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Making Family Movie Night a Success

This Sunday, my family will sit down together in front of the television and spend a few hours enjoying the Oscars together. We will indulge in our annual celebration (and roast) of our favorite movies and movie stars.

This year, however, it strikes me how few movies we have seen together as a family -- not just those in the theaters (I have little-to-no-interest in what makes a 12-year-old boy laugh and our 15-year-old daughter goes out with her friends), but also those at home.

Yet on those rare occasions where we have all piled on to the sofa and covered ourselves up with blankets, we all have a great time. My husband and I love it because our kids are now old enough that we can share our special movies with them. It turns out that our kids enjoy these family activity nights because it’s a way of being together that requires neither hiking boots nor a car ride.

And my husband and I suspect that having an at-home family evening even offers our kids a nice excuse to take a brief break from the social pressures of always having to hang out with their friends. Sometimes we all just need a little loving and together down time.

Just the other evening we rented Fame, which neither kid had ever heard of. But since they’d both watched and enjoyed High School Musical recently on the Disney Channel, we thought they’d love to see that movie’s inspiration.

The evening was a total success. So much so that we’ve resolved to have a regular Family Movie Night.
Kids love traditions and indeed, research into childhood memories shows that what we remember most are the rituals from our early years. Here are some tips on how to create Family Movie Night in your home:

Let a different person in the family choose a movie each week. That way everyone becomes invested in the evening and in keeping the evenings going.

Set some guidelines before you get into individual film selections. Rather than having to say no to an inappropriate choice, ask your family members to agree that they will find movies everyone likes and that are age appropriate for all to see. Check our ratings and Common Sense Notes. They will help guide you.

If you have little kids, you can pre-select three or four movies that won’t be painful for the rest of the family to sit through and let your young ones decide among those. For families with sibling age gaps, this is an excellent opportunity for the younger of the siblings to choose movies they were too young to see when their older siblings went. It’s a nice form of catching up with the big sister or brother.

For parents, this is the perfect way to introduce kids to movies they have never heard of that you enjoyed at their ages. A few years back, we watched Back to the Future -- which was a revelation to my then 8-year-old son and fun for all of us.

Surround the night with rituals. Turn off the phone, eat in front of the TV, make popcorn, bring down blankets and pillows, have everyone wear pajamas, eat backwards dinner with dessert first. Just do something to change your routine. The more festive you make the evening, the more fun and special it will be.