Swings and a slide are good for ten minutes. These playgrounds hold kids for a whole afternoon: rafts to pole through reed ditches, pallet huts to hammer together, ponies to groom and floating bridges that end in wet socks. Pack a change of clothes. Here's what we checked, from the nature playground Het Woeste Westen to the play islands in the Amsterdamse Bos.
Het Woeste Westen is a nature playground next to Westerpark, split by old ditches into themed islands. Kids pole rafts through the ditches, splash in a running stream, pump water into a play pond and build huts from loose branches. Over a hundred tall willows shade the woodland strip, where a rope course runs between the trees.
Best for kids who are happy to come home muddy.
Jeugdland is a large adventure playground and kids' workshop by Science Park. Kids hammer their own huts from pallets in the hut village, cross a water climbing course, slide down a grassy slide hill and visit the city farm animals.
There's also a natural swimming pool, a food forest, a barefoot path and a bar with homemade cakes. In workshops, kids bake bread over a campfire or pizza in a clay oven.
A large outdoor playground inside Amstelpark, laid out around a small harbor with a lighthouse. Climbing frames, slides and a sandbox are free to use, and ten token rides run alongside: Thomas the Tank Engine, a swing carousel, disco boats, mini cars, real diggers and a firefighter splash ride. Picnic tables and lawns sit nearby, and the park's city farm is next door.
De Natureluur is a nature playground on the edge of Sloterpark, built from trees, sand, water and wood instead of standard play equipment. Kids climb trees, cross a watercourse on floating tree trunks, dig in the sand and get muddy along the water's edge.
The playground also runs nature activities, where kids learn about the plants and animals that live in the park.
Het Landje is a staffed adventure playground where kids build huts from pallets with real tools and nails, adding to an existing hut or starting their own. Seven ponies live on site, and kids in the pony club also groom them and muck out the stalls.
Not up for building? There's football, table tennis, foosball and board games, plus crafts and cooking on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The nature playground at NoordOogst, an urban farm project, is built from what was already there: trees, shrubs, sand, hills and water. Kids splash along a water channel and a pond with small waterfalls, stepping stones and big logs, climb a course through the trees, hide in a willow hut and look out from a tower over the farm, all the way to the pigs. Getting muddy is encouraged.
A water playground on small islands in the Grote Vijver pond, next to the Openluchttheater. Kids reach the islands over wobbly footbridges, a rope bridge and a small ferry they pull across themselves.
In and over the water there are ropes, poles to climb, and floating nets and rafts. Between swims there is room to build huts, picnic or lie in the sun on the small beach.
A playground beside Groot Melkhuis, the café on the site of an 1874 dairy farm in Vondelpark. Toddlers get a big sandbox and a slide, older kids get swings, a seesaw and more play equipment, and there are electric kiddy rides (a horse, a clown, a helicopter).
Parents can watch from the terrace by the water, and in winter the grand café inside keeps a fire going all day.
A neighborhood playground in the middle of the Henrick de Keijserplein, the biggest of the squares in De Pijp and closed in on all sides by housing. Small kids get swings and a sandbox, while older ones use the soccer and basketball court and the ping pong table. The wooden Amsterdam School clubhouse, now a community center, dates from the 1920s; the playground opened in 1916.
Swings and a slide are good for ten minutes. These playgrounds hold kids for a whole afternoon: rafts to pole through reed ditches, pallet huts to hammer together, ponies to groom and floating bridges that end in wet socks. Pack a change of clothes. Here's what we checked, from the nature playground Het Woeste Westen to the play islands in the Amsterdamse Bos.
Het Woeste Westen is a nature playground next to Westerpark, split by old ditches into themed islands. Kids pole rafts through the ditches, splash in a running stream, pump water into a play pond and build huts from loose branches. Over a hundred tall willows shade the woodland strip, where a rope course runs between the trees.
Best for kids who are happy to come home muddy.
Jeugdland is a large adventure playground and kids' workshop by Science Park. Kids hammer their own huts from pallets in the hut village, cross a water climbing course, slide down a grassy slide hill and visit the city farm animals.
There's also a natural swimming pool, a food forest, a barefoot path and a bar with homemade cakes. In workshops, kids bake bread over a campfire or pizza in a clay oven.
A large outdoor playground inside Amstelpark, laid out around a small harbor with a lighthouse. Climbing frames, slides and a sandbox are free to use, and ten token rides run alongside: Thomas the Tank Engine, a swing carousel, disco boats, mini cars, real diggers and a firefighter splash ride. Picnic tables and lawns sit nearby, and the park's city farm is next door.
De Natureluur is a nature playground on the edge of Sloterpark, built from trees, sand, water and wood instead of standard play equipment. Kids climb trees, cross a watercourse on floating tree trunks, dig in the sand and get muddy along the water's edge.
The playground also runs nature activities, where kids learn about the plants and animals that live in the park.
Het Landje is a staffed adventure playground where kids build huts from pallets with real tools and nails, adding to an existing hut or starting their own. Seven ponies live on site, and kids in the pony club also groom them and muck out the stalls.
Not up for building? There's football, table tennis, foosball and board games, plus crafts and cooking on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The nature playground at NoordOogst, an urban farm project, is built from what was already there: trees, shrubs, sand, hills and water. Kids splash along a water channel and a pond with small waterfalls, stepping stones and big logs, climb a course through the trees, hide in a willow hut and look out from a tower over the farm, all the way to the pigs. Getting muddy is encouraged.
A water playground on small islands in the Grote Vijver pond, next to the Openluchttheater. Kids reach the islands over wobbly footbridges, a rope bridge and a small ferry they pull across themselves.
In and over the water there are ropes, poles to climb, and floating nets and rafts. Between swims there is room to build huts, picnic or lie in the sun on the small beach.
A playground beside Groot Melkhuis, the café on the site of an 1874 dairy farm in Vondelpark. Toddlers get a big sandbox and a slide, older kids get swings, a seesaw and more play equipment, and there are electric kiddy rides (a horse, a clown, a helicopter).
Parents can watch from the terrace by the water, and in winter the grand café inside keeps a fire going all day.
A neighborhood playground in the middle of the Henrick de Keijserplein, the biggest of the squares in De Pijp and closed in on all sides by housing. Small kids get swings and a sandbox, while older ones use the soccer and basketball court and the ping pong table. The wooden Amsterdam School clubhouse, now a community center, dates from the 1920s; the playground opened in 1916.
