With a lot of devices giving each person in the home some screentime, it's not hard to say that bonding with your kids and every person in the family could be a challenge sometimes. For that, having a family-centered screentime would be great. What better way to do it than to have family movie nights!
Here are some tips to help you set up great family movie nights:
Schedule It
Common Sense Media advised setting up a regular day and time each week and sticking to it. Remember to turn off those mobile phones and other devices that might steal your kid's attention as well as yours.
Take Turns Choosing What to Watch
Some will agree that “let's all choose together” will not work always. On the other hand, without taking turns, everyone will watch the same movie a million times. Why not take turns?
Do this with a “no complaining” rule, which means that when it's someone's turn to choose, everybody has to respect the choice.
Focus on the Family recommended finding a reliable movie review source to check if a movie is safe or recommended for kids. A general rule to follow is if you haven't checked a movie review, you're not going to watch it.
Set a Theme
Depending on the movie that your family will watch, it will be great to have a theme surrounding it. Common Sense suggested doing things like making food art along with “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” or letting your daughter wear a gown while watching “A Princess Bride.”
Where to Watch
You can also choose to watch inside the home or outside it. Get a projector, set up a screen and watch the movie with stars in the background. This will be great.
Talk About the Movie
After the movie, spend some time with your kids processing what you watched. Maybe they'll have questions about the story, or some historic details. This is a time for them to learn. As the saying goes, you'll learn twice.
Here are some kid-friendly movie suggestions, according to Good Housekeeping:
- “Chronicles of Narnia” (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
- “Up”
- “Night at The Museum”
- “Willy Wonka/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
- “The Incredibles”
- “Finding Nemo”
There are a lot more movies available, but don't forget to check movie reviews.
Have fun with your family movie nights!
