Does the rating have to be “G” to be a kid-friendly movie? In this episode I’ll discuss the way I decide if a movie will make it to our favorite movie list!

Have you ever been upset to view a movie that is recommended by a friend only to have to fast forward sections of the movie or even worse telling the boys to cover their eyes while we frantically search for the FF button? It is the most irritating thing and YES I’ve turned off the TV and popped the movie out of the player or stopped the digital feed if we are streaming the movie. So, today I will attempt to explain what we use to test a movie to see if it makes it to our kid safe list.

When the children were younger I have to say our expectations were not often tested. It was a simpler time, but even in this simple time, know an agenda or two that did not align with our theology or family focus were often pushed.

The very nature of movies or a good story is the need for a protagonist — someone bad. If everyone is good there is not a story. Even in the story of the Nativity there was a bad guy, King Herod. Let’s face it our kids are going to be exposed to bad – so the key is getting your talking points ready and having a good discussion and use this as a learning tool.

On another note – I’m sorry but some of the recommended or good movies with a good moral or Christian theme are just horrible. They either have bad actors or the special effects are lacking or … well you know what I mean. Truly we are spoiled! I remember years ago subscribing to this movie club and they sent us movies every month, and only a few were ones my kids could get all the way through and even less of those are ones they’d watch again. We ended up donating them to the church and even there they gathered dust.

We do need to support good movies but friends, we need to pray for those who create these movies in the hopes that they get better. At least – and I’m sorry to be so critical –get people who can act! I’ve seen some college plays where the actors are better than some of those on the screen.

Yes, we need to support sites that have good Christian content but we also need to expect more from those who create the films. Even movies I liked, like “God’s Not Dead” – I haven’t seen “God’s Not Dead II” while it had a good acting, really the pastor’s role needed to be entirely rewritten. How could he not see after the second attempt to leave town that God had a greater plan for him? We the viewers knew it even the first time… they made the pastor sort of sappy and films seem to do this…while it is a bad priest or a bad pastor it makes the moviegoer think, okay well I’m not watching this one again. Also, the scene where the girl is slapped – yes, it happens but we don’t want to see this in order to be entertained.

Movies are an escape. We want to be entertained, we want to be engaged and we want to walk away with a good feeling – or at least I do. A night of crying out my eyes does not appeal to me! So, when I look at movies those are the points I’m looking for…

So, I have my list of what I am looking for in a movie as well as what my kids are old enough to view. It really depends on your children often we get lazy and allow the youngest to sit and watch movies with the older children – and yes, sometimes it just can’t be avoided which is why kids have nightmares!

How do you select kid-friendly movies for your family?

What are your kids ready for?

What you can do to prepare:

On the podcast show notes, I’ve included a list of movies we’ve enjoyed through the years as a family – I tried very hard to add movies that are not controversial – although you never know! Some of the recommended movies we own, others we’ve rented and some we’ve watched so many times we had to replace them.

Are they all perfect? No – are there parts I would change – of course. However, if you like to watch movies this list will take you into the teen years without a problem. I didn’t mention movies such as Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, ET or even the Lord of the Rings (which I loved but my kids hated – too scary!) I think it all boils down to preference and taste.

So the following list is on the show notes and they are in alphabetical order, not all movies are appropriate for little kids – for example, I would not show anyone younger than sixth grade God is Not Dead – but then I wouldn’t show anyone younger than 6th grade Star Wars either. So, again personal preference!

Top 50 Kid-Friendly Movies In Alphabetical Order:

Notable Movies:

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