October is the month in which many people like to watch a bunch of scary movies. That’s fine for adults and older teens who happen to like horror movies. Unfortunately, those types of movies are not appropriate for little kids. They are just too scary!
Are your kids asking to watch Halloween movies that they are way too young for? Here are some alternative, kid-friendly, movies that they can watch instead.
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”
This one has been around for a very long time. You may have watched it when you were a child. Now, you can share it with your kids.
In this one, the Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween. They dress up in costume and go trick-or-treating. Linus, however, has a different idea about Halloween. He tries to convince his friends to sit with him in a pumpkin patch to wait for “The Great Pumpkin”. This Halloween movie is not scary at all, and is entertaining enough for adults to enjoy, too.
Little Bear Halloween Stories
Little Bear is a character that was created by Maurice Sendak. The Little Bear stories have been turned into cartoons (that appeared on Nick Jr). It includes four Halloween themed stories: “Goblin Night”, “Moonlight Serenade”, “How to Scare Ghosts”, and “Thunder Monster”. It also includes several Little Bear stories that are not specifically Halloween related.
Like the books, Little Bear Halloween Stories are appropriate for preschoolers and young children. As such, the stories are not too scary. Each story is accessible from the main menu, which makes it easy for parents to select the one their child wants to watch.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The story in this movie was created by Tim Burton. As you may expect, the characters, environment, and events that take place are a little bit creepy. In this movie Jack Skellington accidentally discovers Christmas. He lives in Halloween Town, so Christmas is a brand new concept to him. Despite his efforts to study it, he and the residents of Halloween Town are unable to really grasp what Christmas is all about.
This movie is rated PG because some of the scenes are a little bit scary. It will probably be fine for older elementary school children, and will be fine for tweens and teens. Use your best judgement with kids who are preschoolers. Some preschoolers might have no problems with it, others may find it too scary.
Image by Kevin Dooley on Flickr.
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