I was really looking forward to this weekend, but then the babysitter cancelled, all my friends pretended they were extremely busy and even the grandparents suddenly decided to have a life of their own. So what was supposed to be a romantic weekend had all the characteristics of a nightmare – a city trip with the kids! I had to forget about museums, skip all my shopping fantasies and even worse: nightlife would be over at 9 p.m.
Luckily it didn’t turned out as bad as I feared, cause exploring Amsterdam with kids can be fun as well!
I went with my daughter (6) to see an exhibition at the Jewish Historical Museum (Joods Historisch Museum). In the basement, she kept her fingers to her nose because she said it smelled badly. So after 5 minutes I was ready to leave but luckily a guard prevented us from leaving before we had visited the children’s museum.
In a museum, my kids are trained with Prussian discipline and not only because of their East German papa. Now that museums all over the world seem to have discovered the market of education just waiting for them to make a profit, children museums and galleries open everywhere. Usually, there isn’t any mentionable difference between these and ordinary museums, meaning that our children are encouraged not to touch anything that catches their curiosity.
Therefore the Jewish museum in Amsterdam is such a relief: Children visit the exhibition,which is conceived as a visit to the Hollander’s home (a Jewish family) and they are very welcome guests. This gives the children a unique opportunity to explore Jewish culture, pose questions, touch, draw, compare - just name it.
It is so simple and yet so brilliant in its concept and design, and I also learned a lot about Jewish life.
Instead of the traditional guard observing the guest suspiciously, we were invited into the kitchen to make the Challah, the traditional Sabbath bread. While baking, the kids posed a thousand questions about kosher rules and they all were seriously answered.
Therefore don’t have a bad conscience, just visit the collection of the Jewish museum in the old synagogue yourself and leave your kids exploring the place on their own: they will love it.
To increase your credits there is a hard-to-find playground nearby: Speeltuin de Waag on Oude Schans 10. Even when closed, you can enter through the fence as many others have done before you.
JOODS HISTORISCH MUSEUM, Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1; Amsterdam
www.jhm.nl
Go further: Read about Henry having fun at Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood here.
