The Activities in Het Mierennest

With youth work (club house) and activities for adults (community center) as a starting point, a whole range of different activities was created for young and old. There were activities for toddlers, children, teenagers, adults and the elderly. Residents could bring in ideas themselves and take initiative to create activities, which could be led by professionals if necessary. What kinds of activities were offered? There was a daycare center for toddlers from 2 to 4 years old, where they could play together. They would also work on language development there, read books, learn songs and talk with each other. The children would play outside if the weather was nice. There were also activities specifically targeted at children of 12 years and above. These activities occurred weekly, and there would be special activities during holidays. Former club house supervisor Mr. De Bock tells us about the camping activities they organized in Otterloo. These activities lasted for a week, and were exhausting for the supervisors. The children would go to bed at 5am and wake up at 7am again. That was quite tough. Het Mierennest also organized day trips for the youth. A group of 35 children would go to amusement park Duinrell together. The group picture that was taken upon their return can be seen in figure 1. In figure 2 you can see two elderly people who partook in the senior camping activities organized by Het Mierennest. In the Morspraat of 1977, the following report was written:

“The trip there was lovely. The weather was on our side, so we traveled to Het Toppershoedje in Ouddorp in high spirits. We played countless games, watched slides from South Africa, and played a real-life game of goose.” It seems as though the senior camp was a success. Het Mierennest had something on offer for everyone!