Top 10 Benefits of Raising Kids in the Netherlands | A Nigerian Mum’s Perspective

Welcome back Friends!
As a Nigerian mum raising kids in the Netherlands, I’ve experienced firsthand how different and rewarding family life can be here. In this video, I share the *top 10 benefits of raising children in the Netherlands* — from excellent healthcare and education to the unique Dutch parenting style, cycling culture, and much more.

If you’re a parent considering moving abroad, or just curious about what it’s like raising kids in a new country, this video gives you my honest perspective as an African parent navigating life in Europe.

🌍 Join me as I talk about the joys, surprises, and everyday realities of raising kids in the Netherlands.

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories and tips about expat life, parenting abroad, and my journey as a Nigerian mum in Europe.

#LifeInTheNetherlands #ExpatFamily #RaisingKidsAbroad #FamilyLifeNetherlands #DutchParenting #LivingInEurope #MovingToTheNetherlands #ExpatTips #ParentingAbroad #FamilyFriendlyTravel

Hello guys, welcome back to my YouTube channel. If this is your first time here, hi, my name is Elo and I’m a Nigerian living in the Netherlands with my family. Thank you so much for stopping by on my little space on the internet. And while you are here, do not forget to subscribe, hit the like button, leave a comment, let me know where you’re watching me from. And uh yeah, without further ado, let’s get into today’s video. Today I’m going to be counting down the top 10 benefits of raising kids in the Netherlands. From independence to happiness and everything in between, I am going to be sharing the reasons why I am so grateful that I get to raise children in this country. And if that seems like something that you’ll be interested in, then you know what to do. Keep on watching. Okay. [Music] Number 10 will be freedom to explore interest. From sports to sciences to arts, Dutch kids are encouraged to explore a wide range of interest and find what works for them and what interests them. Unlike Nigeria where the education system can be a bit strict and the pressure to become either a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer is really high, here in the Netherlands the kids are just allowed to explore and discover what they want to do. There is no pressure to be one thing or the other and that gives children the confidence to truly discover themselves. And you know the environment just fosters such a pressurefree environment for children to truly truly thrive and it is something that I am so thankful for. Number nine will be social skills and community. Kids here are taught to interact to share and to work in groups especially in the classroom. And this, you know, teaches them the importance of theme of teamwork, the importance of um empathy and, you know, patience, kindness, all of that good stuff. And I think also that the um exposure to other cultures also really helps children to interact better and to be more well-rounded um individuals, you know, well-rounded little people. I like that. And you know it also builds confidence because they know that their voice is heard they are seen and that is something that I really really I really really appreciate and something that I personally encourage. As much as autonomy is really important being able to work by yourself being able to work as a team is also very important and it is something that they literally do every day here in schools. There is no competition. Teamwork makes the dream work and that definitely helps with community building and just you know overall social awareness and wellbeing. Number eight might come as a bit of a surprise and that is the excellent healthcare for children. Yes, you guys know how I feel about the healthcare so let’s not go into that but I do firmly believe that the quality of health care for children here is really really great. Um there’s scheduled um checkups for children and also like vaccinations, dental visits and things like that. And it’s, you know, it’s free I believe cuz I don’t we don’t pay health insurance for my children. They’re kind of registered under their dad’s health insurance. So I would say it’s free because it doesn’t affect the price of that he pays per month. And the quality of care that they do get, especially for my son that now goes to the dentist, is really really great. And we’ve also been vaccinated a couple of times since we’ve been in the Netherlands and that has been great. We are um yeah this the visits are usually scheduled. We usually receive like email reminders or letters whenever we have vaccinations coming up to ensure that each child is like you know on track with whatever vaccinations they need to take and that for me is priceless. So yeah definitely a benefit to raising your children here. Number seven will be the happy kids culture. Dutch children are consistently ranked as one of the happiest kids in the world. And it’s not surprising. There is really little pressure in terms of academics and they play outside a lot. They play and play and play and play somewhere. And of course, a child that plays, that is allowed to play as much as they want to and that doesn’t face pressure in school is definitely a happy kid. So yeah, that is definitely really high up my list. My kids are way happier since we’ve lived in the Netherlands. I cannot even lie about that. I will be a hypocrite or a blatant liar to disagree or say otherwise. Dutch kids are genuinely one of the happiest kids that I have come across and you can’t take that away from them. So if you want happy kids, this is where you find them. Okay. Number six is something that up until recently was not really a big thing for me, but now it is, and that is having multilingual children. I come from an English-speaking country and so English was like the only language that was majorly spoken in schools everywhere and then we also have minority languages that is left up to the discretion of the family to pass on to the younger generation and at most a child in Nigeria speaks or um two languages which is English and their local language but here in the Netherlands kids speak multiple languages. And that is something that is really impressive. My son currently speaks English and Dutch. Same thing with my daughter. She speaks English and Dutch. And now my son is interested in learning other languages. Matter of fact, he wants to learn Japanese and Italian and French as well. And you know that was something that he was not really aware of. Languages were not really a thing for him before. But now that he lives in the Netherlands and he has interacted with people from other countries, he’s very interested in learning languages and he’s also, you know, impacting his sister as well because now she also wants to learn another language. And I can very very much see that by the time they are 18, they’ll probably be speaking four or five languages, which is like a norm for a lot of European kids. I find a lot of adults here speak multiple languages. And so that is definitely a huge benefit. If you’re going to be a global citizen, then you know, by all means, you got to speak more languages. Definitely a benefit that I think everybody should be aware of. Another benefit to raising your kids here in the Netherlands would definitely be the outdoor lifestyle. Come rain or shine, the kids are outside all year round. They are biking. They are playing. They are just being kids year in year out. And I think this definitely builds resilience and confidence and that’s definitely a a trait or traits that they will carry into adulthood. I love how um the Netherlands really encourages outdoor play and not just outdoor play. I think the Dutch people are generally a very outdoorsy people. they are always hiking or biking or doing one thing outside. Even during the summer, everybody’s just outside. It’s like when there’s sun, we are outside. When it’s not sunny, then we are inside. And I really, really, really love that. My kids are more active now. I’ve always had active kids. But back home, there was not the environment didn’t really encourage them to be very outdoorsy, but here they are outside. They are climbing trees. They are playing in the rain, dancing in the mud, doing everything that annoys me but gives me joy because I have to clean up the mess. But I really love it. And it has also encouraged me as well to become a bit more of an outdoorsy person. I don’t think I can ever fully be an outdoor person, but I try. I try. Okay, let’s leave it at that. Number four will definitely be the work life balance. I have spoken about this before. The Dutch people value family time. They don’t play with their family time and so work is literally Monday to Fridays if you work in like the corporate world and weekends are usually like strictly family time. And I spoken about this before that this definitely helps in connecting as a family. You get to spend more time, more quality time with your family. You get to balance it. You work but you also spend time with the people that are most important to you and that is very very important. A lot of cultures do not really promote work life balance. You are either work work work and daily life. You are just going through the motions. But here it is a big deal. It’s a big deal. It’s a big thing. Work life balance. Work life balance. It is the mantra of the Netherlands and I am here for it. Okay. Number three will be the strong education system. Schools here focus on creativity, critical thinking and independence. Classes are very relaxed and interactive. We already know teachers and children call the teachers. They address teachers in a more informal way compared to Nigeria where we’re coming from. Where is Mrs. somebody, Mr. Somebody? You cannot talk to me anyhow. You don’t talk back at me. Kids are taught to express themselves here um while still learning and that is very important because that builds confidence. It also lets the child know that they have a voice, they can use it and they will be heard which is more much more important than teaching a child math or or English. I also like how well-rounded the education here is. is not just about learning Pythagoras theorem or finding X that we don’t know where he went to cuz I have not been able to find him. You know, kids are taught about the world that they live in. They taught about the environment. They’re taugh about the weather in a very practical hands-on manner, not just textbook approach. They get to actually interact with what they are taught. I really really enjoy how the, you know, the excursions here are very very well thought of. They are very well-rounded in the fact that when kids go on excursion beyond just going to see a place, they are learning while they are playing. If they are going to a farm, they are learning how it works, how farms, you know, how how plants are, how plants come about, how farmers keep everything done, how they process raw foods to, you know, whole foods. And, you know, it is just done in such a holistic way that the child absorbs it in a very organic manner. And I absolutely I I love it. I honestly I do. I do. Number two benefit of raising your kids here in the Netherlands will be the safe and kid-friendly environment. From bicycle paths to playgrounds in every corner, trust me when I tell you that the Netherlands was designed with kids in mind. It is a very safe place to raise your children. your children can play outside without you having high blood pressure or worrying about people driving recklessly or you know just things like that. it the the the country has been designed in such a way that children are safe and that is so important for every parent to be able to know that your children are safe when they are outside playing they are safe they are going to school they are safe you know and so yeah that is definitely high on my list of benefits safety above all else and Netherlands definitely takes that box for me number one on my list will be early independence. And I do not take it lightly when I say this because as a mom, you do not want your children to grow too fast. But I love that the Netherlands encourages children to become more independent really early on in in life. From as young as age 6 to 7, they bike to school by themselves. And you know making little decisions like this teach them confidence and also teaches them to be responsible for themselves and for others. You know they are taught very early on to be responsible for others for themsel to you know have others in mind and to be able to make decisions. And I think that it is something just really really great. as much as every day my child tells me not to follow him to school because he can ride to school by himself and I’m like no I really really I really like that he’s so confident in his ability to take himself to school and even his sister that you know he feels like he doesn’t need adult supervision because he knows what to look out for. He knows how to bike safely. He knows how to ensure that his sister is safe as well. And that is just something that has happened since we’ve been here. Um is definitely not something that was encouraged back home, but here the environment has really fostered that sense of safety and it has helped to build their confidence and I truly really like that. And there you have it. Those are my top 10 benefits of raising children here in the Netherlands. Now, of course, there is no perfect place and I am not preaching that the Netherlands is a perfect country, but just these things that I have um spoken about in today’s video are some of the things that have made parenting here a bit special for me and it’s just something that I thought to share with you in case you are considering moving to the Netherlands. Yeah, this is my humble opinion. I said what I said. I stand by it 10 toes down. But yeah, again, it’s my opinion. It’s my reality. And you don’t have to agree with it. That is fine. But anyh who, if you enjoyed today’s video, please give this video a thumbs up. Tell me what it is that you love about wherever it is that you’re living and raising your children. Um, tell me where you’re watching me from. Give me some feedback. Tell me what you thought of today’s video. Subscribe. Like this video. Share this video with your friends, with anyone that is considering relocating to the Netherlands with their children. Yeah, let’s encourage each other. And um that’s it from me. I will see you guys in my next video. Until then, good. [Music]