School is back in session, and with it comes the daily grind of homework, club and sports team meetings, and e like. Why not make some room in all of that to sit down as a family and watch some TV or a movie together? Whether it’s a weekly event or just once in a while, Netflix has you covered for family movie/tv night with tons of great titles to watch– check out our top recommendations below!
For younger kids:
1. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 Inventor Flint Lockwood battles mutant food beasts created by his notorious machine, including shrimpanzees, tacodiles and jellyfish sandwiches.
2. The Pirate Fairy In this spritely tale, Tinker Bell and her friends set out to find free-spirited fairy Zarina after she makes off with some precious Blue Pixie Dust.
3. Hoodwinked Investigators searching for a candy recipe thief uncover a tangled web of messy delights in this animated spoof of the Little Red Riding Hood story.
4. Angelina Ballerina Angelina Ballerina joins her friends for fun adventures in the palace, where they solve a mystery and put on a grand ballet for the king and queen.
5. Bob the Builder In this collection of tales, Bob and friends have to repair a barn right before a big storm hits, and Lofty the Crane is fitted with a strong magnet.
6. The Muppet Movie After deciding to pursue a career in acting, Kermit the Frog heads to Hollywood. Along the way, he meets Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppets cast.
For older kids:
1. Strange Hill High Three students investigate numerous unusual occurrences at Strange Hill High, an all-but-forgotten inner-city school with many secrets and mysteries.
2. The Avengers An all-star lineup of superheroes — including Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America — team up to save the world from certain doom.
3. The Smurfs 2 Evil magician Gargamel continues his quest to tap the power of the Smurfs, creating a pair of his own “Smurf-alikes” called the Naughties.
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Follow the animated adventures of the Jedi knights, including Anakin Skywalker and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Season 6 available only on Netflix.
5. Free Birds When two adversarial turkeys find a time machine, they take a wild trip to the past to try to take turkey off the traditional Thanksgiving menu.
6. Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure This “H2O” sequel follows Zac, a boy who accidentally turns into a merman and threatens the existence of three young mermaids who guard Mako Island.
For teens and up:
1. Clueless Meddlesome Beverly Hills high school student Cher gets more than she bargained for when she gives a fashion-challenged student a makeover.
2. The Breakfast Club The athlete, the brain, the criminal, the princess and the basket case break through the social barriers of high school during Saturday detention.
3. Friday Night Lights Eric Taylor faces enormous pressure when he signs on as the new coach of a small-town Texas football team that’s poised to win the state championship.
4. The Vampire Diaries Trapped in adolescent bodies, feuding vampire brothers Stefan and Damon vie for the affection of captivating teenager Elena.
5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Ferris convinces his entire school he’s at death’s door, then hits the streets of Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend for a day of fun.
6. 13 Going on 30 When a geeky teen’s birthday party goes awry and she makes a wish that she could be 30, she wakes up to discover she’s flash-forwarded 17 years.
Before you sit down to watch one of these titles – or your own family favorite – check out these tipsfrom Common Sense Media on how to make family movie or TV night a success.
Dinosaur Train is roaring into 2011 with an all-new episode premiering Monday, January 17 on PBS KIDS (check local listings). Moms will love this new episode because its about moms… In the all-new episode, “The Good Mom;” “Diamond Anniversary,”Mrs. Pteranodon meets fellow mom Millie Maiasaura, who is a little too over-protective of her kids. The two moms share some time comparing mothering methods in a play date at the Big Pond. And, Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon decide to surprise each other with gifts on their anniversary.
I totally give credit to the person that thought I’ll take two things children love and mash them up trains and dinosaurs because the results are pretty cool. There are also tons of facts shared in the episodes like this nibblet in the first part of this all-new episode, “The Good Mom,” you might be interested to know that Maiasaura, meaning “good mother lizard”, was a large duck-billed dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. There is evidence that Maisaura lived in large nesting colonies and that the parents diligently cared for their young!
For those that love this show or want to check it out I’ve got a great DVD to giveaway Dinosaur Train: Dinosaurs in the Snow DVD [Amazon].
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. January 20th, 2011.
You must comment telling us what dinosaur you like best? please include some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email)
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information: @hensoncompany @dadarocks – http://dad.tc/eJXlpn and you must also comment with the link to your twitter message.
Example: I want to win @hensoncompany Dinosaur Train DVD Thanks to @dadarocks – http://dad.tc/eJXlpn
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a Fan on facebook –facebook.com/dadarocks you must comment that you’re a fan (and leave a little note on the wall)
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a Fan on facebook –twitter.com/hensoncompany you must comment that you’re a fan (and leave a little note on the wall)
You get 1 extra entry for then suggesting to all your friends to become fans of DaDa Rocks – you must comment that you’re a fan (and leave a little note on the wall) — under the logo of DaDa Rocks is Suggest to Friends name
You get 1 extra entry for subscribing to our Feedburner digest mailing (right side subscribe by email) – you must also comment that you’ve subscribed
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a friend on Google Connect (right side below the facebook box) – you must also comment that you’ve become a friend
You will have 24 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclaimer: Thanks to Dinosaur Train / Jim Henson Productions for the prize for the giveaway.
