Family movie night
pictures from ‘Finding Nemo – Family Movie Night’
Start a new tradition and organize a Family Movie Night once a month. This is a great way to spend some quality time together as a family. It involves some planning and prep work, but after all the hard work there is time to relax. Put the DVD in the DVD player, press play, sit back and ‘ENJOY’!
Here are a few ideas how to make the evening even more special.
Coming Soon!
Choose a movie that is suitable for your children and can easily be turned into a ‘theme’. Having a theme will help you choose the decorations, snacks and craft activities. This will make each Family Movie Night a different one.
For the little ones choose a movie rated ‘G - General Audience’. These movies are suitable for all ages. Most of the Disney movies have a ‘G’ rating. If your kids are a bit older, around 8 or over, you could also go for a movie with a ‘PG – Parental Guidance’ rating, but make sure you research beforehand if you find the movie appropriate for your kids.
Then set the date and make tickets. Hand them out a few days before the event so the kids can get excited.
The Caterer
Plan the snacks and drinks. Try to come up with some food and drinks that will fit the theme of the movie. Decide if you want to make a special dinner or just snacks for during the movie.
Making your own popcorn is always a big hit. Kids love to watch the corn pop and your house will smell great too! Or how about making home-made pizza and let your kids help you with it?
In the afternoon have your kids make a snack necklace that they can wear and eat during the movie. Just buy some cookies/sweets and chips with holes in it and string it on a piece of yarn.
Or how about setting up a concession stand where the kids can buy their snacks and drinks. Have a board with prizes on it and give them some ‘play money’ so they can buy their favourite things. You can also let them earn some cash the days before by doing little chores for you. A great way to teach your kid’s about earning money and the value of it.
Art Department
Think of a craft activity you can do with the kids in the afternoon before the movie. This way they already get into the mood. You can already talk about the movie, tell them a bit about the storyline and the characters, maybe they already know some of them.
Print a colouring page of the movie that you can use as a placemat during dinner and have the soundtrack playing in the background.
Make props that fit the theme and you can wear during movie. Or even better, wear a costume!
Theatre
Look around the house to see if you have any items that fit the theme and you can use to decorate the theatre. Throw some pillows and blankets on the floor, put on the PJ’s and get comfy.
Maybe even try to think of different locations to have your movie night, instead of the same old couch. Cuddle up together on the big bed. Or if the weather is nice create an outdoor cinema!
When you have a few big cardboard boxes, decorate them into cars with the kids and you can create your own ‘drive in cinema’!
Roll out the red carpet and have the kids hand in their tickets. Show them to their seat using a flash light.
The End!
Watching a movie is fun, but there are also some valuable life lessons to be learned from most of the kid’s movies. Mary Poppins teaches us that work can be fun, Beauty teaches us about sacrifice and Pinocchio about honesty. If you find it important that your kids pick up on these lessons, you can talk to them about it after the movie and relive the favourite parts together.
Do a Trivia about the movie afterwards and see how good your children paid attention.
“And they lived happily ever after”
Start a new tradition and organize a Family Movie Night once a month. This is a great way to spend some quality time together as a family. It involves some planning and prep work, but after all the hard work there is time to relax. Put the DVD in the DVD player, press play, sit back and ‘ENJOY’!
Here are a few ideas how to make the evening even more special.
Coming Soon!
Choose a movie that is suitable for your children and can easily be turned into a ‘theme’. Having a theme will help you choose the decorations, snacks and craft activities. This will make each Family Movie Night a different one.
For the little ones choose a movie rated ‘G - General Audience’. These movies are suitable for all ages. Most of the Disney movies have a ‘G’ rating. If your kids are a bit older, around 8 or over, you could also go for a movie with a ‘PG – Parental Guidance’ rating, but make sure you research beforehand if you find the movie appropriate for your kids.
Then set the date and make tickets. Hand them out a few days before the event so the kids can get excited.
The Caterer
Plan the snacks and drinks. Try to come up with some food and drinks that will fit the theme of the movie. Decide if you want to make a special dinner or just snacks for during the movie.
Making your own popcorn is always a big hit. Kids love to watch the corn pop and your house will smell great too! Or how about making home-made pizza and let your kids help you with it?
In the afternoon have your kids make a snack necklace that they can wear and eat during the movie. Just buy some cookies/sweets and chips with holes in it and string it on a piece of yarn.
Or how about setting up a concession stand where the kids can buy their snacks and drinks. Have a board with prizes on it and give them some ‘play money’ so they can buy their favourite things. You can also let them earn some cash the days before by doing little chores for you. A great way to teach your kid’s about earning money and the value of it.
Art Department
Think of a craft activity you can do with the kids in the afternoon before the movie. This way they already get into the mood. You can already talk about the movie, tell them a bit about the storyline and the characters, maybe they already know some of them.
Print a colouring page of the movie that you can use as a placemat during dinner and have the soundtrack playing in the background.
Make props that fit the theme and you can wear during movie. Or even better, wear a costume!
Theatre
Look around the house to see if you have any items that fit the theme and you can use to decorate the theatre. Throw some pillows and blankets on the floor, put on the PJ’s and get comfy.
Maybe even try to think of different locations to have your movie night, instead of the same old couch. Cuddle up together on the big bed. Or if the weather is nice create an outdoor cinema!
When you have a few big cardboard boxes, decorate them into cars with the kids and you can create your own ‘drive in cinema’!
Roll out the red carpet and have the kids hand in their tickets. Show them to their seat using a flash light.
The End!
Watching a movie is fun, but there are also some valuable life lessons to be learned from most of the kid’s movies. Mary Poppins teaches us that work can be fun, Beauty teaches us about sacrifice and Pinocchio about honesty. If you find it important that your kids pick up on these lessons, you can talk to them about it after the movie and relive the favourite parts together.
Do a Trivia about the movie afterwards and see how good your children paid attention.
“And they lived happily ever after”