A Fun Idea for Movie Nights

Such a special idea! A true reminder of how we can take something routine and simple and create a spin on it. Food, family, fun!

Love this so much!
Idea for Charlotte’s Web movie night—inspired by the rat’s song about the fair being a smorgasbord. I haven’t seen the movie since I was a kid, but I remember that scene and that song. You could eat a bunch or fun random things. He (the rat) seems to like cheese, pickles, condiments, cotton candy, etc. but you could make up your own.
Also sorry if this has been suggested already a million times above—I don’t have time to read through all the comments! :-)

How about food you would find at a fair!? Corn dogs and churros sound deelish!

My son’s class had a farm breakfast picnic after reading Charlotte’s web and dressed up in farmer clothes.

This is such a wonderful and sweet idea! I gotta hand it to all you moms for still having the energy to be thoughtful and creative after long days working. I’ve been trying to coordinate movie nights, but it always seems like I’m working late and just want to flub in bed. I designed the wording on my wedding invitation based on Wonka’s Golden Ticket (to see it: https://www.shessobright.com/2017/07/17/designing-my-wedding-invitations/). We changed all the language to sound like the original wording. Such fun!

P.S. I’m planning to watch the Amy Winehouse bio tomorrow, whether my hubs wants to or not!

Eva | http://www.shessobright.com

Last year I planned a dinner/movie combo for my kids. It was a Polynesian-ish pineapple pork recipe. I must have over sold it, though, because my kids thought the “surprise” was that we were going to Hawaii…Moana was a bit of a let down after that.

For Charlotte’s Web stretch out a fake cobweb in the corner of his room and dangle down the invitation from it. And for the menu just have food a pig would eat! Corn on the cob, baked beans, coleslaw. And for the movie set up picnic blanket on the floor and a galvanized bucket of popcorn!

What a good reminder that kids are so awed by things that really take little effort. I will always remember one night when my dad was out of town, after my brother and I had gone to bed, my mom came back into our rooms and said “who wants to be a dirty stay-up?” And we got to get back out of bed and we had popcorn and pink lemonade and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Now as an adult I imagine she must have been sitting alone in the quiet house and it was a treat for her too. But it seemed like such an exciting, grown-up thing to get to do! I love these reminders to remember some of that childlike wonder, even though I’m not a mom.

For Charlotte’s Web have a country style dinner pig out! Have corn on the cob or cornbread, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, the works! As for a way to “invite” the kids, I’d get those cheap spider rings and some silly string. Wrap the ring around the can and add a note that reads, “Let’s get silly (string) and pig out, y’all. Mosey on down to the couch tonight for a viewing of Charlotte’s Web!”

I would say ear fair food like pie! Maybe make the invitation have a spiderweb design.
This is so sweet! I love the idea of reading a book then having the associated movie night!

Friday family movie night is a solid tradition at our house. It got trickier as my girls got older (they’re 7and 12 now), with different movie interests. So now we rotate whose choice the movie is and my husband and I get turns, too. I’ve been picking movies I grew up with, which the girls complain about every. single. time. but then end up loving. Dinner before the movie is always a popcorn feast. We have a huge bowl of popcorn with cheeses and fruit. Everyone scoops out their own small bowl of popcorn and adds seasonings like rogan josh, za’atar, cinnamon-sugar, and smoked salt. We all look forward to it every week.

A sweet idea! I also loved the feast part of any book or film as a child. I wonder what that’s about.
The bacon comment reminds me of when I was in third grade, and our teacher was reading Charlotte’s Web to us. We had just finished the book when I had a sleepover at my best friend’s house. We were midway through our pork dinner when she jokingly whispered “It’s Wilbur.” I immediately threw up and couldn’t stop, and eventually had to be picked up by my parents. I’m a vegetarian now :)

You could do a themed day/dinner after reading a book, too! After reading “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss as a child, my brothers and I came downstairs on a Wednesday to find our parents made our house ‘wacky!’ They hung clothes off the ceiling fan and served breakfast for dinner (I was homeschooled, so I’m sure they did wacky things throughout the day, too). That was years ago and I still remember how excited I was and how I always hoped for another Wacky Wednesday. I mentioned it to my mom recently and I think she had forgotten about it. Again, it’s the simple things that stand out to kids and make an impression on them for a lifetime.

Even though our son is now 16, we still do taco night on the floor in front of a movie or tv show once in a while, in our pajamas. Agents of Shield, Game of Thrones, Sherlock…. Such a nice way to spend an evening, especially after a busy work week.

I love this idea! My husband is obsessed with Fantastic Mr Fox.

My only critique is that Bunce doesn’t do carrots… he does ducks and goose but he only eats donuts!

Erin,

In the book the characters go out to the state fair. You could host a dinner that’s all about fair food: hot dogs, fried Twinkies, sickeningly sweet lemonade. Yum!

We’ve read Charlotte’s Web 10 times now, and I think the description of Wilbur’s trough would be so fun: milk and mashed potatoes and cold noodles and lettuce…Even more fun if you put them all in a trough-like container. EVEN MORE FUN if you don’t use silverware. (Nervous laughter.)

I love that they are reading the books first before watching the movies. The special movie nights are like a way to bring the book to life all over again (but only after the child has first brought it to life with his imagination). Definitely screen time done right!

FYI there’s a book called Turkish Delight and Treasure Hunts by Jane Brocket that has recipes for different foods from classic children’s books.

This is such a fun idea! I love the thought of theming a movie to the food, even for friends instead of kids! Each year, my girlfriends and I have a Galentine’s Day party and our first year, we watched the finale of Gilmore Girls. I made Dessert Sushi (from one of the early episodes) which was a fun twist.

Also, have never read Charlotte’s Web but it’s come up in conversation multiple times recently so perhaps I need to.