Movies to watch with your kids this week

I like to think that if there is one thing this winter lockdown has done, it’s turn us into tv connoisseurs. We seem to do our home schooling and then watch a movie or a tv series, rinse and repeat. We are making our way through old TV series – so far they have watched Recess, Kim Possible and Lizzie MacGuire – but the half term saw us turning to movies every evening because we simply didn’t need to be ‘up and on the go’ we could just laze around (and I would like to point out that I have actually been much more productive this half term with that ‘get up late and sleep late’ mentality I’ve always fought against).

With that in mind I’ve been popping ‘movie reviews’ on my instagram, letting my lovely community know what we thought, what to look out for etc and I’ve had a HUGE response, so I thought I would pop something a bit more permanent here, so without further waffling from me, here are my top movies to watch with your kids this week.

Dragon Rider (Sky Cinema)

• Good for… How to Train your dragon fans.
• Watch out for… nothing really stood out to me, there is a brief and small mention of parental death in car crash, but it’s not a theme or especially significant part of the film.

We really enjoyed this, it was a simple easy watch for my three little HTTD fans. It was centred around a young man and a dragon who both needed to find themselves and went on a magical journey to do so. It’s something that they could contentedly have on in the background whilst they played with dragons or dinos.

Upside Down Magic (DisneyPlus)

• Good for… Harry Potter or Descendants fans.
• Watch out for… if your kids are scared by magic or found Descendants freaky then I think this would be one to miss.

I have never seen all THREE of my kids react to a movie the way they did to this one, even though they are all massive Harry Potter fans, they really seemed to love this as it was scare free and all about the disney-fied magic that is so popular in Descendants and the such. All of them raved about it, Edith especially loved it. The story follows a young girl who goes to a ‘magic school’ but has problems with her magic not being right.

We can Be Heroes (Netflix)

• Good for… Superhero lovers.
• Watch out for… parental abduction (pans out ok, of course) and a bit of power rangers style fighting, very much aimed at kids.

Edith surprised me by being the one that was alllllll over this, when I really thought it would be Reuben. It’s a ‘sequel not sequel’ to Shark Boy and Lava Girl – who are in it – if you’re looking for a dose of nostalgia! The story is mostly around kid superheroes rescuing their superhero parents from alien invasion.

Flora & Ulysses (DisneyPlus)

• Good for… Superhero or animal lovers.
• Watch out for… Strong, continual themes of parental separation/family breakdown.

This was another fab one from Disneyplus, Reuben decided that it was the tale of Squirrel Girl (Marvel fans where you at?) and ran with it, Toby thought it was a bit sad in parts as he’s very sensitive at times, and Edith loved it. Flora is struggling with her parents separation – as are her parents – and she befriends a squirrel with super powers!

Adventures of Rufus:: The Fantastic Pet (Sky Cinema)

• Good for… adventure seekers.
• Watch out for… Bit of peril, nothing too serious.

The kids were determined not to watch this, and despite my best efforts – because I knew they would love it – they were really convinced it would be rubbish. It wasn’t! It was fun, easy going and really adventurous. Rufus was adorable and sassy. They loved it!

Finding O’hana (Netflix)

• Good for… Geocachers & adventure seekers.
• Watch out for… slight theme of parental loss, but nothing overwhelming. Little bit of peril again, drowning/ inability to swim scenes (but again, not too graphic and no death).

This is one of my fave films in a while, I ADORED it, and I would gladly watch it on my own one evening without the kids around. It’s all around geocaching, which is you follow me on social media you will know we have gotten into that more recently! Lots of loving family moments, sibling capers and treasure. Think modern day goonies!