I’m sure some Dopers have taken their children/relatives/friends to the movies for their first time. Is 3 too young? I’m going to be spending a lot of time around my 3 year old niece over the next two weeks.
I think it is ok if it is a G rated movie during the afternoon. I’m not one of those crazy people taking a child to an R rated movie at a midnight showing.
If she gets cranky or loud, then we’ll leave. I have enough movie passes to last a lifetime so I’m not worried about the ticket cost.
A G rating is for all ages. What is it that you are worried about?
I’m not worried about the content. More about the annoyance to the rest of the audience.
As long as you’re prepared to leave at a moment’s meltdown, it’ll be all good.
As far as the rest of the audience… If it’s a G-Rated movie, they know what to expect and half of the other people there will have young children with them.
My parents took me to movies when I was three. I remember going to a theater to see Disney’s Jungle Book, the rerelease of Snow White, 2001, Dr. Doolittle, and Funny Girl. They just told coming in that I was supposed to keep quiet during the film and that’s what I did. The movies managed to hold my attention during the two or so hours they ran and I didn’t fuss (not even during **Funny Girl **or Dr. Doolittle).
Your local cinema may have the increasingly popular “young kids only” screenings, sometimes called “Cry Baby Sessions”. Not sure if 3yrs is too old for that.
It all depends on the child. If they can sit for that long, and not get antsy or whiny and loud…sure take them.
My son was 2 1/2 when he went to his first movie and never moved through the whole thing. He even perfected his dad’s laser precision reach over and grab popcorn in the dark without looking back technique on his first outing! He is a pro at the movies now(age 5).
He did get a little bored one time, at “Charlotte’s Web”. Thankfully there were only 4 other people in the theater that day and they were in front of us. So, for the last 20 minutes he stood, or wandered around just a little in our own aisle. If he were bothering anyone, we would have left.
I took my oldest son to see “Babe” when he was about 3-1/2.
One issue I hadn’t expected ---- he wasn’t heavy enough to hold the theater seat down. I had to sit with my thigh across his seat in order to keep him from being swallowed up by the seat, or else hold him on my lap.
Just be aware of your kid’s own schedule ---- making sure they’re not tired or cranky or hungry, and be prepared to bail if the kid has had enough.
Try to be aware of any plot points that might potentially be disturbing — for instance, it’s helpful to know that Simba’s Dad is going to be killed, and be prepared to move your child onto your lap for some reassuring cuddles at that sort of scene.
And you know that theater treats aren’t kid sized. Bring in a sippy cup so that you can share a drink with your child.
It took two tries to see Wall-E with our 3-year-old. The first time, he went into wouldn’t-sit-still mode before the previews/commercials had ended. We got up and out before he could make a big scene.
On the way out, a manager stopped us, asked if there was a problem, and then gave us a double set of comp. passes for any shows in the next six months.
So, pretty much win-win for everyone, eventually.
My husband and I took my three-year-old niece to see The Lion King at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. She was enthralled and perfectly behaved. Just requested that I put my hands over her ears and she shut here eyes when “Scar (I think it was)” came out. We were prepared to leave the minute she got restless, but she never did.
Probably okay, if you don’t let her get hopped up on the giant bucket o’ Pepsi and door-sized Snickers bar during the thirty minutes of trailers and commercials before the film. I used to take my nieces to see Disney animated films when they were very young and usually they were very good.
Yep, G movies are for kids. There will be crying and talkative children, whether they are yours or someone elses.
Good point that YWalker made… the weight issue. Plus, I had to use a bunched up coat for my tot on his first trip to the movie, just to raise him high enough to see. The next time, I took a booster seat. It helped with the weight and height.
I would also suggest a good nap beforehand.
My son’s first movie was The Neverending Story. He LOVED it, and watched it hundreds of times throughout his childhood. But he was borderline hyper. On his first viewing in the theater, just 10-15 minutes from the end, he announced, “I GOTTA walk!” So without knowing the fate of Fantasia for another year, we walked.
So basically your main issues are crankiness level, weight, height and attention span.
I agree that it’s expected that daytime shows of G-rated movies will be full of squirmy little kids. I took my little brother (16 years younger) to see Pocahontas when he was almost three, and he was fine. He sat on my lap through the movie because the seats just swallowed him up. My parents and I had prepared him for what to expect and how to behave in the theater, and I think that helped. In fact, he gave the funniest look of pre-K disapproval to some other kid who was running up the aisle babbling during the movie. Several months later we went to Toy Story and it was the same. We knew he was capable of watching an entire movie at home without making a bunch of noise or getting bored and wandering off, and I think that’s a good indicator of how a young child will react to going to the movies. If they can’t pay attention that long, maybe it’s best to wait.
Some movies can be too intense for little kids. My brother FREAKED OUT during the first five minutes of Muppet Treasure Island and insisted on leaving, so we did. I did the same thing when my parents took three-year-old me to Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. I’d seen a number of Disney-type movies by then, but this was different. I think I made it through a whole 30 seconds, but there was some ominous music or something and I just wasn’t having it. I still haven’t seen that movie.
O_o
I was working at a theater when The Neverending Story came out… every showing all the kids would freak out at the same time (when the wolf-thing opened his eyes in his den and growled). We knew to man the concession stands, since there’d be a stream of mothers with freaked out kids to settle down, and, hey! popcorn.
A kid who didn’t freak out in that one (which was rated G, IIRC), impressive.
That’s why I was going to recommend knowing what happens in the movie, beforehand. So you can match up potential freak-outs to the kid you’re taking along. Usually, those freakouts seem to involve villains. Even Disney villains – Scar, Maleficent, and Cruella de Ville have all freaked out kids of friends I know. Also: seeing something like Kung-Fu Panda will guarentee the 3-year old will be kaarate chopping everyone in sight for the next week. Be warned.
My oldest nephew was fine going to movies at 3; he’s got laser-focus. His younger brother, at 3 now, has the attention span of a gnat, and can’t make it even a few minutes in a movie. (Both of them wanted to see Kung Fu Panda, but after the “pirate sword incident”, that was nixed.)
I’ve taken my kids to G-rated movies at that age. Either I or my wife have also had to miss a good chunk of the movie taking my son out as he was too restless and couldn’t keep quiet.
I think that is the biggest problem. If the three year old decides not to behave, you are kind of wasting the trip. They also seem to get as much enjoyment watching movies (often over and over again) off DVD or tape.
My daughter only had a problem once at that age. We went to see the “Wizard of Oz” in the theater and she was very restless. Probably because she had already seen the movie. Thankfully it was a weekend matinée and filled with a lot of noisy kids so we did not have to leave.
Depends on the kid, and it depends on the moment.
We took The Littlest Briston to see Wall-E – she was a couple of months shy of three. We intentionally waited until the movie had been out for a month or so, just to make sure the place wouldn’t be packed. We knew she could sit through it and enjoy every minute of it, but still, she’s a kid – you never know if something negligible is going to completely set her off.
Fortunately, she sat through it all, completely enthralled. But I know that there is every chance that if we had taken her to a showing an hour earlier or later, things might’ve gone differently.
Bottom line – take the tyke, cross your fingers and have fun. The parenting message board my wife frequents is currently agog about how good Bolt is for three-year-olds.
Me too’ing on “depends on the kid”. I didn’t take my own son to the movies until he was 5ish – he just wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to sit down for very long. Some of his friends, though, would have been fine at when they were 3. Definitely, though, I’d pick something short for the first time, and sit by the doors.
Go at a matinee on a weekend, perhaps the earliest one. The theater should be close to empty, or at least be full of other kids.
Most serious movie-goers won’t go at this time.
I probably should mention my philosophy on that: “if you’re a serious movie-goer who hangs onto every word, you shouldn’t see that G-rated movie at an 11:00am Sunday matinee.”
I took my son to the movies when he was three. He did just fine.
Robin
I still shudder at the memory of seeing Fantasia in a theatre with a horde of children who had been told they were going to see Mickey Mouse. Mickey is on the screen for about six minutes. Please don’t misrepresent the movie to the kid!