Lego Event in Zwolle

WHAT

For the 12th year on a row, Zwolle will become the capital of Lego welcoming the largest spectacle in the World of the famous colored bricks! In the 6 halls by the Ijssel, kids will enjoy a big world built out all of Lego, with life-size constructions, and will have the chance to build whatever they want with millions of bricks! Great prizes can be won by building amazing constructions and at the end of the week there will be the grand finale for the Best Lego Builder of the Netherlands championship.

Click to read more ...

Restaurant Praq

WHAT

Former famous spot in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Restaurant Praq recently moved to the new boosting neighborhood of Waaidorp, in its brandly new building by dutch designer & architect Tjep. It is just north of Amsterdam, near the Zeeburger islands, and easily reachable by car on the A10. They have classic recipes and biological products, in the summer time a huge sunny errace is available with wood-fired oven for real italian pizza!

Click to read more ...

Oud Valkeveen

Oud Valkeveen is a very beautiful play park overlooking the beach on the Gooimeer, a big lake just east of Amsterdam, near the towns of Bussum, Naarden and Huizen.

It has always been a recreational and entertainment area, and since a hundred years there used to be a pannekoeken house and people came here to bathe and sit in the sun. Now it's a park with plenty of fun attractions for children!

Click to read more ...

Playing at the Vondelpark

Grote Speelvijver Vondelpark, a difficult name for a beautiful place. The translation is large play pond in the Vondelpark, and as I was telling in the last post, now it's springing because the pools are all open and weather is just great!

 

And in this playground in the middle of the Vondelpark, there are also many other kids entertainment activities: a huge wooden castle to climb, two bungalows where I often see "monkey" children with the head upside-down, a big sand pit area with some water games. Lately they also placed a set of new swings, some normal ones, a round large one and then a train swing, a sort of family type, where three children can go at the same time, I have never seen one like this before!! 

Click to read more ...

Open air pools are now open!!!

With this lovely weather the best plan is to head to one of the open air pools that are all around in the parks of Amsterdam!

Here you can find all the locations of the pools in town.

Click to read more ...

Sprookjes Wonderland

This fairy tale theme park has been voted from ANWB members as one of the three top outings in the Netherlands in 2012. 

Here you can find the representations of all the most famous stories of our youth, Pinocchio, Hansel and Gretel and Gulliver.

Kids also love the tours with the old model cars or ride a wooden horse. The very little ones can also make a tour on a tiny ladybird on water

Click to read more ...

Nemo

Nemo is the biggest Science and Technology Museum in the Netherlands. Open since 1997, it is hosted in a very peculiar building designed by italian famous architect Renzo Piano, shaped as a hull of a ship overlooking the Ij canal.

In the summer time, the top of the terrace, made with huge stone steps, turns into a sort of city beach, with sandy areas, and little water rivers. The top floor restaurant makes it the better place where to stop during the visit on a sunny day.Otherwise there are two coffee areas on the ground floor and on dek 2, where you can also bring your own food as a picnic.

Click to read more ...

The Dolfinarium

Lots of fun you will find by visiting the Dolfinarium in Hardewijk, it is 45 minutes to 1 hour drive from Amsterdam, and you will see dolphins, seals, sea lions, walruses and all sorts of fishes! Throughout the day, there are plenty of shows both in the lakes or water areas of the park, and in the big indoor dome.

Click to read more ...

Linnaeushof

With more than 350 activities and games installations, Linnaeushof is the biggest play area in Europe, as stated on their website. This year, for the second time, it has also been nominated as the Best Day Trip Out in the Netherlands.

Click to read more ...

Olympia Playground

This is very well hidden playground which has lots of nice wooden game activities all inspired by theme "sea".

 

There is a prow of a boat to climb with a helm at the top so the child can have the feeling to sail. It's open inside, so you can go in and slide down from the opening.

Click to read more ...

Japanese Garden (in AMS Woods)

When the sun comes out, one of the first places where you should have a walk is the Japanese Garden in the Amsterdamse Bos. It gets its full blossom by the first half of april and lasts only for a month or so, until mid May usually.

Click to read more ...

Olmenhorst Estate

Olmenhorst is a beautiful estate in Lisserbroek. On the estate you can find many activities for children (and for adults as well!) . Olmenhorst's speciality is: Apples! The apple orchard is endlessly lined with apple trees, from which you can let the children pick the apples directly from the branches! I find it important for city children to install the feeling of the country side and involving them actively in agricultural activities.

Click to read more ...

Keukenhof

Why can Keukenhof be special for children? There are many reasons, of course if you have a newborn it ' just lovely to have a walk' in the middle of this huge variety of flowers.

But the main reason in my opinion is that when children are young, they like to play, but they also need if not deserve to be taught the basics of the country in which they are living in. Flowers, as much as bicycles, are a symbol of the Netherlands, and this is a nice way to explain it to your older children.

Click to read more ...

Bijlmerweide Farm

The Bijlmerweide is a perfect child-sized garden with animals: here you can find little lambs running in open green grass (not in enclosed areas), rabbits, turkeys, splendid colourful birds and even a proud peacock!

Click to read more ...

Amstelpark

The Amstelpark was created in the early 1970s in occasion of a big fair of garden installations, the Floriade. There are special types of gardens and an Orangerie. Some sculpture exhibitions can be hosted in open air, or into the Glass House. There is a (wine) bar and a restaurant near the main entrance of the park. For kids there is a petty farm and a play ground.

Click to read more ...

Rent a bakfiets

Are you just arrived in the Netherlands with young children? Are you looking for a way to catch up with the culture of this country? Well then the best thing you can do is to rent a Bakfiets!

Click to read more ...

Biking through flower fields

Holland is world wide famous for its flowers, especially tulips. Spring is the time of the year where you can see the flower fields blossoming! You can find many colourful fields between Haarlem and Sassenheim, but the main tulip field area is around the little village of Lisse, 30 km south east from Amsterdam. At Lisse you will also find the Keukenhof Gardens.

Click to read more ...

Watching Little Lambs

Spring has definitively arrived! We all enjoy longer days, nice sunny and sometimes warm hours and.. everyone really wants to get out of the house and head into parks and green grass. 

It is also Easter time and bunnies, lambs and eggs seem to be all around us. So what's better than heading for one of the kinderboerderij (Dutch for petty farm) to have a bit of fresh air and a walk to see all the farm animals! 

In some of these farms you can also buy some tiny bottles to feed the little lambs! Enjoy watching lambs and all the farm animals in these Amsterdam kinderboerderij (petty farms). 

Kinderkapper - Imagine

A good place to have your child's hair cut is at the Kinderkapper room in the shop Imagine.

 

Children can play with toys, so waiting for the brother or sister's hair cut will not be as boring. They can also enjoy the lovely paintings on the walls. The big mirror in front of the "barber seat" is a lovely treat for little girls.

Click to read more ...

Vondeltuin

One of the first sunny terraces you need to try in Amsterdam is the Vondeltuin.

 

There is a huge sandpit and benches all around it so you can get to sit in the sun all day long. For the older children there is a big igloo to climb on.

Click to read more ...