Movie nights can be memorable for years to come. Check out these 5 tips for creative family movie nights!
This post is sponsored by DreamWorks. All opinions are my own.
My husband Will loves movies. In fact, watching movies with our girls is one of his favorite family activities.
If I can be 100 percent transparent, I’m not a big movie girl.
Sure, I have my period piece chick flicks that I can watch over and over again, but more often than not, I fall asleep during movies!
Since Will loves movies so much (and the girls have inherited his movie-loving genes), and I prefer more hands-on activities (that will keep this mom of four from narcolepsy!), we’ve compromised and have come up with some fun activities to make our family movie nights more memorable and creative.
While I previously looked at movie nights as more of a lazy activity, I’ve learned that, with a little ingenuity, they can help form family bonds and memories that will last a lifetime.
Our kids might not remember all the movies we watch together, but they will remember the activities we incorporate into those movies (and this goes for book reading as well!).
Without further ado, check out my:
5 Tips for Creative Family Movie Nights
1. Dress up as the movie characters.
Our little girls love to play dress up. I remember dressing up at Scarlett from Gone with the Wind even as a young teenager, so I hope their penchant for “becoming” the characters from both movies and books will last a long time yet.
My middle child, who is a self-proclaimed “fashionista,” gets especially excited when we let her put on make-up to look like the characters from her favorite films!
2. Make crafts that go along with the movie.
Disclaimer: I’m not a naturally crafty mom. But my kids happen to love crafts–especially our firstborn, who is 8 1/2.
Thankfully, Pinterest is a full of craft ideas for all kinds of movies, and some movie websites will even offer free downloadable craft ideas as well.
Will has been checking out the awesome reviews for the new Trolls movie, and we were excited to find these downloadable, printable connect-the-dots sheets with some of the characters.
As well, we found an entire free party kit with ideas for food, games, and more!
(You can download that freebie here.)
3. Bake and decorate sugar cookies in the shapes of the characters.
Baking and decorating sugar cookies has typically been a holiday activity I do with the girls, but we enjoy it so much that I’ve resolved to doing it more often with them this year.
We have cookie cutters for just about every holiday imaginable, and it’s easy to find cookie cutters in the shapes of most movie characters online!
We recently ordered these trolls cookie cutters, and we had a blast baking the cookies and using some natural food coloring to decorate the hair in bright colors, just like in the movie.
And I know your kids won’t complain about getting to snack on fun cookies while watching the movies!
This is go-to gluten-free sugar cookie recipe, and I use my own homemade dairy-free icing to decorate the cookies.
4. Host a pre or post-show karaoke party with songs from the movie.
A few years ago, my parents bought a karaoke machine, and it’s been a hoot every time they bring it out during family gatherings. You don’t have to have a karaoke machine to incorporate music into your creative movie nights, though. Simply play the soundtrack to the movie and invite your kids to sing along.
The new DreamWorks Trolls Party Edition Blu-ray and DVD come with a Party Mode Bonus Feature, which includes on-screen lyrics for every single song, along with tons of other great bonus features! Pick up your copy on Feb. 7th!
5. Read the book that the movie is based upon.
Unless the book is super short, you won’t be able to do this activity on the actual movie night, but I love introducing my kids to the books upon which movies are based.
Almost always, books have a lot more details than movies have time to include. Watching the movie beforehand can often get kids jazzed up about reading the books.
What are your tips for hosting a creative family movie night?
Thank you, Trolls, for underwriting this post!
Janet Ornelas
Love the list! Thanks for sharing! Love the hands on and the creative ideas to making this more than just a movie night.
Erin
Thanks, Janet!
Jane @ Modern Housewives
Awesome ideas, thank you for sharing! We love movie nights here at home, but they only include movies, popcorn and ice tea. Reading the book is a great idea, because often movies leave out important parts of the book, which might be pivotal to your kid’s understanding of it.
Kristy
We love popcorn movie nights!
I’ve noticed that my kids almost always like to “play” whatever movie we watch…. Narnia is kind of big at our house right now, as well as Cinderella (among my two girls).
I love the idea of reading the book that corresponds with the movie… I almost enjoy books MORE than movies, and my 13-year daughter (an avid reader like me) is much the same way.
Thanks for the great post, Erin!
Tommy Wang
Great article! Thank for sharing. I love the idead “Making crafts that go along with the movie”. More creative activities for kids .
Tommy.