Families taking the car during the Tulip Route can also visit Experience Garden Drakensteyn in Biddinghuizen for the first time along the way. ‘We exist exactly five years and want to show what we have to offer. On the route, our garden is the perfect resting point for children,’ said manager Karin Priem.
Drakensteyn is a creative oasis in the polder. The estate was established as an inclusive experience garden for children with Special Needs. “They are our VIPs,” emphasizes Annouk Brink. She is an applied psychologist at the Roode Draak on the property but is now helping to get everything ready for the Tulip Route. ‘We saw that these children were missing a place where they could play freely with other children. We have now realized that with Drakensteyn. And truly everyone is welcome here.’
Focused on senses
Karin and Annouk enthusiastically give a tour of the complex. Here and there the first tulips slowly appear above ground, as in the labyrinth with the fountain as its centerpiece. The garden is laid out according to the senses,” Karin begins. If you can’t see well, you can feel, smell and taste everything here. If you can’t walk well, everything can be experienced at wheelchair height. That’s the uniqueness. Annouk adds, ‘The peace, coziness and the nice atmosphere makes you calm right away.’
Anything goes
Drakensteyn has much to offer for young and old. Besides the Experience Garden, there is Pandora’s Snoezelparadijs and, for the inner man, Gasterij De Flevohof. There are children’s parties and barbecues, sunset dinners, and more and more school trips are taking place here. ‘Anything goes here,’ says Karin warmly. ‘We also see that grandparents who are not well-behaved also come here to play with their grandchildren.’
Rest stop on the Tulip Route
For the first time, Drakensteyn is now also a stop on the Tulip Route. Karin: ‘I think there is also a need among participants for a rest point on the route. And children may also want to let off some steam. In previous routes I haven’t seen a special children’s location. We would like to be that.’
Pancakes and spring bingo
Once rolled out of the car, what can parents and children experience in the garden on Ellerweg? ‘Besides playing, romping and resting, we serve tulip-themed pancakes,’ Annouk begins. ‘And we play spring bingo where the kids have to find tulips that are in the garden. We also put up a large painting canvas on which children can paint their own idea of tulips and spring,’
Karin complements her. ‘The parents can catch their rest at the fountain or enjoy coffee and homemade on the terrace. It’s basically an outing during the outing.’
Learn more
Experience Garden Drakensteyn is located next to the Roode Draak on Ellerweg 22a in Biddinghuizen. During the Tulip Route, Drakensteyn is open seven days a week. Want to know more? Visit www.beleeftuindrakensteyn.nl.