I'm trying to decide what the best age is to take children to a movie theater. Is three-and-a-half too young? My daughters can sit through a feature length movie on DVD... when it keeps their interest. I just don't know which movies will keep their interest. Some days they can't get enough of Tinkerbell, yet the next time I ask them if they want to watch it, they answer with a resounding "NOOOOOO!" I would hate to take them to a movie and waste money because we have to leave halfway through.
I'm not necessarily worried about them talking or even being antsy. I think if you go to a children's movie you have to expect there will be children there and they will be loud from time to time. However, if a child wants to run around the entire time or simply won't stop talking, then perhaps he or she is still not ready for the movie theater experience. I'm interested in feedback from other parents. At what age did you successfully take your child to a movie theater?
Several theater chains are offering free or discounted movies this summer, so I may use those opportunities for our "trial run." If you live near a Kerasotes theater, you might want to take advantage of the 2009 Free Summer Movie Series. From June 24-August 6, select Kerasotes theaters will show a children's movie at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Admission is free and is on a first come, first seated basis. AMC theaters have a simliar program. The Summer MovieCamp runs June 17-August 5. Admission is $1, with proceeds going to two different charities. Fandango has a section on its website for its free summer movies, but there's no information, so I don't know if that company is actually offering free movies this summer. So if you go to one of these movies and see a harried mother of quadruplets trying to keep her children in their seats... yeah, it's probably me!!!!
7 comments:
We haven't taken the kids yet. I think Nate would do fine but Alex is too wiggly to sit still that long. I did work in a movie theater when I was in high school and I worked those free movies. The noise of the children was DEAFENING, so at least you will be in good company!
Depends on the kid and you may be at a disadvantage if you're children aren't all at the same stage. I could go with my brother and my eldest when they were both younger than two. They sat quietly and were intent on the movie. My daughter, in fact, I took to the opera at five. I don't know that that's typical, but it is WAY more expensive than a movie.
My son is five and can't be taken to the movies, even on stuff he loves. He's "sat through" 2-3 Pixar movies in the theater - and when I say, "sat through" I mean he didn't make it so one or both of us had to leave the theater permanently. On 2-3 other occasions, one or both of us did have to go permanently. So far, Roxy is far more patient, but we haven't tried her at the theater but once and Alex forced us to leave early on.
Good luck. I think trying a low-cost option is a great way to test the waters.
The free or reduced admission is sounding better and better... especially with four. Although I don't know if I'll be able to do it by myself right off the bat because as I'm typing this I'm envisioning the disturbance we'll cause when one has to go to the bathroom.
I agree that it depends on the kid. We've taken both kids as infants, but not as toddlers. There's a local theater group near us that has a "bring the baby" night (they invite babies to their dress rehearsal), and we bring our kids to those productions. Emma has so far sat perfectly through both performances. Johnny was perfect the first time round, but the last performance there was a fight scene a few minutes in that freaked him out and after that he started to scream every time the two characters involved in that fight walked onstage. Needless to say, he and I missed a pretty significant portion of the performance, and I was SO grateful it was "bring the baby" night so people were understanding!
We're contemplating taking Emma to see the new Pixar movie, so if you do take your daughters to a movie I'd love to hear how it goes...
I've heard of the bring the baby nights but never found a place near us. I'm not sure even the "bring the baby" movie goers would have appreciated quadruplet infants LOL!!! I know my girls would love to see "Up" so I have to figure out when we can at least do a trial run with the free movies.
If you attempt it, I'd love to hear how it goes. I've been wondering myself what age is a good time to introduce cinema fun.
Hubby and I may be trying it in about two weeks so I'll keep everyone posted.
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