qualms about the bigger animals (elephants and tigers) not having enough space though, but it’s a great day trip if you fancy something that’s not museumy.

In winter from October (?) to Feb there are some great outdoor ice rinks - our favourite is at the Erika Hess Stadium in Wilmersdorf, I think it’s on the 115 bus route.
I‘m sure I‘ve missed out a few things, maybe if you give an idea of the kind of thing your DD likes I can think about what Berlin has to offer in that direction.

The mauer museum is excellent.

Boat trips

This is all amazing thank you everyone. We 're looking at Feb Half term so will be chilly and ice skating would be fun!

@ItsOnlyWordsInnit

I‘m sure I‘ve missed out a few things, maybe if you give an idea of the kind of thing your DD likes I can think about what Berlin has to offer in that direction.

I think you've covered it all thank you! she likes museums, ice skating & zoos so I think we'd easily fill the 4/5 days

The spy museum is brilliant and very child friendly, we had a great time solving codes and dressing up as undercover spies.

She'd probably like the DDR museum.

Ritter shop

Rausch chocolate shop - models of landmarks in chocolate, and a cafe with incredible cakes and hot chocolate