Family movie night

What It Means

Family movie night is a planned, repeating evening when everyone at home watches a film together. What sets it apart from having the TV on is that the adults watch too: the American Academy of Pediatrics calls this co-viewingCo-viewingWatching TV, videos or apps together with your child and talking about what you see, rather than handing over a screen to watch alone. See more and says children learn more from media they share with an adult. Families usually rotate who picks the movie and talk about it afterward.

How It Sounds at Home

• "Friday is movie night, so homework gets done first."
• "It's my turn to pick, and you said you'd watch anything I chose."
• "Phones in the basket, the movie's starting."

The Breakdown

How to set it up

1. Pick a regular night and start time, and put it on the family calendar. HealthyChildren.org's co-viewing tips suggest scheduling a movie night.
2. Set a rotation for who chooses. Common Sense Media suggests taking turns, and with teens, agreeing to watch their pick if they'll watch yours.
3. Before the night, an adult checks the movie suits the youngest person watching. Common Sense Media publishes parents' guides and reviews for this.
4. Put phones away so everyone is watching the same thing, as the AAP's tips suggest.
5. While watching, point out a new word or a confusing moment now and then.
6. When the credits roll, or the next day, talk about what you saw: what a character did and what your child would have done.

Short version to try tonight. Pick a movie from the youngest viewer's favorites, start it early enough to finish an hour before bedtime, and ask one question at the end: "What was your favorite part?"

Questions to ask afterward (Buhata's own examples)

Good to Know

HealthyChildren.org, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, suggests adding co-viewing to your family media planFamily media planA written set of family rules about screens and media, such as screen-free times and places, that each household makes to fit its own routines and values. See more, the AAP's tool for setting screen rules that fit your household. That plan also suggests no screens in the hour before bed, so a weeknight movie works best with an early start. Common Sense Media notes that talking about how characters handled a situation is an easy way to bring up your family's valuesPersonal valuesThe principles and qualities a person holds most important, such as honesty, family or creativity, which guide their choices and how they judge events. See more without a lecture.

Related Terms and Categories

• Co-viewing

  Watching TV, videos or apps together with your child and talking about what you see, rather than handing over a screen to watch alone.

• Family media plan

  A written set of family rules about screens and media, such as screen-free times and places, that each household makes to fit its own routines and values.

• Screen-free time

  Set times or places in a family's day, like meals, bedrooms or the hour before bed, when phones, TVs, tablets and games stay off.

• Rituals of connection

  Small, predictable routines a family or couple repeats to stay close, like a bedtime chat or a Sunday walk. The term is the Gottman Institute's.

• Quality time with kids

  Time a parent spends giving a child full, undistracted attention, like a few minutes of one-on-one play where the child leads.

Family organization and routines