How to Have the Coziest Family Movie Night

After a long week, we love nothing more than piling in the living room on Friday night and melting into the couch with a fun family movie. It was one of the first things we did when our kids came to live with us (we watched the new Mary Poppins!) and it’s a memory I revisit from time to time. They were so little and squishy! Ugh. All the feels.

Over the years, we’ve done a few tried and true things over and over that always add up to a successful, cozy family movie night, and here are five ways to do just that:

1. Create a Cozy Setup: Pile up blankets, pillows, and dim the lights for a comfy, theater-like feel. Our kids aren’t big on sharing their blankets (go figure), so everyone gets their own to cuddle up with. We allow stuffed animals for extra snuggling and comfiness. We usually start out with at least one lamp on, and halfway through the kids want total darkness to enjoy the movie in. We also usually light a candle, but a small one so that it doesn’t distract from the TV. When we had a different living room setup, we would push our two couches together to make a huge bed-type setup which was so much fun to all pile on together.

2. Pick a Theme: Choose movies based on a fun theme like “Disney classics” or “adventure night.” Or both! We all loved Jungle Cruise on Disney+ and, though it’s PG-13, our kids adore Avatar 1 & 2 and we’ve lost count on how many times we’ve watched both.

3. Snack Bar: Set up a snack station with popcorn, candy, and DIY treats to add some fun and excitement. We don’t go all out, but we make sure to always pop popcorn. When the kids go to my mom’s, she lets them put M&M’s in their popcorn, too. During winter, we make hot chocolate with marshmallows and the kids go wild for it.

4. Interactive Fun: Pause for trivia or make predictions about the movie’s plot. Our kids love to talk during movies anyway, always asking what’s going to happen (just watch the movie and you’ll find out! lol) or “Is that person real?” so why not make it fun. I always know a little trivia about whatever movie we’re watching anyway (a character flaw of mine, or trait depending on how you look at it), so giving them a little BTS info makes it more exciting for them.

5. Involve the Kids: Let everyone have a turn picking the movie to keep things fun and inclusive. They tend to argue over who gets to pick the movie pretty much every time, but letting them choose one, even one we’ve seen a million times, is something small for us that goes such a long way for them and how they’ll perceive the night.

Doesn’t a family movie night in the fall sound like the perfect way to end the week? We just got a TV for the living room at Holiday House and I can’t wait to have our first movie night there!