Living abroad in year-round tropical weather really has my kids missing snow and New York Christmases, so I want to make this Christmas a little extra special by getting a (fake) tree, doing an advent calendar, giving back to the local community, listening to holiday music, and watching lots of holiday movies. Now that my kids are getting older, I’ve started introducing them to some of my favorite Christmas movies like Elf and Home Alone, even if they are still a little young for them. I searched for the best holiday movies for kids and found some great ones for younger kids in addition to the classics that we all love and grew up with!
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman (3+) – Two of the most iconic Christmas characters in classic cartoons you probably grew up watching too.
The Snowman (3+) – Based on a bestselling book, The Snowman is a sweet tale of a snowman that comes to life. A simple story of friendship even the youngest viewers can appreciate.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (4+) – My kids watched this last year and loved it, and it’ll be on repeat this year too.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (3+) – One of the greatest Christmas soundtracks and a classic holiday staple.
Olive the Other Reindeer (3+) – Since we had a Charlie movie, we have to have an Olive one too! Based on the book of the same name, Drew Barrymore narrates this story about a dog named Olive that thinks she’s a reindeer. Drew actually named her daughter Olive because of this movie (my Olive is actually one year older than her’s and wasn’t named after the book).
Kung Fu Panda Holiday (4+) – My kids are huge Kung Fu Panda fans and I’ll definitely be downloading this one this holiday season!
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (3+) – Three different Christmas stories with positive messages featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Pluto.
Arthur Christmas (5+) – This movie from the same animators that made Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit is a beautifully animated cartoon about how Santa delivers so many toys in just one night. Reviewers call it a “heartfelt, modern family classic” and it received 4/5 stars on Commonsense Media and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is another must download this season!
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas – Ice Age cracks my kids up and even though reviewers complain that the movie is too short, I might give it a try anyway.
Prep and Landing (5+) – A high tech team of elves known as Prep and Landing must recover classified North Pole technology in order to save Christmas. I wish we could download this but it’s only available on dvd!
Tangerine Bear (3+) – A heartwarming story about acceptance when Tangie the teddy bear ends up in a bargain bin with other misfit toys on Christmas Eve, and does his best to be adopted into a family.
The Polar Express (5+) – We love this book and will have to watch the movie this holiday season.
Elf (8+) – Who doesn’t love this modern day classic? It’s such a feel-good movie that’s fun for the whole family.
The Muppets Christmas Carol (5+) – I loved the Muppets growing up and Muppet Babies was one of my favorite cartoons! Gonzo and Fozzie Bear were my favorites and I’d love my kids to know the wonderful Muppets as well.
Home Alone (8+) – My favorite Christmas movie with a great soundtrack too! It’s hard to believe this classic flick is 26 years old. Home Alone is always on tv around the holidays so I watch at least some of it pretty much every year. It is better suited to kids that are a little bit older (8+) because of some violence, but I let Charlie watch it last year when he was 6 because it’s my favorite movie.
Miracle on 34th Street (6+) – I’ve actually never watched this classic movie. This remake with Mara Wilson gets great reviews, and it’s available on Netflix!
The Santa Clause (8+)- Tim Allen becomes Santa when the previous Santa dies on his roof. A hilarious and heartwarming family classic that’s one of my favorite Christmas movies, but my kids at 5 and 7 might still be a little too young for it.
Santa Buddies – The Legend of Santa Paws – My kids loooooove dogs so they’re sure to love this movie!
Arthur’s Perfect Christmas – Everyone’s favorite aardvark Arthur from the books and the PBS cartoon wants to have a perfect Christmas but many things go wrong. The highlight of this movie is that it highlights Hanukah and Kwanza in addition to Christmas.
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What Christmas movies will you be watching, or look forward to watching with your kids?
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
I love Prep and Landing and The Santa Clause (one year I watched it at least once, sometimes twice a day for like 30 days. Not kidding). We will for sure watch Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas but otherwise may not get to watch much else with them. DD is a creature of habit so it will probably just be the same movie over and over
persimmon / 1198 posts
Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my and my husband’s favorite Christmas movies, even now. I watched it every year as a kid! I believe it’s also ranked as one of the top 10 movie versions of the story…it is really great! We showed it to our 2.5 year old last year. He liked the music, but I think a lot of the story went over his head. Looking forward to continuing the tradition this year!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
We tried Olive the other reindeer last year at 3yo, but she was quite scared of the mailman so we had to turn it off. She asked for days why he was so angry and mean. This year I have Thomas and Veggie Tales Christmas movies for her. Maybe we’all try Olive again…
nectarine / 2210 posts
I love the Muppets Christmas movie!
guest
This is great! My husband and I were just talking about which movies we want to introduce to our daughters this year. Now we have a great list to go from
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
Home Alone and Home Alone 2 are my most favorite Christmas movies of all time!