Hey everyone! Leah here, from Leah Fillmore Photography! I'm a mom of four, lifelong learner, and a Motherhood (Maternity, Newborn) photographer located in Spring Hill, TN!
As I'm writing this my 7 year old is laughing at a show on Hulu, my 5 year old AND 4 year old are snoozing on the couch (which NEVER happens), wiped out from spending the morning at the pool, and my 1 year old is down for her post-lunch nap! (The perfect storm to get this post written!)
We LOVE LOVE LOVE doing lots of fun activities outdoors during the summer time BUT we also LOVE watching movies together as a family! Friday night is our Pizza and Movie night where we eat pizza and watch a movie ON the living room floor (our kids favorite dinner)!
This always leads to the question of WHAT to watch?
What are some good, family friendly movies where your child will be entertained AND you, as the adult, will be entertained?
Here are 5 family friendly movies (in no particular order) that we've watched (and in some cases have continuously watch), and are currently watching in our home!
#1: Onward
I'm pretty positive I like this movie more than my children do! I love the D&D/Fantasy journey and I love the message the main character realizes at the end of the movie (without giving anything away)!
A young boy and his older brother travel on a quest to help see their father again. Its funny, entertaining, and made me cry! We watch this movie on Disney+!
#2 Matilda
If you haven't seen this '90's movie, I highly recommend it (I know I loved it as a kid)! Based on the book Matilda by Roald Dahl. Matilda is a girl who discovers she has extraordinary powers.
My daughter refers to this movie as "The Smart Girl" movie because the main character, Matilda, is really smart and LOVES to read. As much as I'd love to take credit for my daughter loving to read; I really can't. After she watched this movie a couple years ago, she got fascinated with reading, wanting to be just like the "smart girl" in the movie.
Now my daughter loves reading and continues to choose this movie over and over when its her turn to pick for movie night! You can find this movie on Amazon Prime (to purchase), or look into purchasing it on other platforms. We watch it on Vudu!
#3: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Whether you watch the '70's version Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or the newer (2005) version Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, you can't go wrong! Our kids mostly choose the 2005 movie and are especially mesmerized by the candy making process in the opening credits!
Based on another book written by Roald Dahl titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, its about a little boy named Charlie Bucket who comes from a family in poverty yet he gets the opportunity to tour a large, mysterious chocolate factory.
This movie really did help in us being able to point out (I should say, our children pointed out) qualities that the different children had. One girl being spoiled, or mean, or not listening (as my daughter says, "Why doesn't she listen to Willy Wonka??") compared to Charlie being humble, patient, and kind.
You can purchase this movie on Amazon Prime or another streaming service! We watch it on Vudu!
#4: Wonder Park
My oldest daughter got to watch this movie at school on her last day of school. When she came home she excitedly told me how it was an amazing movie and we needed to see it! Each day she'd ask if she could watch the movie! We finally watched it as a family one Friday night and I have to say I really enjoyed it!
I'm not going to lie, when I first saw advertisements for this movie I did NOT think it would be a movie I would like. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! My daughter was right, it was an amazing movie!
The main character, June, had created a world called "Wonderland" with a "Wonder Park" in her imagination with her mother. Little did she know this world ACTUALLY existed and it was up to her to save it.
We watch this movie on Hulu!
#5: Gnome Alone
This isn't a "well known" movie but its a movie I really like! In fact, I like it so much that I wish it had been a TV series with multiple seasons that would last awhile (its not).
A young girl is moved to a large old home and is not only learning to navigate high school but also learns that her home happens to be the location of a portal where creatures come through to try and destroy our world. Don't worry. She has the help of talking lawn gnomes who have been protecting our realm for generations.
Again, I feel like this movie and the little fantasy world it created could have been extended to a series (maybe one day)! We watch this show on Netflix!
