When it’s the holidays, there are some things that you just have to do. You will decorate cookies. You will trim the tree. You will wrap presents. You will cook large meals for large groups of people. And that’s fun!
What’s that? You're sick of Christmas music? Okay, before you Scrooge out, let’s just pause to think of what winter would be like if it weren’t for all these family-friendly holiday activities. Miserable, that’s what.
So, even if these cheerful things eventually start to seem like chores, just know that they’re staving off the harsh reality of winter—at least until New Year’s Eve. There is something you can do to make all these holiday activities even more fun, though: Throw on a Netflix movie. A Christmas-y, wintry movie will get you right into the spirit and keep, ahem, active kids’ minds engaged while you frost not-so-perfect snowman sugar cookies.
Christmas with the Kranks
If this movie doesn’t make you want to decorate your house for Christmas, none will. The Kranks have decided to boycott Christmas when their daughter in the Peace Corps can’t come home for the holidays. Hilarity ensues when they refuse to decorate their house and throw their annual Christmas party, only to find out that their daughter is surprising them with a last-minute trip home. Throw this movie on while you’re decorating your own tree, and everyone will be thankful you didn’t wait until the last minute. Make sure there are ample festive snacks—like this addictive, sweet, crunchy popcorn with pecans and raisins.
Scrooged
We love Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but we love Scrooged, the delightfully 80’s adaptation of the classic Christmas story. Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, our modern-day Scrooge, who is just as cold-hearted and uncaring as Ebenezer. As the story unfolds, you’ll feel all the warm and fuzzies as Cross realizes that the way to feel a fulfilled life is to be generous with his millions. The perfect movie to watch while wrapping presents? Yes, we think so too.
Dreamworks Holiday Classics
The tastiest of holiday traditions is decorating sugar cookies. It’s also the messiest—all that frosting on little fingers quickly travels around the house. Keep your kids entertained—and in one place—with the four short movies in Netflix’s Dreamworks Holiday Classics with characters from their favorite movies like How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, and Shrek. As for the cookies? We’ve got the best recipe for that.
Anastasia
Though most people know the real fate of the Russian princess Anastasia, the Disney interpretation of the story is a lot happier. The chilly setting of winter in Russia and Paris is the perfect situation for a nice mug of hot cocoa. We’re talking about real hot chocolate, here, not the powdered stuff. Make your own—and the adults are allowed to spike theirs, too.
Love Actually
This movie always makes our hearts burst out of our chests and never leaves a dry eye. And, honestly, we’d rather not be distracted by anything else when we’re watching the incredible cast weave an intricate web of complicated relationships in a Christmas-y setting. Well, okay, the only holiday activity we’d commit to is roasting chestnuts, putting them into the oven when the movie starts, then taking them out about halfway through—just when we’ll start to need a little edible comfort from the rollercoaster of emotions we’ll be experiencing while watching.
All titles available on Netflix for a limited time.