My husband and I have to supervise about 15-20 kiddos when it is our turn for Parents Night Out at our preschool/church. Part of that is at the end, all the kids watch a movie and I need to provide one. I need help balancing the desires of all the kids - ages 2-6. My daughter is sensitive to suspenseful themes/antagonists, so movies haven't really appealed to her. She loves Dora, Diego, Kai-Lan, Caillou, and Bob the Builder, though. Any suggestions on what movie to bring? Mainstream stuff like Toy Story, Little Mermaid, etc have too much scary stuff for her, but I don't want the older kids to be bored. I thought about Winnie the Pooh, but didn't know if that would bore the older kids. Help!
Note: for those judging that the age group is too young for a movie, please know we have activities aside from the movie, but I have to be prepared to have a movie for all.
cars and wall-e are good...they aren't scary and she'll like it,
my daughter finds veggie-tales, and any other disney movie TOO SCARY
even one of the wiggles movies is too scary for her (the one with the magician)
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue - good story, scariest it gets is a grouchy cat chase, and there are boy fairies, too. I've had many of my kids (ages 3-7) over and everyone loves that movie!
wall-e is great because there's no bad guys :) also happy feet is good. there are just a couple sort of tense parts. my son was super sensitive and would leave the room when the sharks came out in finding nemo. but wall-e and happy feet have always been two of his favorites.
Cars or Surfs Up. My son loved the music in Surfs Up too! There's a cool female character too that your daughter might like. Neither really has a "bad guy" and neither has suspenseful drama. My son cannot handle movies - he gets too scared! Pretty much every movie out there has a suspenseful plot or an evil bad guy or the mom dies or something like that! Besides TV shows (Sid the Science Kid, Upside Down Show, Pingu), the other thing he likes to watch are documentaries - there are a lot of great ones out there. He loved this one on the Blue Angels and he enjoys nature documentaries.
PS: Finding Nemo, Shark Tales, Shrek, Winnie the Poo, Piglets Big Adventure, Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, The Fox and the Hound ALL are too scary or have sad/suspenseful parts. Our son will not watch any of these. If your daughter is like he is, then those are probably not the right kind of movie.
Despicable Me has become a HUGE favorite in our house! We have watched it about 20 times since we bought it just 2 or 3 weeks ago. It is about villians but it is light hearted and very silly. Their is a shark that lives under a glass floor and he bangs into the floor but it makes a popcorn bucket fall on one characters head and the other looses his pants so its silly. Tho it does pop up and eat him from the sewer but that is literally 1 second and its over. ...and he is fine :P The banker is also a little intimidating. You could always search for clips and trailers on youtube, etc and have her watch them, see her reaction. Search "scary parts of despicable me" even to see if it really is "scary, not sure if anything will come up but it is worth a try!
veggie tales colorful musical kinda religious teachs a lil about the bible but fun and adventurous.My 1 yr old loves Jimmy Neutron she even laughs wen they laugh she loves it
I am old school..LOL! My kids love the older 1970's version of "Free to be you and me". I loved it as a kid, and now my very young (2-3 yr old) daycare children love it too..the music, the "funny babies, etc. We also have a Curious George movie "Follow that Monkey"....thats a fun one! We check out alot of Scolastic movies at the library, that will have several short shows on each...that are visual versions of books. Great for my young age group and short attention spans. Also another element to literature and books!
We also like CHitty CHitty bang bang. I never thought the little ones would watch it...and they only do so as back ground noise and tune into songs and silliness parts (flying cars and colorful scenes). But I played it when I had a few older kids here (5-7 yrs old), and other activities in the room for them all to choose. The bigger kids watched in facination (it was all new to them) and the littles had a few toys around them, played then tuned in when they were interested.
Have fun with your event!
finding nemo, shrek, sharktales..... finding nemo :)
What about the VeggieTales movies--Jonah and/or The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything? If it's for your preschool/church, you can't get more appropriate than those.
I second Devon C's suggestion. My 2 1/2 year old LOVES Sesame Street's Follow That Bird. There are "bad guys," but it is a very sweet and relaxed movie and older kids would enjoy it, too.
My boys also like Disney's Cinderella (animal appeal for the boys if they don't like the "girlie" stuff), The Aristocats is pretty relaxed, although she might be briefly scared at a few points if she is that sensitive. Can you bring something for more sensitive kids to do in the back of the room? Not all kids that age can sit through a movie that long anyway and they might enjoy an alternate activity or some puzzles. You did mention the movie is at the end--how long do you need something to be? For evening cartoons we've been watching Harold and the Purple Crayon or Disney's Winnie the Pooh because they are very relaxed, calming, and both of my boys enjoy them as well.
I think Winnie The Pooh is a GREAT idea!
Just me, but I work on the premise that what works for the youngest and most sensitive IS most important, and you have activities set up as a default. Considering the event (evening care) and the fact that kids are likely to be tired and want some 'comfort food' viewing, Winnie the Pooh will ensure all the kids go home free of nightmares. And for what it's worth, as a kid I loved Winnie the Pooh until I was 8 or so. Great choice.
added: just because I saw the other posts: I absolutely love the idea of "Free to Be- You and Me". Did watch Despicable Me last night with my husband though-- think you have to have a hearty group for that. As a parent, I would be upset if that was the feature. I personally wouldn't let my near-4 watch it, nor Nemo-- Great movies, really, but too much 'scary' for my Kiddo. Funny, I had deleted my suggestion of Sesame Street (b/c it's not a movie, per se) but it is more worthwhile and dependable to be 'safe' than others. Mr. Rogers is another avenue, too.
I have a sensitive child too. All children are different, but "Finding Nemo" was much too scary for our house at age 3 (Mom dies, Nemo gets kidnapped, sharks attempt to eat Dad, threat of being taken by scary-looking girl who reportedly kills fish...etc!!!)
The only full-length movies I recommend for this early age are "Lady and the Tramp," "The Aristocats," and "Cars." We've watched a number of the Veggie Tale stories and they are very nice too. "Cars" is the most mainstream and is good for girl or boy. But it is more likely to have been seen by the other kids. My choice would be "Lady and the Tramp."
I haven't seen it, but I hear "The Tigger Movie" is a very nice full-length. We tried watching "Fox and Hound," but the opening scenes in the dark, forboding forest were too much for us (even though we had read the story a million times.)
have you tried sesame street?? my daughter (and I) LOVE sesame street...every morning we watch it :)
Hmmmm...Fox & The Hound (even my older nephews like to sit and watch it -- ages 8-16 in addition to my young 2 + 3 year old); Winnie the Pooh; Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty are pretty much the TAMEST of the Disney Princess bunch; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs although they might get freaked by large falling food from the sky :) Otherwise, maybe they have a full length Dora or Diego Movie (I have seen them on TV like the Princess Dora one) because the other stuff is for the younger crowd (Caillou and Bob the Builder). My kids do not "dig" Sesame Street (and neither did I as a kid so I didn't watch TV period -- there was nothing else then....I read at 3) so some kids might deem it slow and boring. Good luck! Wide age-group to appease there!
Wow, that simply seems too young for movies.
Disney has a movie from the 80's called the "Three Caballeros" it is great. no antagonist. just some lovely disney stuff. donald duck is in it. my kids all loved it. I would rent that. as far as winnie the pooh my boys loved that too. get the great huffalump adventure. really cute.
My daughter is super sensitive too and can't stand suspense. Our best bets have been Cars, wall-e, the Caillou movie, and Little Einstein's our big huge Adventure. She also liked the Artisticats, but had to be reassured at one point that the cats would be ok. I have heard that the Beezus and Ramona movie is very cute without any scary parts, but I have not seen it myself. Cinderella is mostly ok, but the cat and the stepmother scare her a bit. The only Winnie the pooh movie we have seen is the Huffalump Movie and that was way too scary. The first Tinker Elle movie was fine, but the second one was way too scary, so she won't even watch the great fairy rescue, which looks sweet.
My kids have all loved My Neighbor Totoro around that age.
Any veggie tales movie (30-90 min depending on DVD), curious george movie, buy Caillou or Bob the Builder on DVD and it can ran about 2 hrs of episodes. Our younger kids have enjoyed old snoopy movies.
Wow Wow Wubbzy: Wubbzy's Big Movie
I know I'm a bit late on responding, but I did not see "Sword in the Stone." My oldest was VERY sensitive to movies when he was young and he LOVED "Sword in the Stone" - the Disney version. He would laugh through the first 20 minutes of it while the wolf follows Arthur & Merlin. Now my younger two - another boy who is super sensitive and a girl (the youngest)who could watch Poltergeist and be fine - they love it too. Aristocats was always okay too and Cars, but I haven't found anything to beat Sword in the Stone.
