How to Plan the Perfect Movie Night

As the summer holidays draw to a close, you might find yourself thin on the ground in the ideas department as you’ve had a whole summer of entertaining your children before they finally start a new term back at school.

Organising activities at home is ideal if you need to keep to a budget or have already spent money on bigger events or excursions during the holidays. A movie night is not normally considered a big event if you just put a DVD on or log into a streaming service, but with a bit of imagination you can turn it into a big deal for your child and their friends.

Check out our tips on how to make a movie night much more special - think about everything you would usually do at the cinema, but transfer it to your living room. So set your screening time, stamp those tickets, make sure you have plenty of snacks and get ready for the perfect movie night in.

1. Choose Your Film

First thing's first, you need to choose a great film. This isn’t as easy as it sounds; you need to choose a film that appeals to your child, to their friends and hopefully to you too (you planned the movie night so why not stick around and watch it too!?).

It might be a classic film from your youth that you want to introduce them to, but more than likely it will be a modern blockbuster that has been released on DVD or has just come onto Netflix or Amazon Prime (this is their movie night after all).

Make sure you can get your hands on a copy of the film once you’ve agreed on it, and make sure it is in a quality format so it will look as close to cinema quality as possible. If you have the option, try and go for a Blu-ray or 4K format and it will be just like being at the cinema.

2. Select Your Screening Time

This might sound a little ridiculous but organising a screening time is the perfect way to make sure your movie night is more than just watching a film at home. It makes it more of a big event with added extras that your child will want to repeat in the future.

To really cement the screening time, how about using our Cinema Light Box to display the title of the film and the time it is to be shown? This will add a retro feel to your movie night, harking back to the old style cinemas that displayed film titles in big letters outside, and will make your screening extra special too.

3. Create Your Own Tickets 

If you feel like getting crafty prior to the screening of your film (or have got your child’s friends over for the day), you might want to think about adding an extra activity in to keep them entertained.

Creating your own tickets is a fun way to tie in crafts with your perfect movie night, as long as you have plenty of materials to work with. You might want to pick up the following craft items for your little cinema-goers to use when making their own cinema tickets:

• Hobby World Coloured Card (40pk)
• Hobby World Gold Card (20pk)
• Hobby World Silver Card (20pk)
• Hobby World Glitter Card (20pk)
• Pritt Glue Stick Multi Pack
• Hobby World Premium Gel Pens (50pk)
• Scissors (3PK)

Remember to help your little ones when using scissors or any sharp craft implements. Simply cut rectangles in the card and cut curved corners (like the image above). Then put on the movie title and screening time, before decorating with pens, card and glue.

4. Choose Your Cinema Snacks

If you want to replicate an experience at the cinema, you’ll need to get in plenty of snacks for your little one and his/her friends to munch on during the film. The best part about this is that these snacks won’t come with the same price tag!

Start with our Eazy Pop Microwave Popcorn and Movie Mix Sweets and put them out in bowls just before your movie night begins. Make sure you stock up on plenty of snacks if you have lots of hungry mouths to feed too!

You could even have some fun by making your own milkshakes at home with Molly Milkshake Maker. Especially for younger children, this option is fun and delicious, making it the ideal accompaniment to your movie night.

B&M Top Tip: for an extra special treat, why not bake something delicious earlier in the day, helping to build the excitement ahead of the big screening? Or for something easier, try this really simple Mars Fudge Bites recipe!

5. Make Sure Your Screen is Ready

Now for the hard part. You'll need to make sure you have a suitable cinema screen for your home that all of your little movie-goers can gather around. If you feel like treating yourself and your family, this might be a good time to invest in some new tech.

How about picking up our Blaupunkt 32” Full HD LED Smart TV? This is a great start to creating a truly cinematic experience in your living room, as well as having a new gadget for your family to use in the future. You can log into your streaming service of choice, or use the built-in DVD player instead.

Combine it with our Goodmans 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar to ensure you have the best sound that will replicate being in a cinema screening.

6. Get Comfortable

Last but not least, make sure you have the most comfortable seat in the house. You might be thinking bean bags, comfy couches or even bedding to create a relaxed atmosphere. Needless to say you will have to clear a space so whatever seating you choose will be facing your ‘cinema screen’.

For extra comfort, our Pinstripe Satin Oversized Luxury Throw can be shared between friends and family, perfect for keeping you warm and toasty during your perfect movie night in.

Have you just hosted the perfect movie night? Share your fun pictures on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages!