The Great White Shark
Nederlands: De witte haai
- Animal words: fin, gills, cartilage, snout
- Comparing sizes: a shark, your child, a grown-up and a car
- Finding where great white sharks live on a world map
Dutch for kids, through play
All Play & Learn games can be played in Dutch, read aloud by the same natural voice. For families who have moved to the Netherlands or Flanders, or who want a child to hear the language of a Dutch-speaking parent or grandparent, it is an easy way to bring more Dutch into the day. Your child doesn’t need to read, and it is meant as playful extra exposure, not a course.
How it works
1
Choose a game below and tap Play: it starts right away in Dutch.
2
Your child taps and listens while every word is spoken in Dutch.
3
Want English again? Change it anytime under Language in the options.
Games to play in Dutch
Dinosaurs
Nederlands: Dinosaurussen
- Dinosaur words: fossil, herbivore, carnivore, paleontologist
- Comparing lengths: dinosaurs next to your child, a grown-up and a bus
- Sorting plant eaters and meat eaters
Lions and the savanna
Nederlands: Leeuwen en de savanne
- Savanna words: pride, mane, lioness, cub, watering hole, tracks
- Comparing heights: a meerkat, your child, a lion, a zebra, an ostrich, an elephant and a giraffe
- Who eats what: meat for the lion, leaves for the giraffe, grass for the zebra, bugs for the meerkat
Capital letters A–Z
Nederlands: Hoofdletters A–Z
- Knowing the 26 capital letters by name and by shape
- Writing each capital letter line by line, in the usual order
- Hearing a letter name and finding the right letter
Letter sounds
Nederlands: Letterklanken
- Linking 16 letters, from B to W, to the sound they make at the start of a word
- Hearing the first sound of a word, like the mmm in moon
- Telling whether two words start with the same sound or not
Counting 1 to 10
Nederlands: Tellen tot 10
- Counting up to 10 things, one number for each thing
- Matching a number to a group: dots, fingers and pictures
- Writing the numbers 0 to 10 with a finger
Counting to 20
Nederlands: Tellen tot 20
- Counting up to 20 things, and counting on from ten
- Seeing 11 to 19 as ten and some more, for example 14 is ten and four
- The number words from eleven to twenty
Colors
Nederlands: Kleuren
- Naming 11 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, white and gray
- Color words linked to things: a red strawberry, a yellow banana, a gray elephant
- Mixing paint: red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green
Shapes
Nederlands: Vormen
- Naming 8 shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, star, heart and diamond
- Counting corners and sides: three for a triangle, four for a square, six for a hexagon, none for a circle
- 3D shape words: cube, ball (sphere), cone and cylinder
Space
Nederlands: De ruimte
- Space words: star, planet, astronaut, rocket, comet
- Why there is no air or sound in space, and where moonlight comes from
- Comparing sizes: the Moon, Mars, Earth, Jupiter and the Sun
Weather and seasons
Nederlands: Weer en seizoenen
- Eight weather words: sunny, cloudy, rain, snow, wind, fog, thunderstorm and rainbow
- The water cycle: the sun warms water, it rises, makes a cloud and falls back down as rain
- The four seasons: spring blossoms, summer sun, fall leaves and winter snow
Feelings
Nederlands: Gevoelens
- Naming eight feelings: happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, calm, proud and shy
- Feeling words to say out loud: I feel sad, I feel proud
- Guessing how someone else feels, and that two people can feel different things
Healthy habits
Nederlands: Gezonde gewoontes
- Why we brush and wash: germs on teeth and hands, and how brushing, soap and water clear them away
- Eating a rainbow: fruit and vegetables in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
- Food and body words: broccoli, cucumber, blueberries, palms, fingertips, baby teeth
Questions parents ask
Is this Dutch from the Netherlands or from Belgium?
The voice speaks Dutch as it sounds in the Netherlands. Families in Flanders will notice a slightly different accent and a few different words, but it is the same language.
My child can’t read yet. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Everything is read aloud in Dutch, so your child only needs to listen and tap. The games are made for ages 3 to 7.
Can my child learn Dutch with these games alone?
No, and that is not the goal. Play & Learn is not a language course. It gives your child more chances to hear Dutch, next to school, friends, books and family.
Tips for parents
- Some Dutch words sound close to English, like “kat” (cat) or “appel” (apple). Point them out together and make a game of spotting more.
- If your child is starting at a Dutch daycare or basisschool, play topics they meet there, such as Kleuren or Tellen tot 10, so the new words feel familiar.
- Listen for sounds like the Dutch “g” or “ui”. Let the voice say them, and simply try them together without correcting.