Please help with Christmas Family Movie Theme Night ideas!!!

[leagirl12]

Beginning on the Sunday after Thanksgiving my family plans to watch a Christmas movie/cartoon each night until Christmas. There of course will be nights where we have other things outside of the home and won't be able to do this but if we are home then this is what we will be doing.

With that I would like to do something special to go along with each film. Just a small something to make it even more fun. The extra would be something like a small little token/candy that goes along with the movie or a themed dinner that goes along with it. I am coming to all of you creative minds asking that you help me come up with ideas.

These are the movies/cartoons on our list:

Christmas Carol
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
Elf --- my idea her is an elf hat
Deck the Halls
Polar Express --- my idea here is a bell necklace
Frosty
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Miracle on 34th Street
Santa Claus - 1, 2, and 3
Grinch cartoon
Grinch movie --- my idea here is green eggs and ham for dinner
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Story
The Year without a Santa Claus
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Christmas with the Kranks
Rudolph

Please share any and all ideas that you may have to help add Christmas magic to this idea.

Thanks!!!!!!!

 

[smkiya]

Have Charlie Brown Christmas be the first. Have some of the things they use on Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, sandwiches, jelly beans, popcorn. Make popcorn tinsel, and decorate a small Charlie Brown like tree or use it as the time you decorate your real tree.

 

[clarabelle]

Maybe snow cream ice cream for the frosty one?
Or make snow man ornaments?

 

[monkeybug]

When you watch Elf you could have breakfast for dinner. Pancakes or waffles with LOTS of maple syrup!!

 

[monkeybug]

For the polar express you could set up a hot chocolate bar. Hot chocolate, mini marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, peppermint sticks for stirring, and chocolate chip cookies for dipping. Extra points if you have something you can wheel it in on during the hot chocolate song!

 

[lovemygoofy]

Christmas Carol--write down on small pieces of paper favorite memories of past holidays and make a paper chain for your tree or some other place for decoration

Frosty-- vanilla ice cream sundaes

Polar Express--special hot cocoa with marshmallows or smores


Micke's Christmas Carol or the other Mickey movies--make something from WDW. You can find recipes for some of buffets or favorites

The Year without Santa Clause--do something nice for others, a nice stocking for someone in a nursing home or donate toys for a shelter

Santa Clause Coming to Town--go see Christmas lights or a local Christmas parade

 

[clarabelle]

Maybe for one of these -I am trying to decide which one has a giving theme -you could give something away (cans to a food pantry or something) and discuss it that night.

You could have "roast beast" for the grinch

 

[monkeybug]

Red satin jammies for the Santa Clause??? Probably a little expensive.....
How about ugly "neil" sweaters to wear? You could probably find LOTS of those at good will and then donate them back after.
Or give everyone a tiny snowglobe!

 

[minniebeth]

leagirl12, what a fantastic idea! All the ideas so far are creative and fun!
You already have some great ideas for Polar Express, but another one is to make little trains out of candy...lifesavers are the base:
http://www.spritzels.com/xmas/candy-train.html

For Christmas With the Kranks, you would HAVE to make honey ham for dinner!

 

[TinklednPants]

How old are your kids? I'm guessing under 10?

 

[terri01p]

Snowglobe
Snow
The Christmas star

These are great family movies a lot of fun to watch!!!!

 

[pjlla]

Are your kids too young to appreciate "It's a Wonderful Life?" That is my adult favorite Christmas movie.

How about "Arthur's Christmas"? We really like that one a lot! Not sure where you might find it.... we own it on VHS and still watch it every year, even though my kids outgrew Arthur several years ago. Since Arthur's Dad owns a catering company, he made them a "traditional" Christmas dinner (like from the Bible)... so you could pick one of the items he serves to have that night. Or... there is a repeating idea about an olive-depitter in the movie... you could serve an olive/pickle tray! Or give everyone a little stuffed duck and name them "Quackers".... you need to see the movie to get it! .....................P

 

[ginna74]

we my cousin a "lump of coal" one christmas. It was in a hat with a little axe and you chisled it away. It was something like licorice flavor. If you could find it or make your own "lump of coal" for the grinch movie.

 

[nutterbutter2010]

Thats a great idea! One question - where are you getting all the movies from? I would LOVE to do that, but theres no way I'm buying all of them, and I don't have netflix or anything like that. I guess I could try TiVoing them now, and save them all!

 

[monkeybug]

Thats a great idea! One question - where are you getting all the movies from? I would LOVE to do that, but theres no way I'm buying all of them, and I don't have netflix or anything like that. I guess I could try TiVoing them now, and save them all!

Do you have on demand? Ours has a whole holiday section with everything from a fireplace screen saver with holiday music to a ton of Classic Christmas movies. Some are free and most are 2.99 a piece.

 

[Catira]

I can definitely help you out with the Polar Express movie. We planned this event at my library when the movie came out. My ideas here were for the children's dept.. hope they help.

1. Are you able to do a small train mural or even a poster? This will be your train station. Also, they have a polar express music cd.. kids loved it. Everyone was invited to come in their pjs to the event.
2. We made Polar Express train tickets for each student/child
3. One of the staff members wore her suit and a conductor's hat.
4. She then announced with a bell that we were ready to board the Polar Express train. Used a train hole puch for ticket.
5. We sat students in rows like you would on a train. Out of cardboard, we had painted the wheels on train that ran along the chairs on either side.
6. After we watched the movie, we served hot cocoa and cookies.
7. Students also made reindeer food. You can google this as there are different recipes.
8. We had two crafts.. bell with a ribbon for the younger children and a reindeer with the clothes pin, small pompoms, and googly eyes.

Hope this helps

 

[Diznotyzed]

In "A Christmas Story" they have chinese food for Christmas dinner after the neighboring Bumpus dogs raid their turkey.

Kris Kringle tries bubble gum for the first time in "Miracle on 34th Street".

Scott Calvin tries to order eggnog at Denny's in "The Santa Clause".

Kevin orders pizza delivered in "Home Alone".

 

[leagirl12]

Thats a great idea! One question - where are you getting all the movies from? I would LOVE to do that, but theres no way I'm buying all of them, and I don't have netflix or anything like that. I guess I could try TiVoing them now, and save them all!

We have all of them with the exception of Charlie Brown, Year without a Santa Claus, and Christmas with the Kranks. The first two I will Tivo/DVR the Christmas with the Kranks I am going to get from Netflix.

 

[leagirl12]

How old are your kids? I'm guessing under 10?

They are 10 and 12....I wondered how the 12 year old would be about it but he actually likes the idea.

 

[leagirl12]

In "A Christmas Story" they have chinese food for Christmas dinner after the neighboring Bumpus dogs raid their turkey.

Kris Kringle tries bubble gum for the first time in "Miracle on 34th Street".

Scott Calvin tries to order eggnog at Denny's in "The Santa Clause".

Kevin orders pizza delivered in "Home Alone".

I thought about the bubble gum for "Miracle" but both of my kids have braces. I love the other ideas though and have added them to my list!!