Could each of us spend no more than 200 baht (US$6) at one of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s night markets?
Spending challenges can be fun for any family (plus you can check out our family travel video on our Chiang Mai spending challenge)
As much as we enjoy our devices for entertainment, we seek out good ways to have a screen-free family travel activity too. From card games to family journaling, reading out loud to seeking out new things to eat, we’ve found that it can be easy to keep offline activities in the family mix.
Spending challenges have become one of our fave screen-free activities.
What is a screen-free travel activity?
A screen-free travel activity does not require a screen device. You might use a device to plan, review, or document, but it’s not necessary for doing the activity itself.
What is a spending challenge?
A spending challenge gamifies a family activity. For us, that’s usually something like going to a night market or street food fair, but it can be adapted to non food-focused events too.
We approach a spending challenge like this:
- Agree a set amount of local money that each person has to spend
- Understand what the local currency amount correlates to in our home currency of US dollars (eg, at the time of our Chiang Mai spending challenge, Thai ฿200 was about US$6)
- Pick where and when we’ll do the challenge (eg, a Thai night market, Disney souvenir shop, Moroccan medina, Japanese convenience store, etc.)
- Decide how we’ll keep track and if there’s a self-competition, collaborative, and/or group competition element
- Enjoy our spending challenge!
A spending challenge can be family fun and a bit of subtle learning
First and foremost, we consider a spending challenge to be all about the fun. We laugh a lot, and we usually try things we hadn’t tried. It’s also intriguing to see who can spend the closest to the full amount, and who spends the least.
At the same time, there’s some subtle learning going on:
- Basic math and memory skills: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, counting, remembering how much we have left to spend.
- Independence, trust, and confidence: The kids are old enough to go to market stalls on their own. They also know about staying in a determined area, where we meet up, and what to do if they have any problems or concerns.
- Communication: Each kid has to wait in line, explain what they want, and listen in return, and we always make sure to thank vendors, in the local language as best we can.
- Handle money: Each kid manages their own money. They have the responsibility to carry it safely, hand over the correct amount, and check any change they’re given.
- One caveat, especially for a food challenge: If something happened to a child’s money, they still get to eat. It’s a fun family challenge, not some weird survival scenario.
A screen-free family activity can take so many forms. Each can be fun and educational in its own way. This is definitely one where we keep the focus on the fun part, and the learning happens all on its own.
Our experience doing a family spending challenge
Watch our family travel video: Chiang Mai street food challenge
The delectable challenge of a Chiang Mai night market
Mango sticky rice. A chicken wrap, slightly spicy. Pad thai. Fried prawn cakes. Little fried quail eggs about the size of a quarter (or a 10-baht coin). And some very tasty smoothies that could also turn your tongue different colors.
Sure, it’s always fun to buy street food in Thailand. But it’s a little extra fun to make a challenge out of it, as a screen-free family activity.
How our spending challenge came about
After being in Thailand for nearly a month, our two weeks in Chiang Mai were coming to a close.
As the sun went down on our last Sunday in Thailand’s second city, we got out of a Grab hired car at the edge of the Sunday Walking Street. Similar to the Saturday Walking Street but in another part of the Old City, the Sunday bazaar is a mix of tourists and locals. Vendors line the streets, with tables and tents offering clothing, crafts, and above all, food.
Since souvenirs aren’t our thing, though, before leaving our rental we talked over an idea for a wee challenge.
“Tonight,” Jodie explained, “each of us is going to get two hundred baht. We’re going to see if we can spend no more than that.”
“How much is two hundred baht in dollars?” asked Aster.
“About five bucks,” I answered.
“This is going to be fun,” said Connor.
We set out two pink 100-baht notes for each of us. The kids tucked theirs into the pockets on their shoulder-sling water bottle holders.
At a Chiang Mai Night Market with kids
Napoleon might have said that an army marches on its stomach, but I swear, Thailand smiles on its stomach. Food vendors pack events like the Walking Streets. As people eat, the laughter grows and so do the feelings of joy, cheer, and the pleasure of being in the moment.
I wouldn’t be surprised if half the booths were cooking and serving food.
Across the square moat and occasional brick ruins of the Old City’s perimeter wall, we wandered among the low buildings and wide streets, which had been closed to traffic for the night.
From booth after booth, steam rose, smoke wafted, blenders whirred, grills sizzled, and pestles pounded in mortars. Skewered squid lay out along the front of one table, ready for a grilling before being served up.
From one vendor offering various ground meats in skewered disc or tube form, Connor chose two white discs that reminded us of large lollipops. The four of us snagged low little chairs at a low long table. While Connor liked the flavor, he said, he found the meat too peppery.
Sliced, breaded fried chicken breast lay succulent and juicy in its little tray, and we each snapped up pieces. Aster chose a chicken wrap, with crunchy greens. She ate about half of it before deciding it was too spicy. I gladly took on the challenge of eating the rest. Too spicy? Not for me. But for a newly minted 8-year-old becoming cautiously more adventurous in her eating, it was a big leap forward.
I made a circuit of the food booths, seeking som tam, or green papaya salad. After a wonderful plate of it the preceding week, I craved the bright, sour flavors of lime juice and fish sauce, and the fresh crunch of the grated papaya and carrot. I found sugarcane juice, sushi, various soups, and skewers whose meats and cooking styles I would need an entire book chapter to describe. But I did not find the green papaya salad.
Making the rounds
Making another circuit of the market, I found the kids at a stall in a back corner. They had told Jodie they were going to get smoothies. Since I had yet to find my green papaya salad, I figured I should drown my sorrows in a bright yellow mango smoothie. Jodie later got a smoothie too, with kiwi, like Connor’s. Aster’s strawberry smoothie turned her tongue bright red. The kiwi made Jodie and Connor look like they had green zombie tongues.
And, in my laughter, full from my consolation prize of a plate of decent but too mild pad thai, I happened to turn my head and noticed a sign off to one side.
Green papaya salad.
Next time, som tam, next time. At least I’d always have our Thanksgiving Thai cooking class, and the amazing som tam I’d made myself.
Adding a laugh at myself for missing what was pretty much right in front of me, I helped Jodie and the kids clear away our dishes.
Finishing the spending challenge: What were the results?
Back at the rental, we tallied up our remaining baht:
- Anthony: I spent ฿140, and had ฿60 left.
- Jodie also spent ฿140, and had ฿60 left.
- Connor spent the most. He shelled out ฿190 baht, leaving him with ฿10.
- And Aster, it turned out, spent the least! Aster spent ฿125, leaving her with ฿75 in her pocket.
We all came in under our ฿200—and we all had pleasantly full bellies, and laughter galore, from our last evening at a Chiang Mai Walking Street.
How can a deliberately screen-free family activity be fun on your vacation?
We enjoy our screens and the entertainment they make possible for us. However, it’s good to vary up our activities. Just as spending challenges have become a fun way for us to explore markets, foods, and more, you can build out enjoyable spending challenges for your family vacation too.
