As an expat mom of two boys (a 8-year-old and a 4-year-old) who has been living in Chiang Rai, I’m always exploring family-friendly activities for my children and me to do for fun.

Below are my personal top picks that my kids and I have been enjoying, and I’ll also share what family-friendly wellness activities are available at Museflower Retreat & Spa.

Elephant Steps is an ethical elephant and animal sanctuary located in the Mae Chan area. It was first founded in 1991 by Sophie Marguery from France and her Thai husband. Elephant Steps offers a relatively unstructured and relaxed program, compared to other elephant sanctuaries I’ve visited in Chiang Mai in the past.

Our family joined a half-day trekking program just this February 2026. I had two group organizers who brought their groups to Elephant Steps for their full-day program before, and all the guests loved it. But since my kids are still quite young, I thought a half-day program would be good enough for them — which turned out to be quite right.

We arrived around 9:30am at the elephant sanctuary, and we saw that there were many other animals besides the four elephants — dogs, chickens, donkeys, goats, etc.

We started with feeding the elephants, and then we got to observe them taking a bath. Then we trekked with the elephants over the hill behind their village. The trek involves going up and down slopes and walking on uneven nature trails, so a good pair of walking shoes is required. Children need to be walking by themselves (or babies carried by an adult), so personally I think it’s suitable for 4-year-olds and up.

When I told my children that the trek was like a forest adventure that required their ninja skills, they absolutely loved the idea. All the while, the elephants were trekking in front of us inside the forest, which was amazing. The trek finished with a light vegetarian lunch, and for the full-day program, the group would trek back to the starting point.

Discover their programs here: https://www.elephantstepschiangrai.com/

Singha is the biggest and most famous beer brand in Thailand, and they open parts of their farm in Chiang Rai for people to enjoy. There are two restaurants (one Thai restaurant and one pizzeria) and a few cafés, gift shops, a safari farm tour where you can take plenty of photos and feed animals, and bicycle and scooter rentals. Occasionally there are also festivals and concerts held in their big open field inside the park.

My kids really enjoyed the safari farm tour every time we went, and I’ve brought my sisters’ families with their kids along on this safari farm tour a few times already. You can hop on their safari bus, or rent a golf cart to drive yourself — which is slightly more expensive but gives you more flexibility over how long you want to stay at each spot.

There is no tour guide on this tour, but the bus will drop you off at four different spots — feeding fish and looking at swans, trying out tea and taking photos with flowers (depending on the season), feeding animals (the kids’ favorite), and visiting the café where the zipline and scooter rentals are also located.

Before or after the safari farm tour, you can also choose to have lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants. There are plenty of photo opportunities, such as the beautiful tea plantation on the hill and flower patches in the winter season. They also offer recreational activities such as rock climbing and ATVs.

Discover more here: https://singhapark.com/

We go to the mini water park at The Riverie by Katathani Hotel every year to celebrate my older son’s birthday in May. Though the water park is small, it’s clean and safe (they have lifeguards) and the area is contained. There is a casual pool restaurant where you can eat simple lunches, and it has changing rooms and showers for day-use guests like us. It also has a kids’ club (personally I think it’s suitable for younger kids from ages 2–6), which you can purchase as a day pass that includes the mini water park and the kids’ club. You can definitely spend a good afternoon there.

Discover more here: https://www.theriverie.com/the-river-splash.php

When it first opened in 2025, I was so glad to find something fun for my younger son to do when he was just 3 years old.

Little Chef is a cooking studio for children, and they offer both a 60-minute parent-child cooking class and a children-only cooking class. Their menus include Western, Asian, and Thai food, and the instructors are incredibly kind and encouraging with the children. Everything is set up so that the child can absolutely and successfully complete the menu, which gives them confidence.

I’ve tried all the menus that my children did, and I loved that the desserts are actually not overly sweet. A lot of the menus were very yummy.

Little Chef also offers English cooking classes — you can book a private class or follow their English group class schedule (once a week). The owner can speak and write in English, so feel free to send your inquiries and bookings to her in English.

Discover their classes here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Little-Chef-61572460325963/

When I first opened Museflower Retreat & Spa, I was single with no kids, so the retreat was naturally designed for adult solo travelers. Now, as a mom of two, Museflower has evolved with me, and we are beginning to offer more family-friendly wellness activities and experiences.

For example, these are the wellness activities that children are welcome to join:

• Yoga
• Nature mandala
• Labyrinth walk
• Creative herbal tea blending
• Cooking demo
• DIY spa scrub class
• DIY crystal bracelet making
• Fire release ceremony
• Sound healing
• HappyDance

We recommend booking these wellness activities as private classes for children under 12, as they would require a shorter class duration. We are also happy to design and personalize a few modalities into one class, depending on what you want your children and family to experience together.

Our Museflower Spa also offers junior spa treatments for ages 4 to 12, such as a junior natural facial and junior massage available in 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, or 60-minute sessions. As a family, you can book our spa wet facilities privately at no additional cost to enjoy the herbal steam and mineral bath together (one session is 45 minutes).

Please note that all children under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult in our classes and in our spa.