The Ultimate Family Movie Night Guide + Printable Movie Lists

Is there anything better than ending a week with good food and a good movie? Our family loves to do Friday night movie nights at home when we can. And honestly, we don't always do it on Friday! Pick a day that works with your schedule.  Family movie nights have become something that our whole family looks forward to. We put it on our calendar and look forward to it all week! 

And now that our youngest is 4.5 years old (and #thirdchild), we are able to watch a way bigger variety of movies.

*The Ultimate Family Movie Night Guide + Printable Family-Friendly Movie Lists *

In this blog post I'm going to share with you everything we do to make our family movie nights successful, how we pick the movie we will watch, and give you printable checklists of both animated and non-animated movies (all rated G or PG). Now, some of these were rated PG back in the day, so I need to make sure I state clearly to do your own research on each movie before watching it and make sure it aligns with your family values! 

Here's what the printable movie checklists look like (there's one page for non-animated and two pages for animated) and keep reading to download them! 

Dinner on Movie Nights

We try to eat dinner a little bit earlier on family movie nights. We don't push back (or at least try not to) bedtime, so we keep that in mind. We do the math back from the time we need to start our bedtime routines, then figure out when we can fit dinner in from there. For example, if we start bedtime at 7pm and our movie is 1.5 hours, we will try to have dinner at 5, be done by 5:20, then start the movie by 5:30. One thing we do on these nights is a modified bedtime routine. We have the kids already bathed and in pajamas before we start the movie, and we will read one short book for bedtime instead of our usual amount. So in our example scenario, we would probably have the kids bathe and get in pajamas before dinner. 

Pizza is one of our go-to meals on movie nights and one of the only meals we will make at home on our movie nights. We usually do movie nights on Friday, and Friday is our "takeout" dinner night most of the time. But if we do decide to cook at home, there's a good chance it's a DIY pizza night. My kids love to help make their own pizzas on these nights. It's a full family activity and actually really fun! Here's a list of our favorite pizza making supplies that we have at home. 

Snacks on Movie Nights

It wouldn't be a movie night without yummy snacks! Part of the fun is the popcorn and treats that go along with it! Lately, we've been placing our popcorn and treats in this snackle box for movie nights. I've also shared some other ways we've enjoyed our movie treats for movie night here. 

How to Pick the Movie

First, use our checklists for a list of ideas of movies to watch. Here are ways we pick the movies:

• Trade off picking every movie night.
• Let everyone pick a movie and write those choices on pieces of paper. Fold the papers up and place all of them in a bowl. Pick one out and that's the movie.
• Go onto whatever streaming service you want to use (Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, etc.) and scroll through until you find a movie from the checklist. 
• Parents pick.

Whatever way you choose, make sure your kids know what's happening to avoid the fighting and arguing over the movie choice. I've found that when my kids know the plan beforehand, there's more buy-in and they are less likely to argue. 

Family-Friendly Non-Animated Movies

I've compiled a list of family-friendly non-animated movies that are all rated G and PG. Remember to do your own research with each movie before you decide if it's a fit for your family. I purposely didn't give age ranges for these lists on purpose. What works for one family might not work for another. Some of the options are geared more towards older children while some are fine for all ages. Our oldest son is almost 10, and in our family, is allowed to watch all the movies I've listed. We also have a 7 and 4 year old, and they have watched a good amount of the movies on the lists as well. 

Family-Friendly Animated Movies

I've also compiled a list of family-friendly animated movies that are all rated G and PG. Remember to do your own research like I mentioned before. 

Ways to Make Movie Night a Little Extra!

Don't get me wrong...most family movie nights look like this:

We love snuggling on the couch with a throw blanket that we all try to get under (you know you've been there). 

But, there are times that you might want to make movie night a little EXTRA, and when you want to do that, here are some fun ideas!

Family Movie Night Extra-Special Edition Ideas:

• Make a fort before movie night and watch the movie in the fort. You can use a fort kit or just use items around the house (chairs, sheets, towels, pillows, etc.)
• Get inflatable portable beds and let your kids watch while laying in them. Here's some great options
• Start in the early afternoon and do a movie marathon (this is great when you want to watch a movie and the sequel)
• Decorate your family room with fancy movie night decorations
• Take movie night outside and use an outdoor projector and screen. 
• Use an indoor projector and project the movie onto the ceiling or a wall

Here's a picture of two of our kids in a fort during movie night:

If you want to download the printable checklists for family-friendly movies (both an animated list and a non-animated list), click here!

I hope this family movie night guide was helpful and inspires you and your family to enjoy movie nights together. It's a great way to relax, bond and unwind together. 

Have fun!