Manchester with a 10 years old boy

Manchester for kids

If he is into football, you could try a tour of Old Trafford or my favourite was the Museum of Science and Industry - lots of old cars, planes, machinery to look at.

I visited The Imperial War Museum North with some younger cousins of mine. They were really absorbed with the whole experience. Its on Salford Quays and only a short walk to Old Trafford.

You might also be intrested in a guided boat trip on the Manchester Ship Canal. You can check it out here.

There's a an open top tour bus of the city-not sure if it is hop on/off.
Old Trafford very good and a guided tour and lunch at the red Devils Cafe if he likes MUFC-a lot of people don't!
manchester museum on oxford road has a great dinosaur collection(right next to the uni)
Museum of science and Industry on Deansagte/Casteflield very hands on.
The Metro runs from Altrincham to Bury....handy get on and off.
Lots of theatres in manchester too-might be something he likes!

Most children's activities are organised over a weekend or during school holidays - next in Manchester is half term from 26th May to 3rd June or summer holidays from around 21st July for six weeks. Then you'll find lots of entertainment and leisure geared esp for children or families. Details from Manchesteronline.co.uk.
Other than stadium tours and museums, I suggest Chinatown (with archways) and Heaton Park (with a farm with animals, tramway, pitch and put and playgrounds; 15 min from centre by Bury Metrolink). There are many cinemas - including Printworks and AMC in the centre and shopping - Arndale and Trafford Centre (direct bus from Piccadilly Gdns). There's ten-pin bowling at Trafford Centre and Didsbury (bus from Piccadilly Gdns), and in Styal near the airport (train from Piccadilly) is Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate.

I agree with the idea of going to a museum or two. The best Museum to go to with young kids would be the Science and Industry museum. They've got some really cool stuff like a star gazing dome and a shed load of old aircraft. It's free too. You could spend an entire day there and still not see everything.

The cotton mill at Styal is fun too. You can see how it all used to work (they still run the machinery powered by the water wheel at intervals during the day).

I've never done it myself, but there's a canal connecting leeds to liverpool which runs directly through manchester. You can get day tours on it but they take quite a long time. You'd get to visit liverpool that way too.

If you check out what's happening at the Urbis centre they often have various activities/entertainment in there too. To be honest, Manchester is probably a really good place to come with kids. There are sometimes events on at Castlefield too which would double as a pleasant day out for an adult. There's always plenty going on.