• Under-7s need an adult close by, because ditches cross the whole site. Kids 7 and up with a swimming diploma can play on their own.
• A staffed hut with a small café sells coffee, juice, toasties and pancakes, has the only toilet, and gives shelter when it rains.
• No car access to the gate, since it sits on a cycle path. Tram 5 to Van Hallstraat is about a 10-minute walk, or bus 22 to Spaarndammerdijk about 6; the SDZ football club car park is 4 minutes away.

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.