Wondering why your kids keep nagging you for scary movies and horror video clips? You’ll be surprised that children enjoy the adrenaline they get from such content. I know it can be confusing at first when your child demands to watch scary kid movies on their devices. However, you need to accept that kids are curious about everything, and they often enjoy the adrenaline they get from jumpscares and horror content. Moreover, this type of content helps kids easily explore their fears. So, let’s discuss why you should pick some scary movies for your kids to watch this weekend.
The appeal of scary movies for kids
The whole appeal behind scary movies for kids is that kids get to experience something new. For the most part, children are only exposed to funny content or educational content. They see all the colorful videos and informative clips to help them understand how the world works. So, when they are exposed to scary movies for kids, they immediately get curious about this new form of content. Not only does this content peak their curiosity, but it also helps them realize that the world isn’t that colorful.
When watching such movies, children experience adrenaline release and excitement. Every time there is a jumpscare of the hero doing something risky, your child will get overly excited or scared. Moreover, watching a character overcome their fears in scary movies further helps children realize how they can do anything. For all these reasons, children are drawn to scary movies.
How to choose appropriate scary movies for children
Now, it is a given that you shouldn’t just let your kid watch any scary movie they want. Many scary movies and horror movies have explicit scenes and graphic content. The last thing that you want for your child is to be exposed to such content. What makes a good scary kids movie is the twists and unexpected circumstances that a character has to overcome. It should ideally underscore a meaningful message that in the face of adversity, a person can change a lot of things. So, when picking an appropriate scary kids movie, just run through these points first.
- Age ratings: I suggest you don’t let your kids watch anything above the T rating for teenagers. However, if you wish to be extra careful, look for PG indicators. That way, your child will not be exposed to any violent or sexual content within the horror movie.
- Themes: Scary kids’ movies with a cartoonish and funny theme are usually the perfect choice for kids. Look for a movie that focuses on elements like bravery, teamwork, and friendship. These themes will always help with your kid’s brain development.
- Level of suspense: Yes, kids don’t know how to put a suitable limit to the fun they want to have when watching a movie, but things can go too far. There are a ton of scary movies out there that might be distressing for your child to watch. So, you need to filter those out and give them a good balance of suspense and jumpscares within a movie. That way, they won’t get concerned about your child getting traumatized by scary movies.
Some top scary kids’ movies sharing
If you’ve still not found a good movie to share with your kids, then let me help you out. Here are some decent scary kids movies you can watch with your kid this weekend. Each option is suitable for children and doesn’t have any explicit scenes. So, you can just sit back and enjoy the following options with your child.
Classics that still captivate
Coraline (2009): Coraline is a blend of a horror and thriller movie where a girl travels through a tiny door in her house to another world. In this new world, people have buttons for eyes and a cartoonish design. It offers a decent premise where a little girl uncovers the disturbing secrets that seemingly perfect things can be deceiving sometimes
Gremlins (1984): The movie might not be the most aesthetically pleasing regarding character design, but it does offer a meaningful story. As the name suggests, Gremlins, you’ll find little mischievous creatures in this movie that might wreak havoc in the town. Your young teenagers will get a digestible moral lesson from this movie. It is the perfect movie to pick if you want to spend time with your kids this Christmas.
Modern spooks
Monster House (2006): If your kid likes to get spooked, then Monster House is the ideal pick for you. It has a sinister theme where a group of friends finds out that the neighbor’s house is alive and it can eat them whole. The whole movie is set up around uncovering the house’s mystery and potentially rescuing the neighbor from their spouse.
The House with a Clock in its Walls (2018): This movie is more suited for older kids who can comprehend concepts like death and the afterlife. It is a fantasy movie involving magic and mystery. It shows how a kid can make mistakes but still figure out ways to correct those mistakes and better their future. So, your child can draw a lot of lessons from this movie while getting spooked out of their mind.
Animated frights
Hotel Transylvania (2012): If you’re looking for an adventurous blend of the scary theme, then Hotel Transylvania is the ideal movie for your children. This movie showcases how humans and monsters can thrive together if they just get rid of the superstitions. Your child will learn a lot through this film, especially about how they can blend with different cultures and be friends with people who are a little different.
Frankeweenie (2012): This movie showcases a boy’s love for his dog and the lengths a person goes to protect the ones they love. However, the eerie part about Frankweenie is that the main character in this movie brings their dog back to life with some unexpected consequences. It has a gloomy theme, but it does teach kids that they have to sometimes let go of the things they love the most.
Light scares for the little ones
Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005): If you’re dealing with preteens, this is the perfect place to start. It has the ideal blend of suspense and adventure. Moreover, the character designs are pretty kid-friendly. This is especially useful if you want to ease your child into the concept of scary movies and spooky themes.
Room on the Broom (2012): It is a pretty short film that you can watch with your kid today. The whole premises of this movie revolve around a witch inviting animals to travel with her on her broom house.
The positive and negative effects of watching scary movies for children
When letting your kids watch scary movies, you need to look at both sides of the coin. Even though I have hyped up these movies a lot, you will still need to decide what is best for your kid. The following list of pros and cons will help you make a suitable decision.
- Pros
- Boosts adrenaline and helps kids remain in control of risky citations.
- Helps kids draw meaningful lessons from presented hardships.
- Improves the immune system.
- It develops kids’ brains to follow complex stories and twists.
- Shows kids how to manage their fear.
- Cons
- Extreme movies can traumatize a kid.
- Your child might get desensitized to scary content and violence.
- Your kid might get exposed to inappropriate scenes.
- Your kid can become aggressive when they are unable to control their adrenaline.
A lot goes into finalizing what your kid can watch and what he should avoid. FlashGet Kids helps children watch scary movies healthily and safely.
Guide to helping your children watch scary kids movies safely with FlashGet Kids
If your child has access to a smartphone, he will start exploring all kinds of scary movies on his own. You need to protect your child from making such mistakes by using parental control tools like FlashGet Kids. This tool will help you monitor everything your child does in real-time. All you have to do is pair this parental control tool with your child’s phone, and then you’ll be in green.
The screen mirroring feature in FlashGet Kids can help you easily see what your kid is watching. Moreover, you can restrict them from using the phone browser. Similarly, FlashGet Kids also offers a keyword tracker, where you will get alerts when your child is interested in inappropriate content. So, if you are concerned about your child watching explicit movies, going with FlashGet Kids will take a lot of stress away from your job as a parent.
The best part? Its features expand beyond just a simple parental control tool. You will be able to judge everything your child does all day from a comprehensive dashboard within FlashGet Kids. It will have all the details of your child’s daily activities and app usage. From there, you can remotely restrict or limit apps to regulate your child’s phone time. Hopefully, you won’t have to bother with more problems.
Conclusion
You’ll find a lot of suitable movies above that you can watch with your kids this Halloween or Christmas. However, just make sure that your child doesn’t go on exploring different scary movies on their own. There are a lot of content risks associated with such movies, and you will have to protect your child from making a stupid mistake. So, if your child has access to a smartphone all day, don’t forget to use a parental control app to monitor that phone. Options like FlashGet Kids can be pretty handy to alert you of inappropriate or suspicious behavior. All you have to do is set up this app once, and you won’t have to worry as much about your child’s digital safety.
