Amsterdam has some really great places for children and I'm fortunate enough to get to regularly hang out with Beanie and Eliasz, two of the cutest buttons in town (coincidentally belonging to the writer of Time Out Amsterdam's Kids' section and my best friend, Georgina Dean). My favourite place by far is TunFun (a huge adventure playground in an old traffic tunnel), but it's also great to take them to one of the Urban Beaches. I'm not allowed to take them to the zoo on moral grounds. And fair enough. But it does get a mention here.
Founded in 1838, Artis is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands with around 700 species crammed into comfortably occupying 700 hectares. In August 2008, a pelican made a brave bid for freedom and was later spotted sunning itself at a nature reserve south of Assen. Unfortunately (cough) no zoo workers are allowed onto the reserve. Another pelican escaped in 2005 but was tempted back with fish. A lesson to us all, I think, to look beyond short-term gain and quick-fix solutions.
NEMO | Oosterdok 2 | 0900 9191 100 (NL only) | www.e-nemo.nl
A fantastic, interactive contemporary science museum in Renzo Piano's 'ship' building which is great fun for children (and the child within). The bubble machine is fab! On the downside, it's pretty expensive to take the whole family and I'm not too sure about some of the 'pickled specimens' they have on display.
TUN FUN | Mr. Visserplein 7 | (020) 689 4300 | www.tunfun.nl
A prime example of the city's innovation in creating sublime social spaces by reusing old buildings and structures, is TunFun, an absolutely gigantic (4,000m2) indoor children's playground. It's located in a former tunnel below the M Visserplein which was built for cars and pedestrians – to the tune of 30 million guilders – at the end of the 1960s. First, the pedestrian footway was closed because it was deemed unsafe, and then eventually, in 1994, the tunnel was closed to cars as more viable traffic plans were put into place. For years, the tunnel remained dormant and neglected until the city came up with this marvellous idea for kids aged up to 12 years. The length of the tunnel is now filled with a colourful array of adventurous climbing structures, slides, inflatables, a small soccer ground, a special section for toddlers, and a café (unfortunately with really crap, unhealthy food). Adding to the noise and excitement, you can see the trams as they rumble overhead. The result is a very cool space which, most importantly, is also a lot of fun for adults: they get to hang out on sofas and, once your adorable brat has discovered this wonderful new world, it's unlikely you'll see them again until it's time to go home.