Movies for kids

With the summer holidays upon us, (ours start this weekend and run for 7 weeks!) my mind has turned to entertainment. Especially, with my past experience of early pregnancy and the morning sickness/tiredness that came with it. If we get pregnant as planned, I want to be prepared to entertain a 3 year old in simple ways, and distract her from running Mummy ragged.
Luckily for me, DD loves movies. Not that I'd condone 24 hour tv, but mid afternoon, when it's too hot to play in the garden if this heatwave does hit next month, I'd love to sit her down with a movie, and have a coffee break of my own.

So heres a quick list of movies I've found that are suitable for DD's little mind. All of these movies I've seen myself, and there doesn't seem to be anything unsuitable for a small child. They're all engaging, fun and interesting, which is perfect for holding her interest for an hour or so. Now all I need to do is choose my reading material and put my feet up.


1. Finding Nemo - DD loves this movie, in which a young clown fish gets taken by fishermen, and his dad swims the ocean to find him and bring him home.

2. Charlottes web - I remember reading this classic book as a child myself, and always felt endeared to the tale of a spider, who goes to great webby lengths to save a young pig.

3. ET (The extra terrestrial) - Classic alien movie, that's aimed at kids and shows a true friendship between alien and boy.

4. Labyrinth - Some say that this movie is too scary, but DD is addicted to it, and knows the full script! This musical tale tells the story of a teenage girl, who doesn't want to grow up. Her baby brother gets taken by the goblin king (David Bowie, tight pants, added bonus) and she faces a race against time, and puzzles to rescue him.

5. Enchanted - A fairytale girl finds her prince, but on her wedding day the evil queen sends her to the real world, where she waits for her prince to save her and share a "true love kiss."

6. High School Musical (1, 2 and 3) - We have all 3 of these movies on DVD and a whole afternoon can pass in a blur of music, teenagers and the repeated message of friendship and sticking together.

7. Mary Poppins - I'm sure everyone has at least heard of the classic story of the perfect nanny.

8. Ella Enchanted - This take on the fairytale cinderella, tells of Ella, a girl who was given a special gift at birth, the gift of obedience... and she can't shake it off. Regardless what she's told to do, she HAS to do it. She meets and falls for a prince, and has many adventures on her journey to find the fairy godmother who gave her the gift, and ask for it to be taken away.

9. Any Disney movie - You know the ones... Little Mermaid, Lion King, Beauty and the beast.... any of the classics will go down a treat.

10. Bolt - A new movie based around a dog, bolt, who is the star of a movie/series in which he has super powers. He gets lost, and has to learn that he's just a normal dog. All the while trying to get back to his owner.

11. Any Pixar movie - Same as Disney movies... animated films will guarrantee hours of piece and quiet!


This isn't a complete list. Only you know what your child will watch, and what you deem suitable. But please, add to this list in the comments below... lets get a nice sharing session going. What movies do your lil ones love?