Family Movie Night Fun

My family loves movies. I mean really loves them. They quote lines, act them out, reference them, and talk about them. My older kids have even started to stay up until midnight so they can see the movie as soon as it comes out, so we are really looking forward to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball 2 (in theaters on September 27).

They get this from their father of course, because everyone knows when a mom sits down she immediately falls asleep from exhaustion and could never make it through a two hour movie. I’m kidding, sort of.

Since taking all nine of us to the theater is not something we can afford on a regular basis we’ve started having family movie nights at home.

Movie nights at home a great way to spend time together as a family without spending a lot of money. You can have an awesome family movie night for less than $20 which is cheaper than a fast food meal.

There are several must haves for our family movie night.

A good movie that everyone will like.

Fortunately, we’ve been able to find movies that keep everyone from the four year old to the forty-four year old entertained.

Popcorn (and lots of it)

We prefer the air popped stuff, and my eleven year old has become the master at adding the right amount of salt and butter to make you think are you sitting inside a theater. We even have special popcorn containers that look like movie theater popcorn boxes which the kids love!

Root Beer or Lemonade

We don’t usually have soda in our house, but I’ll pick up some root beer at the store for our movie nights. The kids love drinking it straight from the can. If we’re feeling really crazy we’ll make root beer floats.

Pillows and Blankets

We have a big basket of blankets and throws next to the television in our basement. Since we don’t have room for everyone on the couches and chairs the kids make their own comfy spots on the floor with their pillows and lots of blankets.

Those are our movie night basics, but there are lots of other fun things you can do to make movie night extra special.

Make a theme night

To make movie night even more fun plan your food and activities around the movie you are watching. If it is a movie set in England only speak with British accents during the evening. If you are watching a movie about superheroes, have everyone dress up as their favorite hero or villain.

If your movie has a food theme, make one of the foods for dinner or to snack on during the movie.

Premier the movie at home.

Roll out the red carpet (aka blanket) and have your kids dress up and walk down it on their way to the theater (aka couch). You can take pictures and conduct mock interviews.

Make movie posters.

Have the kids make their own movie posters. All you need is some poster board and markers. They can hang/tape the posters to the wall on the big day.

Borrow a projector and watch the movie outside.

When the weather starts to cool off create your own drive-in and set up chairs in your lawn. Use a projector to show the movie on the side of your house (or a large screen if you have one).

We’ve done this a few times and even had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. My kids loved it!

However your family does movie night, your kids will sure to love spending time with you watching their favorite characters on screen.

I’ve included more fun movie night ideas and printables below.

• Race car box seating
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Umbrella craft
• DIY Drive in Movie Night
• Movie Night Bingo
• Family Movie Night Ideas

*I was thrilled to work on this post for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which was sponsored by Sony. All opinions and ideas are my own.