The Top Things To Do In Chiang Mai With Kids

Chiang Mai is a wonderful city in Northern Thailand, Southeast Asia. A perfect mix of East meets West, you’ll find a superb mix of tasty local food and upmarket Western cafes and restaurants. It’s a fantastic family travel destination because there are so many great things to do in Chiang Mai with kids!

You’ll find many interesting places to visit in Chaing Mai inside the Old City, which is approximately 1.5km square. Examples include the Chiang Mai National Museum, and a number of Wats including Wat Chedi Luang.

We spent two months in Chiang Mai as part of our slow travel lifestyle. I was heavily pregnant at the time, so perhaps we didn’t do all the active pursuits we would normally do. Our primary reason for visiting was to attend the Project World School family summit. We got to meet and hang out with some amazing world schooling families, and visit a number of fun and interesting places while we were there.

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The best things to do in Chiang Mai with kids

Here is our list of the top things to do in Chiang Mai with kids, based on our two-month stay. We’ve also included some bonus ideas at the bottom of the post. We didn’t get to do these things ourselves, but we know that other families have enjoyed them.

1. Art in Paradise

When you’re looking for what to do in Chiang Mai with kids, don’t go past Art in Paradise. It’s one of those places you can take creative photos and have fun in the process!

Art in Paradise closed for a few months in early 2020, due to Covid restrictions. In November 2020 they announced that they were in the process of moving to a new location and would reopen soon. Keep them in mind for fun family friendly things to do in Chiang Mai Thailand. Check out their Facebook page for reopening and location updates.

2. Nong Buak Haad Public Park

If you’re after kid play areas, Chiang Mai, check out the outdoor playground on the Southwest corner of the old town. It’s the only city park we know of in or near the old city, and we visited several times while we were in Chiang Mai. 

The playground is nothing spectacular, but there is enough there to keep the kids happy for a few hours. There’s a pond with a fountain, and lots of fish. You can buy food to feed the fish and watch them go crazy! You’ll find fitness equipment around the park, loads of pigeons, and also an area where mom or dad can have a cheap massage. 

We’d definitely recommend adding this park to your list of things to do in Chiang Mai with kids. It offers a good balance for the little ones after visiting a temple or two in the old city. 

3. Ginger Farm Chiang Mai

Ginger Farm Chiang Mai is such a great place to add to your list of things to do in Chiang Mai with family. Just a stone’s throw from the city lies this little haven where the kids can play in the hay, sandpit, or on the swings. 

You can take a walk through the gardens and rice fields, chill out in a Sala, hang out with the farm animals, or do some art. There is even a little mudslide to play on!  It was so wonderful to let the kids go for it. The grown-ups got time to talk and relax too!

We’d highly recommend Ginger Farm as an amazing place for Chiang Mai kid activities. The only frustration for us was that we waited an hour for our food to arrive. I enjoy and appreciate the slow food concept, but just wanted to offer a head’s up on our experience with the slow service here. That way you can make sure you don’t show up starving!

4. Visit Doi Suthep Temple

There’s a long, windy road to reach Doi Suthep Temple, so beware if you get motion sickness! That aside, it’s a beautiful trip, and one we received courtesy of our stay at Bosshotel Chiang Mai. There is also a lovely little village you can visit just over the top of the hill. 

Hotels will be happy to oranize a half day trip to Doi Suthep for you, and we highly recommend it as one of the top things to do in Chiang Mai with kids. Just remember those sick bags if any of your travelers get car sick.

5. Visit a local Wat

There is no shortage of Wats to visit in Chiang Mai. Some are more famous, and perhaps more grand than others, but all can offer a place of peace and beauty that’s rich with culture. We visited Wat Intharawat (Wat Ton Kwen) because it was very close to where we were house sitting in Hang Dong.

If you’d like to add a visit or two to a Wat during your list of Chiang Mai activities, check out Wat Chedi Luang. It’s an impressive Buddhist temple inside the Chiang Mai old city.

6. Buti’s farm stay

Buti’s farm stay is a permaculture farm near Chiang Mai City. You can either take a day trip there or stay for a while. The children got to collect worms, go fishing, play, swim, and generally be free. The older ones did a hike in the jungle while our little ones collected butterfly pea flowers for their ‘juice’. They made smoothies from the fruits of the jungle and had plenty of playtime.

We enjoyed delicious homemade vegan food, which had been grown on the farm. There is even a pond where a few of us enjoyed a swim. You’ve definitely go to be at one with the jungle surroundings here. The kids got ant bites, wasp stings, and one was even bitten by a dog. Overall though, we had a great time and loved being right in amongst nature.

7. Sticky waterfalls

If you’re wondering what to do around Chiang Mai, one of the most fun places to visit is the “sticky” waterfall (Bua Tong Waterfall).

The sticky waterfall is beautiful and a great option to get everyone out of the city for a bit. We all enjoyed walking and climbing up and down it. I even managed to do so at 30 weeks pregnant…carefully, but not at all gracefully! 

The limestone and mineral deposits make it grippy underfoot. This is why you can walk up and down it relatively safely.

8. Cats in Wonderland cat rescue cafe

Cat lovers will love adding the Cats in Wonderland cat rescue cafe to their Chiang Mai attractions list. Sit and enjoy the company of these beautiful cats, and watch them have fun in their magnificent place space.

There are a few cat cafes in Chiang Mai. We’d particularly recommend this one because we love the vision behind it. It’s certainly a safe haven for the rescued cats in Chiang Mai. Before you visit Cats in Wonderland, check their location. They closed in 2019 and their Facebook page hasn’t been updated since then. Chiang Mai City Life reports them as being open again in October 2020, in a new location.

9. Royal Park Rajapruek

In my opinion, Royal Park Rajapruaek is one of the most beautiful places in Chiang Mai, and one of the best things to do in Chiang Mai with kids. It was our last day trip in Chiang Mai (for now! ). What a gorgeous one to finish on. The gardens are comprehensive and so well maintained. You’ll find flowers, plants, and sculptures separated in amongst their gardens from around the world. It’s a bonus that there’s a good playground for the kids too!

10. Check out Chiang Mai night bazaar

It’s rather touristy, but still well worth a visit. The Chiang Mai night bazaar is a huge night market with an endless number of stalls selling souvenirs. There are some overpriced restaurants thrown into the mix too. 

These are not your only food options! You’ll come across Chiang Mai street food everywhere you go, and there are plenty of delicious and cheap local options to try all around the old city.

11. Visit Nic’s Restaurant

We visited Nic’s restaurant and playground in Hang Dong three times during our two-month visit to Chiang Mai. The play area is amazing, and so is the food. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that it’s by far the best kids playground inside a restaurant that I’ve ever seen.

The playground is outdoors. It’s a huge pirate ship made of bamboo where the kids can slide, jump, swing, and play to their heart’s content!

12. Take the kids climbing at No Gravity

Colin took Ayla climbing at No Gravity, along with some other world schooling friends. It’s a great option to burn energy and have fun! Check out all the details of this indoor climbing wall on their Facebook page.

Other things to do in Chiang Mai with kids

There are plenty of other things to do in Chiang Mai with kids that we didn’t get to do this time around. Other ideas include:

• Chiang Mai night safari. Some other world schoolers we were with decided to go on this one. We opt out of many animal-based tourist activities, so we chose not to go on this
• Take a Thai cooking class
• Check out Jungle Flight if you’re interested in a zipline (Chiang Mai) for kids
• I didn’t have time to research elephant sanctuaries in time to visit one before we left. If we were going to visit one, I wanted to make sure we chose wisely. Elephant Nature Park is an ethical elephant rescue and rehabilitation center. It’s located about an hour outside of Chiang Mai and is the one we would first consider visiting when we return another time.
• If I was less pregnant and we have a little more time we would have visited Doi Inthanon National Park located in the Chiang Mai province. Home to waterfalls, walking trails, and picturesque villages, we definitely want to visit this mountain next time!
• For a few nights away or a quick border hop, consider visiting Chiang Rai, the most Northern province in Thailand.

More great ideas for Chaing Mai, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia with kids

If you’re staying in Chiang Mai with your kids for a little while, and want something fun and educational for them to do regularly, check out the Kids Yoga Garden. It’s a great place to connect with home schoolers and world schoolers. The Kids Yoga garden has plenty of fun activities on offer such as yoga, cooking, and crafts.

Overall, we really loved visiting Chiang Mai with kids. After our trip here we returned home to New Zealand for a few months, where wee Romy was born. We did intend to return to Chiang Mai and pick up where we left off after Romy was born. However, when we were ready to leave New Zealand it was the midst of the burning season in Chiang Mai, which is not a great time to visit.

Instead, we started our travels as a family of four in Da Nang and Hoi An, Vietnam. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our Chiang Mai blog post and now have some great ideas of things to do there. 

If you’re traveling to Thailand with kids, check out our Bosshotel Chiang Mai review, things to do with kids in Krabi, and the best place to stay in Krabi. We’ll also shortly be publishing a post about things to do on Koh Lanta with kids.

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