Resources
For parents
Places to go with Children
Amsterdam is a charming city that offers lots of great indoor and outdoor activities that children can participate in. Children often say it’s their favourite place to visit or live in Europe. It’s a great place to explore by walking, biking, or taking the efficient and fast public transit system. For the first week or so, act like a tourist and get yourself a good guidebook. Just take some time to explore the city. It will not only help you get acquainted with your new city, but also help your children to adjust to their new surroundings. Have fun exploring and discovering Amsterdam!
Below is a list of both outdoor and indoor activities for children
Outdoor Places
You can begin to explore downtown Amsterdam by hopping on a bus, train, or tram to get to your destination. You can choose to walk around, take a canal cruise, rent bikes (if your children are old enough), or even take a hop on, hop off bus tour to get acquainted with the city. In addition to the historical buildings and great museums, there are also many lovely parks in the city. One of the most lively and famous is Vondelpark, but there are plenty of others located throughout the city. You might want to try out Westerpark, Beatrixpark, or Rembrandtpark. You can always find a park close to where you live so your children can play, relax, picnic, or ride their bike.
Renting Bicycles
If you don’t have bikes of your own, then rent some with the kids if they are old enough to tour around. I wouldn’t recommend biking in the city centre, unless your children are older and experienced with biking. You can even rent bikes with built in seats for toddlers, and you will see Dutch mothers riding bikes with attached carts that hold 2-3 children plus groceries. There are safe, and well-maintained bike paths throughout the city and in all the parks and neighbourhoods. Of course after seeing just how popular bike travel is, you will probably want to get bikes for the whole family. There is nowhere in the world, quite so safe and efficient for biking as the Netherlands!
Artis Zoo
The Artis Zoo is a very large complex in the heart of Amsterdam that includes the zoo, an aquarium, planetarium, and geology museum. The zoo has a wonderful assortment of animals that will not fail to educate and please. There is a terrific children’s playground with climbing structures and a sandbox, near a restaurant with a very pleasant outdoor section, perfect to have both a playtime and lunch with your children. www.artis.nl (English site)
Go See Some Windmills
There are eight windmills in Amsterdam, and probably the most famous is on the Amstel River, close to Amstel Park. You can rent a bike, and ride around the beautiful, scenic Amstel River. You will find a single picturesque windmill on the route. Rembrandt did a famous engraving of this same windmill in 1641! On another trip, you could visit Rembrandt’s House and show the engraving of this windmill to your children. It’s a great way to bring history and art alive for kids.
Zaandam Windmills: A whole collection of windmills can be found in the Zaanse Schans in Zaandam, which is quite a close drive or train trip from Amsterdam.
Westerkerk Tower
This is a great place for kids to get a panoramic view of all of Amsterdam. This helps to convey the beauty of the city and its surroundings and children love to see all the comings and goings in miniature far below them. The Westerkerk church is on the Prinsengracht. Climb the tower to get the view.
Canal Cruises
A great way to get familiar with Amsterdam is to take a one-hour cruise on the canals. Amsterdam has been dubbed “The Venice of the North”, and once you take a cruise you will know why. You get a different feel for the city from the water as you wind slowly by the tall gabled houses, the outdoor cafes, and the many houseboats that line the canal. If your children are old enough, you can also rent a four-seater self-propelled canal bike for a unique experience. Many Dutch people own their own boats, and leisurely cruise the canals with their families, particularly on the weekends and holidays.
Woonbootmuseum (Houseboat Museum)
After a trip on the canals, your children might like the opportunity to see just what its like to live in a houseboat. This museum includes a children’s play area, and café.
Horses
If your children enjoy watching horse rides, you can watch people of all ages learn to ride at Hollandsche Manege, (Dutch Riding School). You can also enrol them for lessons at www.dehollandschemanege.nl (go online to click on translator)
Indoor Activities
The Amsterdam Library
The Amsterdam library, (Bibliotheek) is the largest library in Europe, with over 28,000 sq. m. It houses an enormous collection of books, with a huge children’s section, art displays, computers, and an area for live performances. Books are available in Dutch, English, French, German, etc. There is an excellent café with an outstanding view. It is an outstanding example of contemporary architecture and a very pleasant atmosphere to spend time in.
www.oba.nl (click on English to search the database from home)
Tunfun
The Tunfun playground is a huge underground play area with great climbing structures for kids (ages 1-12 yrs). There are slides, ball pools, trampolines, and even an indoor soccer area. A great place to go if the weather is rainy, or just for a fun time! Located near Mr. Visserplein near Waterlooplein. www.tunfun.nl (English site)
Tel. +31 (0)20 - 689 4300
Museums
During your stay in Amsterdam, you will want to take advantage of the fact that there are so many wonderful and exciting museums here. Some have events and activities for children, and others are designed strictly with kids in mind. Also, check out interesting museums in the rest of the Netherlands.
Science Museum Nemo
A terrific hands-on science museum for kids up to age 16 yrs. Located right on the waterfront in a very distinctive looking building. Their motto is “forbidden not to touch”! The younger ones will want to jump right in and try out all the activities, including bubble fun, magnetic games, amazing constructions, and a ball factory. There is a fantastic music studio, teen facts, and a chemistry lab for older children. The museum has a spectacular view from the café on the upper floor. www.e-nemo.nl (click on the flag for English site).
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum houses an amazing dollhouse exhibit that will fascinate children and adults alike. Children will love to climb up the ladders to get a close up view of the miniature worlds. The dollhouses depict scaled down versions of life in Amsterdam’s Golden Age. The Rijksmuseum is full of wonderful paintings that you could slowly introduce to your children. The world famous “Nightwatch” by Rembrandt is on permanent display. Perhaps you could start with the sea battles and ‘food’ paintings to capture their attention. www.rijksmuseum.nl
Van Gogh Museum
Before you take the kids to the Van Gogh Museum, you might want to purchase the book ‘Visiting Vincent van Gogh’ by Caroline Breunesse. It’s a picture book that explains where Van Gogh lived, and why his paintings are so popular. Children love the bright colours and exciting paintings of van Gogh. You can also download colouring pages of Van Gogh’s artwork for your children to colour after their visit to the museum. Check out the museum’s website to get an idea of what else available for kids. www.vangoghmuseum.nl (use language selector)
Anne Frank House
Anne Frank’s house is where Anne and her family, along with other Dutch Jewish families were hidden from the Nazi’s during World War ll. You will find a visit to Anne Frank's House to be a very moving experience. It is an educational and worthwhile trip for older children. If your child has not yet read Anne’s own story “The Diary of A Young Girl”, they will probably want to do so. Even with older children it is a very sensitive subject, so it might be good to have a discussion before and after your visit.
Kindermuseum TM Junior
Located in a section of the Tropenmuseum kids can learn about exotic tropical countries, their people, and their culture through songs, dances, games, stories, and paintings. Open only to children ages 6 to 12. Tel. 020 568 8233 or see www.tropenmuseumjunior.nl (English site)
Scheepvaart Museum (Maritime Museum)
The full sized replica of a “Dutch East Indiaman" ship, The Amsterdam, is now located next to Nemo. The Maritime Museum will be renovated and reopened in 2009. Kids can climb aboard and play pirate.
Other indoor activities
Kinderkookkafe (Children’s Cooking Café)
Your children can be chefs for a day, wearing aprons and chef hats. This is a great indoor activity for a rainy day, or for a Wednesday day off. Tel 020 625 3257
Ridammerhoeve Children’s Farm
Children get to feed goats, lambs, chickens, a calf, and a few potbelly pigs. They can also have fun bottle-feeding baby animals, and cleaning out the coops and pens. On Saturday, they can see how goat’s milk is made into cheese. Tel. +31(0)20 645 5034
Located in the Amsterdamse Bos.
Stadsboerderij De Dierencapel
This is an urban petting zoo in the Western Islands neighbourhood. Piglets, goats, lambs, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, with a play area too. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm; admission if free.
Kinderboerderij De Pijp
This is a children’s farm off Ferdinand Bolstraat in the down-at-the heels De Pijp area. They have all kinds of farm animals including donkeys, ponies, peacocks, and turkeys. Open Wednesday to Monday from 1 to 5pm; admission is free.
Outside of Amsterdam
Efteling
An hour and a half outside of Amsterdam is one of the best theme parks in Europe. The park is based on children’s fairy tales and set in a gorgeous park-like setting with lakes and forest trails. Includes an award winning Fairy Tale stage show for younger children and rides for older ones. A trip to Efteling is a wonderful opportunity for a family outing. www.efteling.nl
Madurodam
About 30 minutes from Amsterdam, Madurodam has an incredible collection of miniature Dutch structures. All the scale models are based on actual Dutch architecture of buildings, houses, train stations, factories, soccer stadiums, and airports. There are even mini airplanes rolling down the runway at a mini Schipol Airport. Kids and adults alike will be fascinated. www.madurodam.nl
Amsterdam, like the rest of the Netherlands is yours to discover. There are many other places to see and explore. You can make yourself familiar by using guidebooks, asking colleagues and friends for ideas and by searching online. Enjoy!
Resources
www.travelforkids.com - A terrific website with lots of suggestions for things to do with kids not only in Amsterdam in North and South Holland, Den Haag, Delft, Gelderland, Zeeland and Noord Brabant.
www.expatica.com - The entertainment section keeps people up to date with current events, including family events.
