Backyard Family Outdoor Movie Night with Kids

Spending time with our families isn’t always easy, especially once we get busy with school, work, and extracurricular activities. Making time, even just once a week, to fully connect with each other as a family unit is important. One way to do this is with a family movie night. Spending time together watching a movie strengthens family bonds. Today, Zenovia Stephens, founder of Black Kids Adventures, Inc. and Alabama mom of three, shares all about making memories with a backyard family outdoor movie night with kids.

The thrill of a movie night outdoors

Movie nights are one of the most memorable family activities of childhood. Choosing what to watch and which snacks to eat are always fun, whether you’re watching a movie in the living room or at the theater. But a change of scenery can take movie night to the next level and make it even better! Outdoor movie night is special and so much fun for everyone. Today, I will share tips on adding a little more sparkle to family movie night and creating everlasting memories right from your backyard.

Family movie nights are essential for families

Family movie nights are about so much more than watching a movie. After a long week of work and school, family movie night is the perfect opportunity to unwind and bond as a unit. Here are a few, not so obvious, benefits of sitting down to watch a movie as a family:

• It gives kids a chance to help plan something. Movie night is an excellent place for kids to take charge and plan the movie, snacks, and make sure everything needed is on hand.
• It gives everyone something to look forward to. Pushing through work and school can be hard on all of us. Knowing every Friday is family movie night can be the sweet spot that helps everyone get to the end of the week.
• The movie gives everyone something to talk about together. During the hustle and bustle of the week, our children do things without us. Family movie nights enable us all to have at least one thing in common we can talk about each week.
• Everyone can enjoy this time together. When you have kids of different ages, it gets harder to find things suited for everyone. Family movie night is a place for everyone to come together despite age gaps.
• Depending on the movie, it can help reinforce positive values and behaviors. Take Disney’s new film Luca for example. It helped my boys see how important it is to speak positive thoughts over their lives. 
• Spending time together reduces sibling rivalry. Often children experience disconnect during the week, especially when schedules are busy. This disconnect can also cause your children to act out and most often this results in bickering siblings. Spending time doing the same activity together, helps decrease this disconnect, builds familial bonds, and reduces sibling rivalry.

Now, take movie night outside into the backyard, and you get a supercharged event with even more benefits!

Why take movie night to the backyard?

Remember being a kid and getting excited about your parents stopping for a happy meal? Sure, they could’ve cooked a cheeseburger and fries at home, but the magic in your eyes was from the cute box, fun toy, and having everything packaged just for you. It added an element of excitement to an ordinary cheeseburger meal. 

Backyard movie nights do the same thing! It adds a new and exciting element to ordinary family movie nights. It’s a movie packaged in an outdoor adventure! You also get the bonus of more time outside in the fresh air, which is always a good thing. Studies show that increased time outdoors helps reduce stress and anxiety and promotes creativity and feel-good hormones (endorphins). 

Backyard movie night supplies

• One heavy-duty frosted shower curtain 
• One heavy-duty white shower curtain
• Large clips, duct tape, or pavers
• Projector (Don’t have one? See below for DIY movie night projectors)
• Extension cord
• HDMI or AV adaptor 
• Table 
• Snack baskets 
• Popcorn buckets
• Snacks
• Drinks 
• Blankets or lawn furniture
• Firepit

DIY movie night projector

If you have a projector already, go ahead and skip this section. If you don’t have a projector, don’t worry! You can still hold a backyard family movie night! Do you have a cell phone? If so, you can make this simple projector described at Point Clicker. All you need is the supplied listed below and a little time to throw it together.

• Cell phone
• Shoebox (or box of similar size)
• Magnifying glass
• Glue
• Black Paint

This is DIY projector is simple to make and only takes a few minutes. It is a great option for those who don’t have access to a project and want to create a backyard movie night memories with their families. 

NOTE: If you don’t have a projector, check with your local library. Many libraries have them available to check out. 

DIY projector screen setup

Start by choosing the best viewing location in your yard and setting up your “screen.” If you have a projector screen, feel free to skip over the DIY screen portion below. 

Once you have your location, gather your curtains and smooth them out as best as you can. You will then hang the frosted curtain in the back and the white curtain on the top to create your very own DIY projector screen. We hang ours on a retaining wall in our yard and use pavers to hold the screen down. If you’re hanging from a fence, consider heavy-duty clips or heavy-duty duct tape. 

You could also project your movie onto a large white wall (maybe the side of your house) or a garage door. 

Outdoor theater setup

Once your screen is ready, consider adding a canopy tent over the screen. While not necessary for a backyard movie night, adding a canopy tent over the screen will help create a cozy theater feeling. It also blocks light from the sky, allowing you to begin the movie a little before dark. This is great when you have little ones that can’t stay up late enough for it to be completely dark.

Place your table in the middle of the screen and set up the projector according to the included instructions. Ensure you have the correct connectors if you plan to stream a movie from your phone, tablet, or computer. We made the mistake of not checking when we first purchased our projector and ended up having to move indoors after the kids were outside and ready. Plan ahead and read the instructions in advance! 

Also, if your projector doesn’t have built-in speakers, you may need to set up a speaker as well. You can use a portable Bluetooth speaker or whatever you have on hand. 

Backyard outdoor movie night seating

When we do outdoor movie night, we tend to mix seating up every time to keep things exciting and interesting. Sometimes we spread out blankets; sometimes, we use lawn chairs. We’ve also done it camp style and set up tents! Consider bean bags or sleeping bags. I’ve even seen some families have the kids turn empty cardboard boxes into cars and then create a “drive in” movie night feel!

It’s a family preference, but switching up something as simple as seating can be used to add in another element of fun and surprise. You can leave the kids in charge of deciding which setup to use at each backyard movie night. 

Family movie night snacks

Have fun here and let the kids indulge some. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Dollar store snack trip. I take my boys to the dollar store and let them pick whatever movie treat they want. For this day, nothing matters. All of our healthy, balanced eating goes out the door. They’re free to choose whatever they want; the only catch is it’s limited to one thing.
• Create a snack box. To make it memorable, we package a treat and popcorn in individual baskets along with a drink. It makes the kids feel like they’re at the movies, and it makes cleaning up easy.
• Make it dinner and a movie. Depending on the day, sometimes we have dinner along with the movie. It can range from pizza to sandwiches to roasting hot dogs over the fire. As long as it’s easy to make and carry, it works well for backyard movie night. 
• Roast marshmallows. If you have a fire pit in your yard, it might be fun to pause the movie and take a break for a marshmallow treat. 
• Have a snack tray ready. If popcorn and candy are getting old (can that even happen?), you can mix it up by making a snack tray. Throw some cheese, crackers, veggies, and fruit on a tray and set it out for when the post-dinner movie munchies hit.

Backyard outdoor movie night in Fall and early Winter

If your kids are like mine, they’ll love watching movies in the backyard and will be hard-pressed to come back indoors for movie nights. Outdoor movie nights aren’t just for summer months. Depending on your weather (and how adventurous your family is), you could do outdoor movie night year-round! As temperatures drop, be sure to add extra layers of warmth to keep your kids toasty. You can also add blankets (even heated blankets). 

While we’re known to light a fire in all seasons, a fire pit comes in super handy for extending the backyard movie night season. Our Solo Stove gives off some of the best heat ever and is smokeless, so we don’t all smell like a campfire when we go back inside. It does a great job of keeping us warm while we’re enjoying backyard movies.

Prepare young kids to last the night 

Backyard outdoor movie night is a ton of fun, but it can be more challenging for littles to stay up after dark. If you have young kids, prioritize nap or rest time on movie nights. That way your little one will be well-rested and in a much better mood. It can make a big difference in how the experience goes for your family. You can also have a quiet activity at the ready for your younger children, especially if they tend to lose interest in movies before they are over. 

How does your family enjoy movie night? 

About the author

Zenovia is a self-proclaimed outdoor enthusiast, freelance travel and adventure blogger, wife, and mom to three young boys (ages 8, 5  & 2). Originally from Chicago, Zenovia and her family live in Huntsville, Alabama, and spend many of their days exploring and learning about the area. She is the Founder and CEO of Black Kids Adventures, Inc, a non-profit organization that focuses on getting Black and Brown families to spend time together exploring and enjoying nature. Zenovia is a Visit North Alabama Ambassador, 2021 Land Trust of North Alabama Board Member, YMCA Board Member, WildKind Ambassador and a monthly contributor for We are Huntsville and Huntsville’s CVB. You can follow along with her mom and family adventures and find inspiration for your own family adventures at Black Adventure Crew.

You can find Zenovia online in the following locations:
Instagram: @blackadventurecrew
Facebook: @blackadventurecrew
Website: Black Kids Adventures