Making, not looking
The child draws and builds in response to what they saw.
Paul van der Blom โ CC BY 2.5 ยท VillaHindele โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Antoine.gacioch โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Dosseman โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Miniworld for the models in the morning, or Blijdorp zoo for a full day โ among the better zoos in Europe. Villa Zebra for a child who likes making things. For older children: up the Euromast and then across the Erasmus bridge on foot. Rotterdam's practical advantage is that distances are short and the metro is excellent, so two of these fit into a day without exhausting anyone.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.
Villa Zebra is an art museum for children in the Kop van Zuid district south of the river, and its founding rule is unlike any other museum's: the child is not asked to look but to make. Exhibitions are built around a single theme for a year โ fear, or friendship, or time โ and show work by real contemporary artists rather than children's drawings, but every work is paired with an activity: a space where the child draws, builds, acts or photographs in response to what they saw. The idea is that at this age art is understood by doing rather than by explanation. The target range is three to twelve, with sections separated by age. For a foreign visitor there is an advantage: the activity matters more than the text, so language is less of an obstacle than it looks. The museum is in a former warehouse, and the district around it is among the most architecturally changed in Rotterdam โ with an excellent view of the bridges and the centre.
The child draws and builds in response to what they saw.
The bridges and centre seen from the south bank.
Stieltjesstraat 21, 3071 Rotterdam