Fun Family Movie Night Ideas to Inspire You

Are you looking for fun movie night ideas? Gathering the whole family is a great way to spend some quality time watching your favorite movies. Here is some inspiration to make your next family movie night special, plus helpful ways to find appropriate family-friendly options.

Family Movie Night Ideas

Gather the entire family at the end of a long week for a fun movie night! One of the best ways to have some fun as a family in a low-cost way is an at-home movie night. Here’s what you need to know to help you plan, keep it stress-free and yet still memorable for your kids of all ages.

What should I make for a family movie night?

If you’re having a fun family movie night at home, then you can be as simple or fancy as you want with the food you serve. The best movie night experience will include a little bit of everyone’s favorite treats.

Movie Night Snacks

Start with a giant bowl of popcorn and go from there. Popcorn is a movie staple. What if you could find different flavors for everyone to sample? Put them in paper bags reminiscent of the theatre. You have something salty, so don’t forget to add something sweet. Include a nice pile of chocolate bars, or buy everyone’s favorite candy bar to make it really special.

If you need dinner too, you can always go simple yet fun and make hot dogs with all the toppings. Or order in some pizza – you can’t go wrong with this! Get everyone’s favorite toppings and you’ll be all set.

Movie Night Beverages

Don’t forget to purchase everyone’s favorite beverage. Kids love to splurge on fun soda flavors! Go ahead and fill a cooler in the living room with a bunch of flavors to try. If warm beverages are more to everyone’s liking, then plan on making a bunch of hot chocolate and create a hot chocolate bar with all the fun toppings and additions.

Movie Night Treats

Another fun dessert idea for you is to make banana splits, or maybe just have everyone’s favorite ice cream flavor on hand with all the toppings. But really, anything that is a little out of the norm and not something you make everyday will make a fun experience for your kids.

How do you plan a family movie night at home?

You can make a family tradition out of family move night at home. Just check off these things as you plan.

Location – We’ll give you more ideas below about this aspect, but the main question is where will you watch the movie? Most of us will watch the movie in the living room or family room, or wherever we can fit the whole family and watch the TV. But maybe you have a king sized bed in your master bedroom and don’t mind a few crumbs in bed while you gather the kids in there? Or have you tried a backyard movie night idea where the family watches on a big screen under the stars? There are actually multiple options here, so figure out where you will gather.

Atmosphere – Next, don’t forget to add comfort to your space. Whether you’ll need a bunch of extra throw pillows on the living room floor for the kids who want to sprawl there or whether you need to set up your outdoor space with a film projector and extra blankets. Here’s where you make sure you layer in the comfort and also all the necessities of a family movie night at home.

Movie – Of course, you’ll need to choose your movie! And this is important because you might want to plan the food around the movie theme. Plus, you’ll definitely want to be sure that all the members of your family, no matter their age, will

Food – Other than the movie, most people would argue that the food and snacks you have is the second most important part of family movie night! Decide if you’re eating dinner and dessert or just snack foods during your movie. Figure out something you can make ahead of time or keep warm as needed so that you don’t need to miss part of the movie to continually serve or prepare the food. If you can order in something like pizza, you won’t even have to deal with making the food yourself. Don’t stress it! Do what’s easiest so you can actually enjoy the family time.

What family movie should we watch tonight?

One of the best ways to figure out which movie to watch is to ask other families for their recommendations. This is where social media comes in handy! If you ask for best family movie night ideas in a Facebook group, you’re sure to get dozens, or maybe hundreds, of ideas!

But just in case you need a list of some classic and favorite movie night ideas from the last few decades, here you go:

• Finding Nemo
• Wizard of Oz
• Charlotte’s Web
• Princess Bride
• Lego Movie
• Willy Wonka
• Sound of Music
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Mary Poppins
• Parent Trap

If you’re looking for a newer release, you will want to check out The Girl Who Believes in Miracles for your next movie night pick.

How to choose appropriate movies to watch as a family

When you’re looking for movie recommendations, it’s important that you find movies that are appropriate for family viewing. Of course the age and maturity level of your kids will be a factor. Plus, it’s great to know that you won’t be surprised by objectionable content while you’re watching a movie with your kids.

Parental Guides

To help you find family-friendly and Christian movie options, Pure Flix is a helpful resource for families. A few other sources to check with before you watch your next movie are Common Sense Media and Plugged In.

These sites will help you find good family movies, whether you’re watching on Amazon Prime or using other streaming services. They’ll tell you exactly why it’s rated as it is, and explain any questionable elements so you can decide if it’s a good fit and appropriate for your family.

Family movie night ideas to make it more fun

One of the best part of family movie night at home is that you can wear whatever you want and you can pause the movie if needed! No need to worry about sitting through minutes of ads or having a distracting person sitting right in front of you. At-home movie nights can be low-key and relaxing and thrifty.

But if you’re looking to kick up your family movie night a notch, then consider some of these ideas.

Themed Night – Take your chosen movie and come up with an entire themed night around it. Go all out and decorate your space and plan a menu that coordinates with your movie theme. Your older children can help you prepare for this. With just a little research on Pinterest, you’re sure to find easy ideas to help you make your themed family movie night a success! Need some themed ideas to get you started? Here’s a few home movie night ideas to try:

• Ocean
• Superheroes
• Sports
• Decade themed
• Animal
• Spooky
• Mystery

Outdoor Movie Night – In the warm summer months, take advantage of your outdoor space and put up a big screen with a movie projector to watch your favorite film. Moving your movie night outdoors is a great change of pace, plus if you want to invite friends, you’ve got more room. Just don’t forget the bug spray.

Drive In Movie for the Kids – Little kids will have a great time with a “drive-in movie” night. Go ahead and print admission tickets. You can also grab some large cardboard boxes and have your kids take some time to color on them and turn them into “cars” for the drive-in. Add a cute steering wheel and you’re done! Your younger kids will love sitting in those while watching the family movie.

In Conclusion

So if you’re looking to spend some quality family time with the people in your home, there’s nothing better than a regular family movie night. It not only gives you the opportunity to make some fabulous family memories, but it also gives you some frugal family fun that doesn’t take a lot of time to plan. So, next time you’re wondering what to do for some family fun, ditch the movie theater and stay home with some great movies. It just might become a tradition that your kids love.