Christmas has now come and gone, but some memories stick with you all year long. This year, in our house, the lasting memories are Tiger “oohing” over the lights on the tree, Monkey helping to bake cookies for Santa (M&Ms, chocolate chips, and chocolate sprinkles, of course), and some new traditions.
My husband and I are suckers for some good Christmas TV viewing—“A Christmas Story,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and the 1966 version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” are requirements in our house during the season. Cinedigm was nice enough to send me some attempts at competition for Christmas movies your kids will like—in a household that does not actually watch a lot of TV or movies. My husband and I pre-screen shows and movies before Monkey watches, and Tiger still has a few months to go before he will be allowed to watch TV at all (he is not yet 2 years old).
Christmas movies your kids will like
First – “Enchanted Tales: The Night Before Christmas & The Christmas Elves” brought into our home some wonderful conversations. The first half of the DVD, “The Night Before Christmas,” is not the normal tale we hear around Christmas. A story of an orphan boy who gets into trouble when he tries to play a bit of Robin Hood for his fellow orphans, this animated show provided us with a great opportunity to talk about the importance of family and giving back to the community. We also found it a great chance to reassert the magic of Santa to Monkey, who had started to raise some doubts. The second half of the DVD, “The Christmas Elves,” is an animated show based on the Grimm Brothers tale, “The Elves and the Shoemaker.” While we did not enjoy this half as much as the first because of a rather mean character, we still liked the show. We will most likely return only to the first half next year, but it has been added to the list of required viewing for sure.
Next – “The Secret World of Santa Claus: Elves in Toyland” and “The Secret World of Santa Claus: A Present for Santa.” This is A LOT of TV for our house, but it is such a great concept. The DVD set is meant to be a countdown to Christmas, starting on December 1, with one episode for each day. Viewing in our house is limited to the weekends, so this will not likely be a staple in our home at Christmastime, but it is cute enough to make me rethink our viewing schedule! The story is about Santa and the elves do when it is not Christmastime, including searching for gifts for all of the good little girls and boys. It is seriously adorable. Who doesn’t love talking reindeer?
In short, I recommend looking into these Christmas movies your kids will like for your house n. If you watch TV every day in your house, the Christmas countdown is precious and pretty perfect to enhance the excitement of the days leading up to Christmas. If you have a more limited viewing schedule like we do, the “Enchanted Tales” are great for stirring up discussion and leaving you with a nice warm glow in your heart.