Age Appropriate Halloween Movies For A Family Night In

Halloween this year is going to look very different for most people. Many cities have ordered that the traditional way of celebrating Halloween, with door-to-door trick-or-treating, be canceled in lieu of other forms of having fun. With social distancing still a priority, having a party is also not feasible, so what is a family to do. Fortunately Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so October 31st can be a stay-up-late kind of night for whatever shenanigans you and your kiddos might get up to. 🙂

My son has been thinking about this Covid Halloween we have coming up for awhile now and he has been planning what to do that day.  In the past we have invited family over to join us, but with everyone keeping to their own personal “bubbles,” that is not possible. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a great night! William has planned an afternoon/evening that will include carving our pumpkins and putting them out for display, adding in some fun decorations like spiderwebs and eerie lighting, dressing up in costume, ordering in pizza and watching scary movies with the lights out. We also plan to have candy on hand just in case some trick-or-treaters do happen along.

In order to prepare for our special Halloween at home, the whole family has been making suggestions on what we can watch that night.  We all have a favourite and there might even be a few surprises in there. We decided to share it with you, dear reader, in case you need some inspiration for your own Covid Halloween. Check out our lists below and then let us know in the comments what movies you plan to watch. 

Halloween Movies For Kids By Age

Preschoolers

• Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest  3+
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Treat 3+
• Room on the Broom  3+
• Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie  3+ (5+)
• Super Monster’s Save Halloween  4+
• Double, Double, Toil and Trouble  5+
• Toy Story of Terror  6+
• It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown  6+

School-Age

• E.T. the Extra Terrestrial  7+
• Hotel Transylvania  7+
• The Nightmare Before Christmas  7+ (10+)
• Under Wraps  7+
• Halloweentown  7+
• Spooky Buddies  8+
• Twitches  8+
• Casper  8+
• The Dog Who Saved Halloween  8+
• Labyrinth  8+
• Coraline  9+ (12+)
• Ghostbusters (the original)  10+
• Hocus Pocus  10+
• The Haunted Mansion  10+
• Monster House  10+ (12+)
• Corpse Bride  10+
• The House With a Clock in Its Walls  11+

Tweens

• ParaNorman  12+ (14+)
• Beetlejuice  12+ (14+)
• Gremlins  12+ (14+)
• The Addams Family (not the animated one)  12+
• The Monster Squad  13+
• Edward Scissorhands  13+
• Young Frankenstein  13+ (15+)

I have broken down the Halloween movies by the ages it is suggested a child should be before they watch the movie; however, I don’t agree with every recommendation.  I have seen many of these movies and from my own experience I would say that children will tell you they are okay with a certain storyline, but the characters, special effects and setting might scare them.  You have to be the judge of what your own child watches, but I felt the need to put my own rating on some of these movies.  So the rating in red is my suggestion. 🙂 Just to give you an example, the animated movie Coraline has a rating of nine and older. Quite frankly, even my rating of 12+ is a bit lenient. I find this movie creepy and nightmare inducing. 

Whatever you and your family do this Halloween, it is an opportunity to make new traditions and share some old favourites with your kiddos. You could start out by making a fun snack for your movie night, like these Spooky Witch Finger Cookies! I plan to watch E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Hocus Pocus with my children, if they let me. 🙂 

What will you be doing for Halloween this year? Has Covid changed things in your area?

FT&PD

Suz

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