Summer movies (at home).

By megret | July 9, 2009 at 2:02 pm | 2 comments | Everyday fun

Ahh, summer movies. When I was a kid, the promise of summer also meant the promise of a weekly jaunt to our local movie theater for a free flick….plus a small soft drink and sucker thanks to Mom. Many times I’d take a friend with me, and we’d laugh, we’d smile, and we’d cry at the films they showed, no matter how classic they were or how many times we’d seen them.

Summer movies aren’t quite what they used to be, sadly. I’d even go so far as to say that kids’ movies aren’t what they used to be. This is the second summer I’ve seriously considered taking the kids to a flick and have been terribly disappointed by the film lineup offered. This year, only one of the films is suitable for my childrens’ ages, and we already own that one on DVD. Pretty disappointing!

So why not host summer movies at home? On an overly hot (or stormy) afternoon or humdrum mid-morning, nothing sounds finer than putting on a classic, timeless film and making popcorn, then snuggling up to watch it together. We plan to do this more than once this summer….and I’ve put together a list of fondly remembered summer movie films to share with my kids. A few will be saved till they’re older, of course, but a handful of these are okay for preschoolers:

- Benji
- Rainbow Brite & the Star Stealer
- The Care Bears Movie
- E.T.
- Annie
- The Chipmunk Adventure
- Pippi Longstocking
- Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler
- The Muppets Take Manhattan
- The Great Muppet Caper
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- The Brave Little Toaster
- The Neverending Story
- The Boy Who Could Fly
- The Goonies
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- The Last Starfighter
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
- Flight of the Navigator
- The Land Before Time
- Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird

Make your “movie at home” extra special and as “real” as possible! Here are some neat ideas on how to add some magic to the movie experience at home:

- Provide “real tickets” (printed from your computer) for the kids to turn in before watching the film. You could even make a refrigerator-box “box office” to “sell” the tickets.
- Make popcorn….air-popped is fine (and healthier), but dust it with powdered cheese or butter for extra flavor.
- Let kids buy candy from your “candy counter” with their own allowance money. You can purchase movie theater-sized boxed candy at most stores.
- Theme it! Provide props, decorations, or require costumes for certain themed movies.
- Instead of previews, show a few vintage cartoons (such as Betty Boop) before the main show starts, just like they did years ago (and still do in some theaters and drive-ins).
- Be creative and frugal with movie rentals. Instead of renting them from your local store, don’t forget to scour your local library’s videos and DVDs. (Netflix is also a source for hard-to-find films our family.)