The Zuiderzee Museum is an interactive museum for each and everyone. Experience an unforgettable day with your family. Play old Dutch games, have a hunt along all sorts of special places and make your own clog boat. Along the town canal you will find the dress up chest. Dress up your children in colourful traditional Volendam or Marken costume and make a picture as a wonderful souvenir. And during the school holidays there are lots of extra activities.

Clog Boat
Children used to make boats out of clogs. The children who lived in the fishing villages along the water were particularly good at this. They made real boats, complete with a sail, a keel and a rudder. You can also build your own clog boat in the Museum Park and take it home afterwards.

Mystery Tours
What is a ‘leugenbank’ (tall story bench)? And why is a bedstead so small? You will find out when you take part in the ‘Pieces of history’ mystery tour. You can take part in various different mystery tours, each with a different theme. This will take you along many of the houses and streets in the Outdoor museum. And by the end of the day you will know a lot more about the past than your parents!

Writing lessons

Nowadays all children in the Netherlands go to school. That was not always the case in olden days. Here you can learn to write with a dip pen, just like the children did in 1930. Visit the Kollum School and see what school was like 80 years ago.

Dressing up
There is a building on the town canal that is full of old-fashioned clothes: the costume chest. Why not try on the clothes that a person from Volendam or Marken used to wear. Bet they’ll suit you?

Old-fashioned Dutch games
In the Outdoor Museum you regularly encounter all kind of interesting things: hoops, hobby-horses and stilts, to name just a few. Children often played with such things a long time ago. Perhaps you can still do it? And can you do so in clogs? There is also a square with all kinds of games, such as the skittle alley, a floor for spinning tops, and the stick and ball game. Why not challenge your (grand)parents to a game?

Rope-making
In bygone days, ropes were made from material that came from plants, such as hemp. You can make an old-fashioned skipping rope with the rope-maker himself in the Outdoor Museum. While you are making the rope, you will see how the thin strands twist together to jointly form a very strong skipping rope. Want to try it? The rope-maker could use some assistance.

Beastly environment
There are animals everywhere in the Outdoor Museum. Large carp and ducks swim in the canals. Sheep and goats belonging to old breeds wander around. By giving these creatures a place in the Museum, we ensure that these breeds do not die out. In addition, you will come across cows, pigs, chickens and rabbits. Will you help us find them?

Birthday party
Enjoy an afternoon full of surprises by celebrating your birthday party at the Zuiderzee Museum’s Outdoor Museum. You will be given a wicker basket filled with all kinds of fun assignments, trivia and vouchers that guide you and your friends through the museum. Have you ever made a rope in a rope yard, or been punting on a canal? Set off on an exploration tour with your basket and have the best birthday party of your life. For more information have a look under the Zuiderzee Museum’s Group Arrangements.