How to Create a Themed Movie Night for Your Kids
- Stephanie Booe
- Aug 27, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 15
Raise your hand if your family loves movie night! Well, if your hand is raised high, then just know that you're in good company and are definitely in the right place!
It all started a few months ago, when my friend and I had an idea to put on a "homemade drive in movie" for our kids. We all had so much fun that we decided to make "themed movie night" a monthly thing. I know what you're thinking and I'm here to tell you that it's much easier than you think and I'm going to give you a step by step guide to make an epic themed movie night for your kids!
Included in this post is a FREE printable movie ticket for you to use and I've also linked some of the things that have really enhanced our themed movie nights (HERE). However, I am a big advocate for using what you have! You don't have to have a fancy projector to make this special, your living room TV will be just as effective. Ready? Let's go!
Step One: Pick Your Movie
Starting here will give you a good frame work on how to cater your evening around one specific theme. Our most recent themed movie night was for Disney's Moana and it was so good and SO unbelievably easy (I'll use this example throughout this post to give you tangible details). Pick a movie that you know everyone (kids and adults) will enjoy and if you're doing this with friends, make sure you double check the movie selection with everyone before you start planning.
Step Two: Pick Your Location
If you're doing this with friends, you'll have to figure out who has the best area for entertaining and hosting. Whether you're doing this with your friends or just for your family, please remember that the biggest way to keep this consistently simple is to take advantage of what you already have. You don't need to go out and buy an expensive projector in order to make this special. You can use your living room and TV, just make the atmosphere super special!
Location ideas:
Playroom
Living Room
Backyard
Loft
Finished Basement
Sunroom
Basically, you're going to want to pick a space that's easy to decorate/enhance and where everyone can be comfortable during the movie.
Step Three: Create Your Atmosphere
Your atmosphere will obviously be based off whatever movie you choose to show. For our Moana movie night, we made "lava" by laying white string lights down the hallway that led to the playroom. We covered the lights with red plastic tablecloths from the dollar store and used pieces of yellow streamer to create the flow of the lava. We cut out cardboard squares and used them as stepping stones so no one would step on the "hot lava." Banners of greenery were draped to create a jungle and at the very entrance, we had two "palm trees" which were created from pool noodles and tissue paper. To top it all off, we used a couple of light projectors to shine red light through the hallway and we turned off all the other lights.
Creating your atmosphere is where it can add up quick, so I encourage you and your friends to look into what you already have or what the dollar store has to offer. Don't be afraid to get crafty! We were shocked that we could create such a cool entrance to movie night for less than $15 because we used a lot of what we already had on hand.
Movie Entrance Ideas
Drive-In (make a road with black paper or tablecloths)
Hot Lava (provided above)
Snow (using white paper, cotton, or fake snow)
Laser Beams (using red yarn strung across the wall)
Obstacle Course (using pool noodles, hop-scotch, etc.)
Mountains or Rocks (using boxes for boulders, etc.)
Create your atmosphere to match your movie! The laser beam atmosphere would be great for a spy or superhero movie wheras the snow would be great for a Christmas movie.
Step Four: What's For Dinner?
Okay, so sticking to our most recent movie night of Moana, we had hawaiian pizza with salad and fruit for dinner. Obviously you can go crazy with this part of the night and you can make it as big or minimal as you want.
The key here is to match the food to the overall theme of the movie and even consider what type of food is on display in the movie. If you're doing Ratatouille, then obviously meat and cheese with grapes would be a big hit! You can never go wrong with a board display for your meal. Take the idea of charcuterie and run wild!
You also want to make sure that this isn't a stressful part of your evening. We usually try to have a meal with minimal cooking just to make sure we are present with the kids instead of stressed with cooking AND setting up the atmosphere. We've even decided to split it up among the adults so that everyone can lend a helping hand. Usually the dads are making dinner and doing the pre-movie activity with the kids while the moms create the atmosphere.
Easy Dinner Ideas:
Order Pizza
Charcuterie Board
Pancakes or Waffle Bar
Pasta Dish
Burger Sliders
Step Five: Pre-Movie Activities
Choosing to do a pre-movie activity is totally up to you! Whether you want to hang out for a little bit and let the kids play or you want to jump right into the movie, there's no wrong way to do this!
If you choose to do a few pre-movie activities, I have a few suggestions for you. If you like the idea of a homemade drive in, you can easily throw some crayons, dot paint, stickers, or markers on the floor and let your kiddos decorate their box (which will be their car later). Just make sure you find boxes big enough for your kids to sit in comfortably. Sticking with our Moana theme, our pre-movie activity was to have dinner followed by temporary tattoos!
Your pre-movie activity can be a game, themed coloring sheets, or a craft. The possibilities are endless and this is your chance to really make it your own thing by doing what feels best for you.
Step Six: Movie Time!
When it's time to start the movie, I encourage you to have a super fun way to initiate the transition between play and entering the movie atmosphere. A non-negotiable for us is to always have a movie ticket for the kiddos. I absolutely love Canva and utilize this creation tool whenever I can. This is the platform in which I can easily create a movie ticket that looks and feels special for the kids. After creating and printing, I laminate them! If you don't have the time to create a ticket of your own, don't worry! I have one ready for you below. Print off as many as you need! There's a line above the movie time so you can write the kid's names on the ticket with a pen or sharpie.
We usually make a big deal about the start of movie time and have the kids stand in a line to receive their ticket. When we showed Moana, we gave them a flower lei with their ticket and then invited them to jump on the rocks over the hot lava.
I encourage you to think of fun and creative ways to make this transition into the movie something special for them and easy for you. Don't stress about making this "perfect," but instead focus on this being something that you enjoy creating for them.
Step Seven: Concessions
Usually we have a small concession stand set up in the movie room. Nothing big or fancy, a small table with snacks will do. One of the adults (usually one of the dads) is ready to serve the snacks to the kiddos. He asks for their ticket and then helps them to pick out their snacks for the movie.
If you're looking for a few snack ideas, here's a few of our concession staples:
Popcorn
Candy (personally, we like to use dye-free candy so I would recommend Yum Earth)
Movie Themed Sugar Cookies
Fruit
A fun cup for water
We have snack caddies that we got from the dollar store and each caddy has a child's name. We help them pack their snack caddy with what they'd like for the movie and then another adult helps them take it to their seat and get adjusted.
Once everyone is settled and ready, it's movie time!
Step Eight: The Curtains Close
Just because the movie is over doesn't mean the fun is over too. In our house, it's like an unspoken rule that movie credits are a perfect time for a dance party. So encourage your kiddos to get up and shake those sillies out! It's a lot of fun and helps them to get moving after sitting for a movie.
Whenever you're ready, you can start the curtain closing portion of the night. Just as if they were at a theatre, we ask our kiddos to clean up their space and put their snacks or trash away (which usually means come bring your snack caddy back to the concession stand and we'll clean it up). Then we tell them "thanks for coming!" and send them back out of the movie room so we can clean up.
The exit can be as fun or creative as you want it to be and it's usually the same as the entrance. For instance, when we did a homemade drive-in with the kids in "car boxes," we drove them out of the movie room like they were driving out of the drive-in and for the Moana themed night, they had to go back over the hot lava.
It's such a great way to wrap up such a fun night and it helps transition the kids from the movie room to the next thing which is usually bedtime.
You can find a bunch of our movie night accessories linked HERE
No matter how you choose to set up a themed movie night for your kids, I know they're going to have an amazing time and I hope that you do too! We do this about every month or so and it's become a new and fun thing that we really enjoy doing with our friends. If you can, get together with some of your friends and give this a try!
Remember that it doesn't need to be expensive or perfect in order to be fun. You can use a lot of what you already have in order to make this a special night for everyone, but it will require some planning ahead of time so just make sure you've had enough time to think through it all.
My goal in sharing this to help you SHINE in parenthood! Being a parent can be a lot of fun and I promise this is one of those things that can truly have a positive impact on you AND your kids.
Have fun with this and make it your own. I can't wait to see what you do! Feel free to tag me on social media (here) so I can see all of the fun moments!
Now it's your turn, go shine your light!
SB
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