(Editor’s note: Dispatches Europe is based in Eindhoven. With a number of global tech companies, Eindhoven and s’Hertogenbosch – Den Bosch to locals – in the North Brabant district are expats centers, with up to 20 percent of the populations coming from outside the Netherlands.)
I’m an expat grandma with expat kids and three year old grandchildren and my knowledge, initially, of where to go with little kids in the area was sparse to say the least! But, thanks to Dutch friends with children and grandchildren I have been building up a small “child friendly” list of the Eindhoven and s’Hertogenbosch area entertainments. One thing that has impressed me the most is that as the Dutch like a coffee, most play areas have a terrace and café.
How civilized!
Speeltuin t’Genieten, Drunen
This large playground offers water play, sand and equipment outdoors as well as indoor soft play. It also has a terrace and café for grandparents to sit with a coffee whilst they recover from jumping on the inflatable outdoor trampoline!
Speeltuin t’Genieten is located next to the dune area of Loonse Drunense Duinen which is a great area for walks, kite flying, picnics and massive sandcastle building.
De Steenuil, Oirshot
My grandson loved this small farm/playground which has a “get dirty guarantee” and is not far from Best, just north of Eindhoven. Outside there is sand, toys, bikes and go-karts to play with and inside there is a small play area with sand and a slide. The bonus of this playground are the farm animals…little kids love this experience. They can help settle the animals down at the end of the day, can pet some of them, play in the hay and even play in the mud play area! Again, the café provides food and drinks for tired parents ….and grandparents. Occasionally there is a mindfulness or meditation group in which to participate.
*There is admission which is based on a higher price for the kids and a token price for accompanying adults. Check the website for information.
OERRR Natuurspeeltuin, Oisterwijk
This is a national program with play areas scattered over the Netherlands. We visited the one in Oisterwijk, northwest of Eindhoven near Tilburg, and it was a hit on muddy or sunny days. The play area is located behind the visitor’s centre in Oisterwijk’s forest, and it is all about being “in” nature and self-created play. There is a water pump, mud, tree branches to build dens, tree stumps to walk on, log bridges and lots of space plus a separate sandpit for the small kids. The visitors centre has a super large restaurant and terrace for food and drinks and a nice nature information area. In front is a couple of more traditional pieces of play equipment. Check out the Natuurmonumenten website for locations.
Speeltuin, Nederhemert
This is also popular with my grandchildren and has apparently been a local favorite for a century. Set in the fields of Nederhemert, near Den Bosch it has a very nice indoor café and terrace complete with some toys and board games. Again, there is a great selection of outdoor equipment from a sandpit, a carousel that grandpa can turn manually, slides, swings and a roundabout (a spinning circular platform) that can be turned by pedaling.
Hullie, Uden
This place east of s’Hertogenbosch has everything for big kids but also has some smaller kid areas. Indoors there is a ball pit, indoor bowling, “jelly ball” (a child friendly version of paintball), a crawling corridor, toboggan run, a designated play and climbing area for kids up to 4 years old, trampolines, a craft corner, a volcano to climb…the list goes on. Outside you can find a water play area, go-karts, air trampoline and more. Once again there is a café for food and drinks.
*There is an admission fee for kids but adults go free.
Speeltuinvereniging Philipsdorp, Eindhoven
This outdoor play area in the centre of Eindhoven is for kids up to age 12 and has the usual equipment but in the summer there is also water play available. Of course there is a small café. There is an admission price of 1 euro. At Halloween (30 – 31 October) the place in converted into a Halloween wonderland and is open from 7 p.m.-to 9:30 p.m. for kids 4 years and older smaller kids are invited to the less scary version in the afternoon of October 31. Purchase tickets online ahead of time to avoid disappointment.
If you are an expat grandparent and have other recommendations, please share…. knowledge is power and an opportunity to indulge yourself in fun play that we look really silly doing on our own!
Be sure to check out websites for summer and winter opening hours and information.
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Read more about raising expat kids here in Dispatches’ archives.
See more from Jackie here.
Photographer/writer Jackie Harding was born in the United Kingdom. As a long-time expat, she lived in Boston for 12 years and in the Netherlands for the past 10 years.
Trained as a nurse in the U.K., she worked for nine years in the United States as a special education teacher’s assistant. Since moving to the Netherlands, she has discovered writing and photography.
Contributing to Dispatches since 2016, Jackie has written about her travels around Europe as well as about expat life and issues.
She also covered the Women’s March Amsterdam.
She’s married to British businessman Martin Harding and is the mother of two international adult children.
