5 Ways to Make Movie Night a Blockbuster Success
From cave paintings to plays,
Operas to puppet shows, telling stories has always been humankind’s favorite
way of entertaining. Today movies are just about the fastest and most fun way
of storytelling.
However, movie night can become a family chore for teens and
a regular ho-hum activity for the younger ones. Do your kids assume the “bored of movie night” position with derrieres
on the couch and glazed, catatonic eyes staring expressionlessly screen-ward?
It doesn’t have to be this way!
Just follow at least two of these five steps and you’re on your way to movie
night FUN with family.
1. Prepare and Conquer!
Don’t just choose your movie selection
willy-nilly, plan ahead of time what your movie night film is going to be and
reserve it on Redbox, queue it up on Netfilx or, if you’re still doing that
kind of thing, go to an actual video
store and rent what you want.
What
to Rent: Rent movies that match up with whatever season you’re in. Try school
movies in September, Baseball movies in June or holiday movies in November and
December.
Where
to Watch: Location, location, location! It can mean everything for a movie!
Why not build a fort in the back yard or basement and watch something spooky on
your iPad. If you don’t want to leave your house, just move the furniture in
your theater room around and plan on throwing pillows and blankets on the floor
to cuddle up in.
Get
excited for the event, your excitement will rub off on everyone.
2. The Literature Behind Movies
There are SO many movies that are based on
books, about books, starring books or should have remained only in book form. So if the movie you’re planning for is
based on a book…read it! Either read
it together as a family or individually. Ask your kids questions as you go through the book.
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After reading the story you and your kids will be more invested in the night and will have more to say about the movie after.
3. Treat Yourselves
Treats are a movie’s perfect companion. A
Samwise to a movie’s Frodo, a Watson to a movie’s Sherlock, and a name to a
movie’s Inigo Montoya.
So take this fact and make it work for you!
- Prepare treats for movie night that go along with a theme in the movie or food that may appear in the movie.
- Make a game where every time a certain word is said by characters in the movie everyone has to eat a hot Cinnamon Bear or Sour Patch Kid.
- Have a picnic in your theater room or have dinner conversation using only accents that may be found in your movie choice.
You know you’ll be
snacking during the movie anyway so make it an easy way to get into the spirit
of things.
4. Take Pause- There’s a Button for It
This one is especially great for families
with little ones but can work well for any age. Find a couple times in the
movie to pause and ask some questions.
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Don’t be afraid of the remote control, it is your friend and friends help friends have more fun!
5. After Movie Math
After the movie is over and then again the
next day, ask everyone their thoughts on it.
- How did they like the storyline?
- Who was their favorite character?
- Which character didn’t they like and why?
- Did the movie make them cry or did they laugh?
- Which part was the funniest or the saddest?
- Was the book better and why or why not?
- What would they change in the story if they were writing it or how would they have made the movie differently?
- And most importantly: What did they learn from the movie that was good and what did they learn was bad?
Every movie will have its own great set of
follow up questions to ask at the next family dinner.
Movies can teach and inspire but a lot of
times as parents we have to put forth the effort to make each lesson stick and
every inspiration fly. So during your next movie night don’t just throw in what
nobody else wanted at Redbox, make your family movie night count for something!
Create some memories!
About the Author- Danielle’ is a
ClearPlay Blog editor and Movie Mom contributor. She’s a mother of four and an
avid watcher of movies and reader of books.
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