Let Your Kids Watch Movies!

Have you ever looked at your kids and wondered what they are doing with their time? It’s no secret that children have a lot of free time on their hands these days. If left to their own devices, many children would find themselves watching movies for hours. Even though this may seem like a bad thing at first, it’s actually an excellent way for them to have fun and learn. In this blog post, we will discuss the many benefits children enjoy while watching movies.

The Advantages

History and cultures

Watching movies is a great way for children to learn about history and culture around the world. It lets them see how people live in different cultures with varied customs and beliefs. This is an important lesson that they can’t get from just reading or seeing pictures of what life looks like outside their community.

Emotions

The movies can also provide children with a more nuanced understanding of emotions. The stories in the movie are not just about good and bad or happy and sad; Other shades of emotion that they may not be as familiar with, such as fear, anger, guilt, or shame. These emotions have important roles to play in life, so it’s important kids learn how everyone around them feels these things at various times.

New perspectives

Movies help children gain new perspectives on themselves by viewing others as heroes in film and TV shows, which permits them to try things that may seem scary at first. For example, films show children models of powerful women who go against societal norms when necessary (like Queen Elsa), so they know there’s nothing wrong if they want to be different too.

Confidence

Movies also show children different ways to communicate and express themselves, so they become more confident in social situations. Watching movies are not just entertaining, but also they teach real-life skills and values children can use in their daily life.

Success at school

Watching movies can also be related to better success at school. Children need to learn how a movie is structured from the beginning, middle, and end because it will help them with comprehension in school even if they don’t study film or literature courses later on. It also improves vocabulary and language skills.

Family time

Film watching is also a great activity for families, and it can be a way to bond and spend time together. It’s fun to discuss later on what you liked and disliked about a movie, which movies are your favorite or least favorites.

Choosing The Appropriate Movie

A great way to choose a fitting movie is to watch it first before showing it to your child. This way you can decide if it is appropriate for them and see how they react to it.

Consider what kind of mood that film will put children in, both positively and negatively. The last thing you want is a kid who has nightmares or is too scared to sleep the night after watching a scary movie!

Think about whether or not there’s violence involved; some movies have scenes where people are hurt, which might be inappropriate for kids younger than 13 years old. These violent acts don’t even need to be bloody. Just seeing someone getting hurt or shot can make young children uncomfortable, so do yourself a favor and preview the movie before showing it to kids.

Children younger than 18 months old should not watch movies because their brains aren’t developed enough to process what is happening on screen. This means that they may just be frightened by something that doesn’t bother other children of a similar age. For example, there might be an alien or monster in the film that scares them, but it does not affect older children watching it next to them.

Movie ratings

Movie ratings are the perfect guide to help parents choose appropriate films for their children. Parents must go through them and make sure it suits their child’s needs and age before allowing them to view a film.

The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rates movies based on many factors such as violence, language, sensuality, or drug use through an age-appropriate one to the four-star rating system.

This is a great way for parents to make informed decisions about what movies they want their children to watch and it allows them to avoid anything that may cause kids fear or discomfort later in life.

It’s also important for children, especially young ones, to understand the concept of ratings so they know what to expect and can make informed decisions on their own. Later in life, you may need to explain the rating system for more mature movies. Understanding it will help them be comfortable watching anything at any time of their choosing.

Important:

G – General Audiences. All ages admitted.

PG – Parental Guidance Suggested Some material may not be suitable for children.

14A – Person under 14 years old must be accompanied by an adult.

R – Restricted to Adults 18 Years and Older.

NC-17 – No one under 17 allowed to the theatre.

Potential disadvantages of movies

• Kids can’t always understand the difference between reality and fantasy, which can lead to problems down the road.
• There’s a chance that kids will get addicted to watching movies if they are allowed too often or too young, which is unhealthy for their social development.
• There is a danger that children will stop reading, which has been proven to have long-term benefits on young people.
• Children who watch movies are more likely to have a shorter attention span.
• Despite the effort put into preventing kids from watching violent movies, sometimes children will find ways to access them.

Parents can prevent these dangers by setting time limits on how much TV children are allowed to watch and by limiting the movies they can see. They can also discuss the content of the movies with their children, which helps kids understand which content is appropriate for them.

Best Movies for Younger Kids

Toy Story 4: Another Disney classic that has no violence or bad language at all. Some parts might be too scary for very young kids though, so stay warned! Toy Story 4 | Official Trailer

The Lion King 1994: This is a Disney movie with talking animals and children. It’s rated G because it doesn’t have any violence, but there are some scary moments in the film. The Lion King (1994) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

Wall E: Pixar does not disappoint with this animated story about robots who clean up Earth after humans leave to live on another planet. Rated PG just like every other Pixar movie out there. Unlike The Lion King and Toy Story, Wall-E may frighten younger children due to its dark content as well as scenes where characters die (though they do come back alive). WALL-E (2008) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

Zootopia: Disney’s film tells the story of a bunny trying to become a police officer in an animal city where everyone can get along no matter what they are. The movie is rated PG for some scenes with violence (though nothing too intense) and suggestive humor. Zootopia Official US Trailer #2

A Bug’s Life: A children’s classic about ants who travel through time and use their knowledge from other insects to defeat insect-eating plants! Rated G but may be scary because of its dark themes like death.  A Bug’s Life (1998) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

The Secret Life of Pets: This movie tells the story about pets, who are trying to work out what it would mean if one day humans never came back! But don’t worry, this doesn’t end up being sad because the ending has made many people cry due to its sweetness and humor. The Secret Life Of Pets | Official Teaser Trailer (HD) | Illumination

Minions: A spin-off of the Despicable Me movies. It tells the story of three minions as they take on a quest to find an extra evil boss for themselves. It is rated PG with some action violence that might be scary for children under seven years old. Minions Official Trailer #2 (2015) – Despicable Me Prequel HD

Inside Out: In this heartwarming family picture, we explore all the emotions living inside a young girl’s head and how they work together to help her through life. Rated PG. Inside Out Official Trailer #2 (2015) – Disney Pixar Movie HD

For Our Tweens

Spiderman Homecoming: Peter Parker tries to balance his life as a high school student with his responsibilities as Spider-Man when he must stop the villainous Vulture from robbing banks before they become unstoppable. Rated PG13 for action violence and language. Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer #1 (2017) | Movieclips Trailers

The BFG: This is a live-action movie based on Roald Dahl’s children’s book, The Big Friendly Giant. It tells about an orphan girl who meets a friendly giant at night when nobody can see them! Disney’s The BFG – Official Trailer

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Harry Potter and his friends have one last adventure in this long-anticipated film. Rated PG 13 for intense sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer Official HD

The Princess Diaries: This Disney’s live-action version of the animated classic tells about a girl who learns to let her true self shine. Stars Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, and Heather Matarazzo.The Princess Diaries (2001) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

The Fault in Our Stars: Two teens who meet in a cancer support group fall for each other, but their love is not an easy thing. Rated PG-13 to be safe and avoid any confusion among parents of preteens about whether or not the movie contains “intense emotional content” (which it does). The Fault In Our Stars | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Guardians of The Galaxy: A group of intergalactic criminals is forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking over the universe. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, action, language, suggestive comments, and some crude humor. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Trailer 1 (OFFICIAL)

Hunger Games: Set in the future, North America has been overtaken by two totalitarian governments who wage war against each other every year. The winning side gets to punish the losing citizens as they see fit. A 16-year old girl is chosen to represent her district in this year’s competition; she’s determined not only to win but also to put an end to it all! Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, thematic elements, and brief sensuality. The Hunger Games (2012 Movie) – Official Theatrical Trailer – Jennifer Lawrence & Liam Hemsworth

So…

The next time you want to show your kids some movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, don’t be afraid. There are plenty of movies suitable for children, and there is no need to worry about disadvantages if you take your time choosing an appropriate film. Creativity, confidence, language, and vocabulary skills – you can develop them just doing this fun and entertaining activity. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start looking into some great films for your children today!

We hope that you found this blog post useful! If you want to know more fun activities with your beloved family, you can check out other blog posts in games and activities category.