Cinema - 3.5 year old?

idea

Hello,

My little girl is nearly three and a half. The other day one of my friends was talking about taking their child of the same age to the cinema and it got me thinking. I've not taken my DD to the cinema yet as I'm not sure she could sit still for an hour and a half and it's expensive thing to do if she wants to leave half way though!

So I wanted to ask if anyone else has taken their children to the cinema at this age? It would be something else on the 'things to do when it's miserable outside list!'

All experiences welcomed!

mrs_sparrow

I took my DD at 2 weeks as HP was released and I was giving birth on that day!! Doh!! We went to a matinee with not many people and I bf her if she cried.

Seriously though.... my DD has been going to the cinema properly since the age of 3.

We go to the £1 cineworld kids club showing on Saturday mornings as it is full of kids and if she doesn't like it and we have to leave, it has only cost me a couple of quid.

It can initially be loud, dark and scary so bear this in mind and prepare you daughter for it (earplugs put in lightly until she gets used to it for example) but otherwise, go for it. You have to take her sooner or later - but choose a showing that will hold her interest.

Alikay

It very much depends on the child: We sometimes have a cinema afternoon at home. We buy or rent a new DVD, close the curtains and move the sofa closer to the TV and have popcorn and an interval with ice cream, so you could try something like that first.

I think most children can sit still for the duration of a Disney movie at 4+, but 3 is still quite young unless your DD has got a good concentration span

mrs_sparrow

Just to add, Cineworld has a much box which has popcorn, sweets and drink with a free gift (usually naff but the kids love it) it;s not really advertised but is great value.

Our local independent cinema also has £1 saturday and sunday kids movies - they are usually on around 10am and a £2 deal for drink and popcorn. I do think Odean and Vue cinemas have these movies too.

mrs_sparrow

Alikay wrote: »

It very much depends on the child: We sometimes have a cinema afternoon at home. We buy or rent a new DVD, close the curtains and move the sofa closer to the TV and have popcorn and an interval with ice cream, so you could try something like that first.

I think most children can sit still for the duration of a Disney movie at 4+, but 3 is still quite young unless your DD has got a good concentration span

The thing about the Saturday morning kids movies is that none of the other kids are sitting still either, people talk, eat, chat, etc... usually a loo break gets them back into it again, but the younger they go, the easier it is for them when they are older and go to 'proper' movies.

mrs_sparrow

Bowling is also very good and local alleys will have deals on Saturday/Sunday mornings. They have the ramps so you can load the ball and they can push it.

You might have to book a day or so before, but that is good value and kills an hour, too.

idea

Thank you both for your replies - I didn't realise that there was cheap kids shows...and the home cinema sounds great, we might try that this afternoon.

It is the attention span thing that is worrying me, as my DD doesn't have a very long one, but if it's only a few pounds I guess it doesn't matter much if we leave half way through!

Thanks again

Idea x

tyllwyd

I would say that at that age the large picture and loud noises can be a bit overwhelming for a young child, so personally I'd stick to DVDs at home for a bit longer. I remember a friend taking her son to see Finding Nemo at the age of about 5 as a treat, but he was terrified by the huge sharks, so even a U film can be too much at that age.

ariba10

With our firstborrn (Before T V was available in the area) we took him to a cinema at eleven months. No problems

. But then, it was not that uncommon.

sweaty_betty

I'm just echoing what the others have said. We went to the baby screening once or twice (where it was full of babies crying etc) when my LO was 2-3 months old.

Then since he's turned 1, we we've (occasionally) taken him to the kids screenings at cineworld, vue etc. It's only £1, so we stay for as long as we can before he gets bored, then go. It doesn't hurt to much to leave a £1 screening ;-)

I know that all children are different, but mine can get really into something and be oblivious to surroundings, so can sit still for that length of time (especially while there's nothing else to distract him). I remember getting bored myself when I first went to the cinema though - and I was about 5 then.

Good luck!

Jinx

I started taking my daughter to the cinema at 3 - she saw Casper the friendly ghost (sooo long ago now!! lol) and sat entranced through the whole film. And she loved the popcorn too.

Amongst my friends it does seem to be that little girls sit better, the boys seem more keen to active rather than sitting watching the film.