![]() ![]() Review site Common Sense Media offers its own age recommendations for specific movies, along with what parents and kids say are suitable viewing ages based on submitted reviews. Based on personal experience with my own kids, friends’ experiences with their children, and online parenting groups and forums, parents often bring their kids to the movies for the first time when they’re around 3 or 4 years old. Considering most movies are at least an hour and a half, strictly following these rules would dictate that your child cannot see a movie until after his/her 5th birthday.īut many people hit the movies much earlier. Each group has its own specific guidelines, but the gist is that you should bar screens until about age 2, and then limit it to one hour a day of approved programming until age 5. Note, though, that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization does have official age-based recommendations for children’s screen time. If you’re looking for a specific age recommendation, you’re out of luck there’s no one-age-fits-all rule for the first-time movie going. How can you tell when is the right time for you to bring your own kids to the movies? To answer that, consider these three questions: How mature is your child? And the youngest went earlier this year on a whim, a trip that was documented with one blurry photo of him running around the lobby with his sister and brother. He didn’t actually get to see his first movie in theaters until the following year - I vaguely recall and cannot find pictures to prove. But he did watch some of it before I rocked him to sleep on the side of the theater and let him nap in my arms while we all watched the rest of the film together. We went around his naptime and had no intention for him to actually see the movie at all. Just a few weeks later, my middle child got toted along with his big sister (and visiting grandparents) to see it again when he was just about 1 year old. Despite being years younger than that recommendation, she did just fine, loved the movie, and so far, she’s developmentally on track and just lovely, in my humble opinion. We saw “Inside Out,” which is rated PG, meaning Parental Guidance suggested “for mild thematic elements and some action,” and which Common Sense says is good for kids ages 6 and up. For us, the birth-order rumors hold true: We were very deliberate and careful about my firstborn’s first movie when she was 3½, an experience which I remember clearly and can easily find pictures of. ![]() So what’s a cinephile mom to do? Take every rainy-day opportunity to pack up the provisions (sweaters, snacks, diapers, wipes, snacks, changing pad, drinks, backup clothes, snacks, etc.), pile the kids into the minivan, head to the movies, and hope for the best, that’s what.Īll three of my kids have now been to the movies, and each of their firsts was a completely different experience, planned in very different ways. And what heartless monster doesn’t love the “Toy Story” franchise? “UglyDolls,” “Secret Life of Pets 2,” “Detective Pikachu,” and “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” all look good to my kids, too. My husband and his mother danced to a song from “The Lion King” at our wedding. “Aladdin” was the first movie I ever saw with a boy (and a dozen of our closest friends). This summer’s family-friendly releases are particularly tempting, with reboots of some of my own favorites from growing up tugging at my heartstrings at the very mention of the titles. Now that I have two more little kids in tow - for a total of three, ages 2½, 5, and 7½ - every trip out the front door can rapidly spiral into mayhem.Īnd yet, the siren song of the cinema still calls. But once I became a mom, I quickly learned that everything is more challenging with a baby on board, including the simple act of heading to the theater. I’ve always loved going to the movies, and since before my kids were born, I couldn’t wait to share that love with them. ![]()
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