Who knew Thailand was going to be such an amazing place for kids! We were so very busy and we didn’t get everything done on our list.
When our first week of being in Chiang Mai, we met the Leitch family. Nicola has a Facebook page dedicated to Chiang Mai and Kids, so we quickly found a tons of options for Nolan. We also found https://chiangmaifamilyguide.com, which provide to be very helpful as well.
Here’s our list of all the things we did with Nolan.
Nong Buak Hard Public Park
KGB Rating: 
Giving this a 5-star because it is literally the only outdoor playground we found worth visiting in Chiang Mai. We went at least 20-time during our 6-week stay in Thailand. My 5-year old son LOVED it. The playground was always full of kids and lots of families sitting around the pond with blankets and picnics. There are a couple small cafes and a couple pop-up food stands for a snack, but not a lot of options for a meal.
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
KGB Rating:
Tons of fun! It took Nolan awhile to warm up to the elephants, but he ended up loving it!
Grand Canyon Chiang Mai
KGB Rating:
Such a great place. It was very clean and reasonably priced for a full day of fun. We were there for about 4-hours and could have stayed longer, but we were all tired!! They do check bags, so don’t try to sneak in food. We had lunch and it was reasonably priced and decent food. My son is 5-years old and was able to play in the main inflatable area. He was not interested in the kid area. Staff was so incredible. Very helpful and nice. We plan on returning during our stay in Chiang Mai! Check out this Instagram post on @brownsATW.
Hidden Village Chiang Mai
KGB Rating:
Big fan! Take cash as you’ll need it. It’s ฿200 for adults and ฿100 for kid, which I thought was a little pricey at first, but it was well worth it. There are also several little things to do for ฿20, such as, a train ride, feeding animals, bounce house, etc. The insect and dinosaurs exhibits are both really cool. My 5-year old son and I spend over an hour just walking around, climbing on all the bugs, and taking pictures of the dinosaurs. There’s also a great playground — super shady, which is really nice for the kids. There is a restaurant though we didn’t eat there, it was busy and seems to be buffet style only, so we opted not to eat at the restaurant.
Hi-Block Cafe
KGB Rating:
Hi-Block is a MUST visit. I’ve never been to anything like it! Nolan was obsessed! They have every LEGO set imaginable. For an hourly fee, kids and sit and play with any set in their inventory. The sets are very well kept, organized, and maintained. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I stayed and played with my son, but noticed most parents were dropping their kids off to play while they went to run errands.
Chiang Mai Zoo
KGB Rating:
First, it’s expensive and everything is separate. Zoo admission, Aquarium admission, Panda admission, train pass … it was a little excessive. Second, the zoo is pretty run down. It had really incredible potential and I wish I had visited 5 years ago. Several of the exhibits were closed. There was an entire section for lions and other cats that was closed off and the seal exhibit was closed too. Many of the food stations were closed. Playground was very run down and the Kid Zone was mostly not working. Third, plan accordingly. Everything is CASH ONLY. Also, it’s huge, so don’t plan to walk with kids.
Bua Tong Waterfalls
KGB Rating:
I wasn’t sure how Nolan would do at the Waterfall, but he was a little spider monkey. He was down and up the waterfall faster than any of the adults. I honestly struggled to keep up with him. Check out this Instagram post on @BrownsATW.
Art in Paradise Chiang Mai
KGB Rating:
I didn’t personally get to take Nolan to the Art iN Paradise exhibit, Nolan went with Jim. Nolan could not stop talking about it and really wanted me to go back with him … sadly we ran out of time. Check out this Instagram post on @BrownATW.
Fun City @ CentralFestival Mall
KGB Rating:
This was a god-send on a few of our rainy days in Chiang Mai. Nolan went to Fun City at least five time over the course of our stay in Chian Mai. He never played less than 2-hours and probably would have stayed longer. If you asked Nolan, “Hey, what do you want to do today?” Fun City was always the top of his list.
Sub Zero Ice Skating Club @ CentralFestival Mall
KGB Rating:
Learning how to ice skate wasn’t on the to-do list in Chiang Mai, it just kinda happened. During one of the rainy days, Jim and Nolan needed something to do. Jim did a little research and they ended up at the Sub Zero Ice Skating Club. Nolan loved it and it turned out to be a great place to skate for the first-time. They had decent rental skates and really cool pengiuns statues the helped kids learn balance.
