We try to set aside Friday nights as family movie night. Of course lots of things come up. Sometimes the kids are in a performance Friday nights. Sometimes we have company spending the night. Lots of Friday nights spring through fall we are working or playing outside or having a campfire. But on the occasion we do have a movie party, here are our favorite movies. All of these we own on DVD so even if it’s last minute we can look at our collection and grab one. (We don’t have any digital streaming services.)
Favorite family movies for ages 8 and up:
- The Parent Trap I and II
- The Parent Trap (1998 Lindsey Lohan)
- Facing the Giants
- The Secret Garden
- The Sound of Music
- Rigoletto
- Coat of Many Colors
- It Takes Two
- Home videos (fun for all ages!)
Movie party during COVID with all 10 kids.
To watch with my teens and college kids:
- Miss Potter
- Courageous
- Flywheel
- Overcomer
- Any of the Kendrick Brother movies. Here you can get all 7!
- Blindside
- Father of the Bride I and II
- Gifted Hands
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
- Troop Beverly Hills
Sometimes my kids will want to watch something that I don’t. I mean, it’s not worth my time to watch because I really need to be working every hour I can. I am really picky of my screen time and don’t consume content unless it’s my favorite.
Here are some shows my kids watch without me:
- Wild Kratts on PBS
- A Disney movie (if we get one from the library)
- Matilda
- How to Train Your Dragon
- The Swan Princess
- Annie
- Mary Poppins
We also love to watch various shows on BYU TV if we just want something around 30-60 minutes
BYU TV shows we like:
- Relative Race
- Random Acts
- Story Trek
- Making Good
- Studio C
- Braver
I hope you have a great movie night, whatever movie you decide on. You know I’m an outside person and against screens for the most part. But I do think an occasional family movie party is enjoyable. We have a lot of fun hanging out together, laughing, and eating popcorn or snacks. I love having our family favorites because then we can quote them for years to come and make some inside jokes about them. To me it’s not so much the movie but watching it with people I love. So resist the urge to let kids watch movies on a phone or in their bedroom. Once in awhile carve out some time and watch a movie with your kids and cherish the moments. Make it special and memorable. Make home a place your children want to hang at and family the people your kids want to hang out with. Let me know your family favorites!