Friday morning, and the weekend still needs a plan. Here is what is on for families in and around Amsterdam between tonight and Sunday evening, pulled from our own event listings so the days, times and prices match what the organisers published.
Every event name links to its full listing with the address, ticket link and age guidance. Bookings and out-of-town locations are flagged.
Tonight: Friday 21 August
Friday is the quiet night of the three. There is one thing on our calendar, and it is an evening show rather than a small-children outing.
Gelukszoekers
Friday, from 19:15 · Amsterdamse Bostheater, Bosbaanweg 5, Amstelveen
Femi van Elshuis performs a solo show about her first trip to Suriname, travelling with her mother and looking for her roots. It is part of Bosfest 2026, and the listed time includes the walk out to the performance and back. You need a Bosfestivalhart access ticket on top of anything else, so sort that before you set off. Best for older children and teenagers who can sit with a quiet piece of theatre.
Saturday morning, if your kids are small
Trampoline jumping for 2 to 5 year olds
Saturday, 09:30–11:30 · VROG, Mr. Visserplein · €10.50 · booking required
A parent-and-child session on VROG’s big trampoline field, with 45 minutes of actual jumping. One adult goes on with each child, so wear something you can bounce in. One ticket covers the pair of you and opens up the mini football field too. Antislip trampoline socks are compulsory, places are limited, and the café afterwards is set up for small people. Indoors, which makes it the safe pick if the morning turns grey.
Saturday afternoon and evening in the city
Lady and the Tramp (4+)
Saturday · Vondelpark Openluchttheater, Vondelpark 5a
A small, funny stage version with music and a great many dogs. Lady is the well-kept dog from a comfortable house, and the stray she meets in the park tells enormous stories about himself. Recommended from age four. Our listing carries the day but not a start time, so take that from the theatre’s own page before you cycle over.
Gelukszoekers, second night
Saturday, from 19:15 · Amsterdamse Bostheater, Amstelveen
The same Bosfest show runs again on Saturday, useful if tonight is already spoken for. The Bosfestivalhart ticket rule applies to this date too.
Worth leaving the city for on Saturday
Het Grote Kidsfestival
Saturday, 12:00–17:00 · Landgoed Oud Poelgeest, Poelgeesterweg, Oegstgeest · €7.50 per child · registration required
This one is not in Amsterdam. It sits on a country estate near Leiden, so treat it as a day out rather than an afternoon errand. What you get for the trip: a silent disco, a bouncy castle, face painting, the Apple Atelier, a treasure hunt and a meet and greet the organisers are keeping quiet about. It is aimed at three to twelve year olds, wide enough to bring siblings along. The €7.50 covers every activity, and there is the Appelterras with food and drink for the adults. Book before you travel.
Sunday 23 August
Sunday is the strongest day of the three, and the best thing on it costs nothing.
South East Jazz Festival 2026
Sunday, from 12:00 · Bijlmer Parktheater · Free
A whole day of jazz with nothing to pay and nobody turned away. The family slot is SlodDe & Vos op boevenpad at 12:00, made for ages three and up, so you can arrive early, watch a show with the little ones and stay as long as the mood holds. The programme then runs through the Joep Grotendorst Quartet at 13:00, an open jam outdoors from 14:00, Pablo Nahar’s music at 17:00 and a piano trio at 19:30. A free day with children genuinely in the plan is rare. Our pick of the weekend.
Pluk MINI, tenth edition extra big party
Sunday · Pluk de Nacht, Westerdoksdijk 705-C
Pluk MINI is the family half of the Pluk de Nacht open-air film festival, and the tenth edition gets a birthday party on Sunday. Ten new Shaun the Sheep episodes are screening, complete with a cake, a fashion show and very little going to plan. Around the films: an animation workshop, kids yoga in front of the big screen, bowling, giant Jenga, Twister, ping pong, woolly sheep crafting and a children’s beauty salon. The day ends with a disco and a smoke machine. Our listing has no hour-by-hour timings, so pull the running order off the festival programme first.
LEGO Robotics Workshop
Sunday · Move Amsterdam, Stadionplein 28 · ages 6 to 10
Children work in pairs to build and programme a robot with LEGO SPIKE Essential, then take it through a technical mission built around the Smart City idea. Instructors sit with each pair, so it suits a complete beginner as well as a child who already has opinions about motors and sensors. It fills a morning or an afternoon, and it is indoors.
Indoors, and running all three days
Already running, and still there on Sunday if the sky opens.
Guided tour of STRAAT Museum
Running to 30 August · STRAAT Museum · tickets from €10 · booking required
An hour with a guide in a hall of enormous painted canvases, and you can wander on your own before and after. An hour is about right for children who lose patience in ordinary museums. Book the slot rather than turning up.
Onno Theelen’s Strange Creatures
On until 18 October · Purmerends Museum
Glossy ceramic animals, squabbling birds and things with too many beaks. Children walk straight up to these and start naming them, which is more than most exhibitions manage. It is outside the city and runs until October, so keep it for a wet Sunday later on.
Amsterdam: 10 jaar in art prints
On until 28 August · Nieuwmarkt
Ten years of Amsterdam screenprints on the Nieuwmarkt: ferries, bicycle racks and rooftops in flat bright colour. Not a destination in its own right with young children, but it costs nothing to route a walk past, and older kids who draw will stop by themselves.
Planning notes
- Book ahead where we have said so. The VROG session, the STRAAT tour and Het Grote Kidsfestival all cap numbers.
- Two picks are day trips. Oegstgeest and the Purmerends Museum are both outside Amsterdam, and the Bostheater sits in Amstelveen.
- Missing start times are left blank, not guessed. Three listings reached us as all-day entries, so take the exact hour from the organiser’s page.
- Plan B for rain: our parents’ guide to NEMO covers the standard wet-weather fallback.
- More than fits here. The full events calendar is filterable by age group and neighbourhood, and next weekend’s picks can land in your inbox if you sign up to the newsletter.
Have a good weekend. If you run something for families here and it is not on our calendar, add it. Listings are free.
