10 Halloween movies for elementary kids

Every weekend, our family picks one evening for a family movie night. As Halloween approaches, I asked my boys and their friends (both boys and girls ages 8-11) to tell me their top movie picks for the Halloween season. While some of these movies might scare very young toddler or preschool siblings, this list is very age appropriate and doesn’t include any extremely frightening movies. Here are their top ten picks in alphabetical order:

1.   Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman will encourage discussion about one’s self-image. Theodore is very insecure and deals with a school bully whose actions make Theodore struggle with his already shaky self-confidence. When Theodore performs in a school play, he starts to believe in himself. During this time, Alvin (who is obsessed with horror movies) thinks the new neighbor is a werewolf.

2.   The Book of Life

In The Book of Life, Maria has two admirers, Manolo and Joaquin, who have grown up with her and loved her all their lives. The three friends are completely unaware the rulers of the underworld made a bet over which boy Maria would marry. While Maria goes away to school, she grows into beautiful and confident young woman. Manolo becomes a sensitive guitar player, but his family wants him to be a ruthless bullfighter. Joaquin becomes a big hero with an even bigger ego. Xibalba, one of the rulers of the underworld, plays dirty to win his bet and turns his snake on Manolo. In order to return to his love, Manolo must venture through the underworld on the Day of the Dead.

3.   Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

In this movie – the first of the Harry Potter series –an orphan named Harry lives with his abusive aunt, uncle, and cousin after his parents die. On his 11th birthday, Harry is recruited by Hogwarts, a boarding school for young witches and wizards, and Harry is expected to attend in the fall. While traveling to Hogwarts, Harry meets Ron and Hermione who become his best friends. Harry adjusts his new life at school and learns some important lessons about loyalty and courage.

4.   Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania is a castle where monsters can stay safely away from humans and where Dracula could raise his daughter Mavis. For his daughter’s milestone birthday celebration, Dracula plans a huge party, but Johnny, a human, somehow finds the castle. Dracula puts Jonathan in costume to hide that he’s a human and tells him to pretend he’s Frankenstein’s younger cousin. Much to Dracula’s dismay, Mavis and Johnny fall in love.

5.   It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

While the gang is busy getting ready for Halloween, no one believes Linus’ story of the Great Pumpkin’s visit. Sally really wants to believe, so she spends the night waiting with Linus in the pumpkin patch. Even though Charlie Brown spent all night trick-or-treating, he only has rocks in his bag.

6.   Monsters, Inc.

The monsters who work at Monsters, Inc. collect kids’ screams to fuel their world and they are more afraid of kids than kids are of monsters. Because it’s becoming harder to scare the children, the monsters’ world is suffering from rolling blackouts. “Sulley” Sullivan, a top scarer and his rival, Randall, compete to break the scream-collection record. When Randall accidentally lets a human child into the monster world, the monsters learn what it’s really like to be scared.

7.   Monsters University

The prequel to Monsters, Inc. shows how Mike Wazowski, Randall, and Sulley meet in college. They compete in the annual Greek Scare Games and join a fraternity of misfits. The monsters learn about strength, discipline, and friendship.

8.   Monsters vs. Aliens

Shortly before Susan Murphy is to marry a local, narcissistic weatherman, a meteorite mysteriously gives her interesting superpowers and she becomes a giant. The military imprisons Susan in a top secret facility where she meets fellow detainees. The government releases the monsters to take down an evil alien who tries to destroy San Francisco.

9.   Scooby Doo: Abracadabra Doo

The Mystery Inc. gang sets off to solve the puzzle of a mysterious half-lion, half-eagle beast called a griffin at Velma’s little sister’s school. Their good old-fashioned sleuthing leads the gang to solve the mystery of the griffin and the bad guys to complain about those “meddling kids.”

10.   Spooky Buddies

Kids love watching adorable golden retriever puppies on a problem-solving adventure. A legendary warlock and his assistant return from the past to gather the warlock’s special magic wand, his book of spells, and the souls of five puppies to cast their magic spell and accomplish their evil plan. A group of friends and their adorable puppy buddies work together to thwart the warlock’s efforts and save the day.

You know your kids better than anyone else, so use your best judgment in deciding whether the images in any of these movies might be too frightening, especially if your children are younger and have younger siblings.

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Charmin Calamaris

Charmin is a wife, mom of two boys and creator of the Momiverse. The Momiverse is an online magazine for busy moms (is there any other kind?) dedicated to helping moms make time – and take time – for themselves. She traded in her career in land use planning and environmental policy to become Chief Executive Navigator of the Momiverse. You can connect with Charmin in her "online office" on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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