For after-school care groups from Haarlem
Interactive game park · Beverwijk
After-school care outing
from Haarlem,
by train and indoors
An indoor game park on the Handelskade in Beverwijk. A direct train from Haarlem, so no coach to arrange. And because everything is indoors, nobody has to think up a plan B.
- 17 min direct train Haarlem – Beverwijk
- 9 game rooms, all under cover
- 70 people fit in at the same time
Haarlem is closer than it looks
More of our visitors come from Haarlem than from Beverwijk itself. By car you are here in about twenty minutes, by train in a little over a quarter of an hour.
For an after-school care group that second figure is the interesting one. Haarlem and Beverwijk are both on the Kennemerlijn, so there is a direct train. No coach to hire, no parents having to drive.
It goes ahead, even when it pours
Planning a holiday afternoon usually means gambling on the weather. If it rains, the group ends up inside at half past two anyway, with too much energy to burn.
Here that does not come into it. Everything sits under one roof: 9 game rooms with light-up floors that react to your feet, walls covered in buttons that light up and challenges you can only solve together. The children are on their feet the whole time. There is no screen in between and there is no controller.
Everyone gets a wristband that tracks the points automatically. Nobody has to keep a tally or play referee. See what happens in the rooms.
From Haarlem to the Handelskade
A group of children on a train is half an outing in itself.
- 12x per hourBoard in Haarlem
Haarlem – Santpoort Noord – Driehuis – Beverwijk. About 17 minutes, without changing.
- 28 minutesWalking from Beverwijk station
Less than half a kilometre. A quiet stretch of business park, not a shopping street where you lose children.
- 320 minutesOr by minibus after all
Via the A200 and the A9 through the Wijkertunnel. Parking is free and right outside the door. If you take the shorter route through Santpoort, allow for the Velsertunnel.
What to watch for as a supervisor
Four things we would rather be honest about.
The group spreads out
This is not a hall where you take everything in from a single bench. Divide the children up beforehand and agree who stays with which room.
Light, sound and pace
It is a lot for the senses. If there is a child in the group who copes badly with that, give us a call in advance.
From about six years old
From groep 3 onwards it goes well. Four- and five-year-olds are still too young for most of the challenges.
A whole group fits
The park holds 70 people at a time. So twenty-five or forty children is no problem.
When it fits, and what it costs
On Mondays and Tuesdays we are closed. Worth knowing when you are mapping out a holiday week. On Wednesday and Thursday we open at 12:00 and you can start until 18:00. An after-school care afternoon from half past two until six fits exactly.
A group programme of an hour and a half — 45 minutes of play, a break with crisps and unlimited squash, then another 45 minutes — comes to €24.50 per person from five people.
That is more than an indoor playground asks per child, and we are not going to dress that up. The difference is in what fills the time: the children really move for an hour and a half, and you do not have to invent the activity yourself.
You can hold a date with no obligation first. See our school holidays page as well.
Questions we get from after-school care sites
Can our four- and five-year-olds come along too?
Honest answer: that will be difficult. The rooms work from about six, groep 3. Any younger and they mostly find it exciting to watch.
Do thirty children fit in at once, or do we have to split up?
They fit. There is room for 70 people and the group spreads out across 9 rooms, so nobody stands waiting for long.
Is a Wednesday afternoon possible?
Yes, on Wednesdays we are open from 12:00. Do watch out for Mondays and Tuesdays: the park is closed then.
Our numbers are only final on the morning itself. Is that a problem?
Children calling in sick is part of life in after-school care. So hold a date with no obligation first and get in touch about the numbers, then we agree it in advance.
Other towns nearby
Is your group coming from a different town? Then the route and the journey time are set out separately there.
Fancy giving it a try?
See which afternoons are free, or send us your plan in brief: how many children, what ages, which holiday week.