At What Age Is It Okay to Take a Child To The Movies?

A couple questions to tackle here, At What Age Is It Okay to Take a Child To The Movies? and if you’ve already taken your kid to the theater, what was their first movie on the big screen?

Mark Atherton: As soon as they can sit still long enough, not ask when the film starts during the ads and not ask when the film finishes during the film. So about 14 when they’ve stopped talking to you altogether.

Scott Szorcsik: Depends on the kid, depends on the film. Some tips:

1. Make sure it’s G, not PG. The first time we watched Wreck-it-Ralph, my kids freaked directly-the-hell-out when they got to the Hero’s Duty war scene. If possible, check with other parents who have already seen the film to get an idea of what’s involved.

2. Check the running time before you go. Some of Pixar’s films, for example, clock in at two hours, which is a lot for these kids.

3. Don’t be afraid to walk out. If the kids aren’t having fun, don’t force it, and don’t make them feel bad. This was YOUR decision.

Brian King: Probably the worst parent here…. I show my kid lots of super hero films… we read the classic spider man comics. Her first movie was Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Spiderman Homecoming a few months later. She loved them both. ( fell asleep at the slow part of GOTG2 ).

It was a blast, go on a slow day though.

Corey Binette: If your kids can sit through a whole movie at home then you should be good to go. The only major adjustment will be the sound because theaters can be quite loud. A good way to test this is to bring them to a daytime weekday showing of a kids movie that’s been out a while. Chances are 1) it will be cheaper. 2) there won’t hardly be anyone there so if your kid is noisy or fidgety they won’t be disturbing others. I won’t comment on what your child should be allowed to see unlike others because, that’s none of my business.

Jay Stro: I know it’s not available to everyone but me and my wife took our 2.5 year old son to see Cars 3 at a drive in. We used the bed of my pickup as a pillow lounge and got food and drinks and made a fun night of it. There were tons of other little ones there so noise wasn’t an issue. It worked out nice because he had room to run and it was outside on a nice cool night. Not stuck in a chair for 2 hours.

David Watkins: 4! My wee man and I watched the last Cars movie without any issues at all. He also met and fell in love with sweet and salt popcorn but that’s another story.

Kyle Patrick: My son who is 4 is very hyper active, will not sit still at home for long periods of time- I was iffy on whether he would do okay in the movies, however, my wife took him to see Despicable Me 3 while I was working one night- he did incredible! We also went to see the Emoji movie as a family (dumb movie) my son liked it, and once again did great! He has too much to distract him at home I think!

John Stelly: I would say 4 or 5 depending on the child, but it is not really the age where people screw up it is the show and time. Knowing what is appropriate for a kid is what some parents do not know. For example you take your children to movies for children during the middle of the day. You do not take your children to a premiere of an adult movie at 8 pm on a Saturday.

Flickr photo by saipal.