Making Your Family Movie Nights Worthy of a Red Carpet!

Crystal Rutherford follows Go West Young Mom, and when I read on her personal blog a mention of their “Family Movie Nights” – along with amazingly fun photos – I just had to know more! So I asked Crystal if she could write a bit about how the idea for the movie nights came together and how she plans for them. With the Academy Awards on Sunday night, I thought it would be a perfect time for all of us to get inspired on how to make watching movies together at home a truly special occasion. Thanks so much to Crystal for this great reader contribution.

The table set for "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" movie night. Photo provided by the Rutherford family.We started movie nights about a year ago after my son had his adenoids removed.  Per doctor's orders, Hayden had to take it easy for 7 to 10 days. But as expected with any 3 year old, after a few days he was sick of taking it easy, as well as watching movies, so I had to try to make things more interesting for him.  When I was teaching, as a class reward we would have a “Movie Celebration.” I remembered how excited my students were when I gave them printed tickets as they entered my classroom, so I figured I would try it with Hayden.  

So I planned our first themed-family movie night!  I chose “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” which was really easy to plan a dinner for: Spaghetti & meatballs, giant broccoli spears, and puffy rolls. Of course we had to have gummy bears, and for dessert we enjoyed yummy “hamburger cupcakes.” Hayden was so excited when my husband gave him the printed movie ticket, as well as when he saw the fun food on the dining room table, that we have now made it a tradition.

The table set for "Monsters, Inc." movie night. Photo provided.We try to have a family movie night once or twice a month.  Sometimes I choose the movie that would relate to a holiday or season: “Monsters, Inc.” at Halloween time or the “Bee Movie” during summer.  Other times, my son or husband makes the selection.

Our movie nights typically consist of a fun family dinner that follows the theme of the movie. Some movies are certainly easier than others to plan for. Sometimes I refer to my collection of cookbooks to decide on a dinner, then try to come up with fun names to associate with the characters and setting of the movie.  After dinner, we usually play some type of game that would have to do with the movie, or even a craft.  Before the movie begins, we usually give my husband (the movie usher) our tickets as we enter the family room, then he shows us to our seats, aka sleeping bags and pillows spread out on the floor.  We usually eat our themed dessert on the floor as we watch the movie, which makes it more exciting for my son, since he never gets to eat dessert in his sleeping bag.

I usually tell my son a few days before our Movie Night, and he gets so excited and will spend the next few days asking me all about it.  Sometimes it is just the three of us, other times when Hayden's cousins spend the night they usually ask if we can have a movie night with them! 

Hayden and his dad in their "dog house fort." Photo provided.This past weekend, we had one of Hayden's cousins over and enjoyed watching “Bolt” for our Family Movie Night.  For dinner, we enjoyed hot dogs, dog bone-shaped french fries, lightning bolt-shaped cheese, peas (for the green-eyed man in the movie), marshmallows (standing in for the Styrofoam that Bolt uses to give him super powers) and some delicious people puppy chow!  After dinner, we colored some pictures of characters from “Bolt,” had a “Super Bark” contest, built a dog house fort and played "fetch" with a stuffed dog bone. 

We don't always have the chance to put so much time and effort into our movies. We certainly still enjoy a movie as a family with popcorn on the couch, which is just as nice. But I think making it extra-fun once in a while is something we all look forward to!

Note: Crystal shared more photos than I could use in this story, so I made a special Flickr album so you could see some of the menus she's created for other movies, as well as the games her family played for "Bolt." You can view the album by clicking here.