It was always our special Friday night; pizza, popcorn and a movie was the agenda. We would happily follow my dad into the video rental store, the earlier the better, before the new releases were already claimed. The aisles between stacked VHS tapes became our playground, hide and seek always the favorite, until we were called to the counter. Our choices haphazardly stacked high until we dwindled it down to the one… okay, maybe two choices for the evening. Begging for candy at check out always happened, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. We’d be giddy over glasses of soda because that night meant we actually had glasses of soda. Sometimes there’d be a puzzle and more often than not, we’d fall asleep before the flick was even finished. I remember the excitement, the hyper whispers, and the clamoring to the comfiest spot on the couch before finally creating beds of pillows and blankets when the couch was full and claiming that was now the best spot.
And just last week I saw it all on replay. A virtual mirror in my kid’s own eyes of excitement, minus the VHS tapes and video rental store, of course.
It’s something I’ve wanted to do since we purchased our new home; start up our own movie night tradition, complete with popcorn and pizza, pajamas optional, but encouraged.
We pulled out the projector and the set up involved layering rugs, blankets and nearly every pillow we own. Comfort is definitely key here! Our inaugural movie night took on quite the jolly theme and along with a little drink and treat station to make family movie night a bit of a party.
All in all, it was a perfect night, and this movie night thing is destined to be replicated time and again.
We’ve got a few holiday classic movies that we’ll watch every Christmas season and make the perfect accompaniment to our holiday movie night! There are SO many to choose from for sure, and we watch more than this list… but every year, these are our top ten family Christmas movie classics.
Table of Contents
Our top ten Christmas movies for family movie night:
(1990)
(2003)
(1989)
(1964)
(1983)
(1969)
(1946)
(1947) and the remake (1994)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Jingle All the Way (1996)
I’d love to hear any family-friendly shows and movies you all have been enjoying and what is your favorite holiday movie?!
These festive Christmas tree snack ideas for kids would be the perfect pairing, too!
Amy Lee Creel says
Looks like it was a blast! What a fun tradition.
Michelle - Hold the Moo says
What a great tradition! I love this. Makes me think back when we would go for our movie rentals. Ahh the glory days.
Jessica Patterson says
Super cute photos! Looks like you all had a great time. We are big movie night fans, ourselves!! Great list of Christmas movies!!
Margaret says
Omg! This is so cute! And I L O V E that popcorn
Reeni says
This looks like such a cute idea!! We will have to do a movie night soon! Thanks for sharing 🙂
[email protected] says
Such a great idea!! P.S. I think I would need several bags of that popcorn… it never lasts long in my house!
Meg says
Big fan of Boom Chicka Pop, and I love doing snuggly movie nights with my family, too!
Tiffany says
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful idea!! And all of your pictures look like something out of a catalog…AMAZING!!
Apri@LoveOurRealLife says
Love that the pictures capture “real life”. Looks like a perfect night!
Francesca says
This is the cutest idea ever! It looked like everyone had so much fun!
Kate says
I love traditions like this… Especially when they involve Elf which is by far my favorite family holiday movie!
Sapana V says
Wow. such a sweet family. I love the pics.
Joanna Clute says
You listed a ton of movies that are our favorites too! They’re classics that will last for years to come.
Leighann says
I love your ideas for movie night! Also, the pajamas are soooo cute!
Tamara says
So many great holiday classics. I love a good Christmas movie for family movie night.
Sarah {Stay at Home Territory} says
My two absolute favourites are A Muppet Christmas Carol and Arthur Christmas.
Tabitha Blue says
I have to check out A Muppet Christmas Carol!
Rebecca Wenzel says
My kids LOVE movie nights! But I’ll admit, ours don’t look as beautiful as your pictures did! Merry Christmas!
Lyndsey says
this sounds like the most fun idea ever!
Hannah | Lovely Little Lives says
This looks so fun! What a great family tradition to start!
Lindsey says
Super cute photos! We love this brand of popcorn!