backyard movie night ideas
Ideas to host a backyard movie night with a list of over 100 best outdoor movies for all ages + recommended equipment, snacks, and seating.
The air gets crisp, the bugs calm down, and the sun starts setting earlier to create the perfect environment for watching outdoor movies with friends and family. (Truth be told, fall makes me a little sad knowing my days in the sun are growing shorter, but backyard movie night makes up for it.)
Regardless of the season, it’s one of our favorite activities to host in our backyard regularly, even in December with cups of hot cocoa in hand snuggled under blankets by the fire.
Best Diy Backyard Movie Night Ideas — How To Set Up A Backyard Movie Night
Over the past few weeks, our family has come up with a big list of the BEST outdoor movies to watch. And I asked our Instagram followers to add to the list of outdoor movie recommendations too!
So I thought it would be a helpful resource to share all of the top rated backyard movie night films, many of them being nostalgic classics that everyone of all ages love, to help you plan your own outdoor movie night.
On a cold night while gathering around the campfire in winter, snuggling up with a Christmas movie or a film set with snow (like
Tips For A Successful Outdoor Movie Night
I mean, I know this one goes without saying, but if you have a crowd full of toddlers, they probably won’t jive well with a slasher horror movie.
It’s probably worth mentioning that movies rated PG on or before the production year 1983 might be for more mature audiences since the MPAA introduced the PG-13 rating in 1984. (The list below includes movie ratings and production dates to help you use discretion best suited for your audience.)
Common Sense Media is a good place to check parent guides for any language, violence, sex, nudity, alcohol, or drug use before showing (and can help you find films with more cultural diversity too).
How To Host A Stylish Backyard Movie Night
Most crowds don’t enjoy watching a movie that’s longer than 2 hours or else it gets uncomfortable and people start getting tired.
These movies have little to no profanity, violence, nudity, or adult situations better suited for children. (Review movies beforehand here to double check.)
See more information about how we set up our outdoor cinema movie screen, Bluetooth speakers, and portable projector here (even if you don’t have electrical outlet access in the middle of your backyard).
How To Set Up A Diy Backyard Movie Theater In Under An Hour
If you’re on a tight budget, a plain white shower curtain liner can do the job as a cheap DIY movie screen.
We like to set out any and all patio chairs or beach chairs we own in case people don’t bring their own. Here is a post with some of our favorite outdoor furniture.
In case it gets chilly later in the evening, we keep a big stack of blankets on our back porch for anyone to grab for sitting in the grass or snuggling under to warm up.
How To Host An Outdoor Movie Night
For a birthday slumber party for Olivia one year, we even set up air mattresses to let her friends have an outdoor movie night camp out on our back porch in September. It was a total hit!
Honestly, I kind of wanted to be 8 years old again. See more slumber party ideas here. (For younger kids, it would be so cute to set up large cardboard boxes decorated like cars for a drive in movie theme.)
Hanging a few string lights in a section of the yard away from the movie screen is helpful in case anyone needs to get up in the middle of the dark movie to get snacks or take a bathroom break.
Best Movies For Outdoor Movie Night Party 2022
To keep kids occupied since their attention spans are shorter, it’s fun to hand out glow sticks (I usually can find a whole tube of them in the Target Dollar Spot or at the dollar store).
Plan for your crowd to arrive about an hour before sunset so that everyone can get settled with snacks, drinks, seats, and the kids can run around in the yard or on the playground to get their jitters out.
The lighting for the outdoor movie is usually best a few minutes after sunset (we just refer to the day’s weather forecast for sunset times to send invites set for an hour prior).
The Ultimate Outdoor Movie Night And Campout With Intel
The most budget-friendly option for the best popcorn maker is the Whirley Pop (it won a taste test here) that makes it just like movie theater popcorn on the stovetop. You have to babysit the pot a little bit while turning the crank, but it makes a fluffy popcorn portion equivalent to 3 standard microwave bags in about 3 minutes.
After a few years of outdoor movie night hosting, we finally sprung for this larger popcorn machine that we can set on a tabletop or countertop for people to serve themselves into these paper popcorn boxes. These popcorn flavorings make it even better for people to personalize.
S’mores – If we’re hosting a backyard movie on a chilly night, we usually light a fire and set out a tray with s’mores ingredients: graham crackers, cookies, marshmallows, Reese’s cups, and Hershey bars.
Madison, Wisconsin Outdoor Movie Night Parties — Ash + Arrow Event Collective
These retractable marshmallow skewers are great. If you don’t have a real life fire pit, we love this tabletop fire pit you can fit into an outdoor table’s umbrella hole with a camp propane canister underneath.
Candy – We can usually just pick up movie theater style candy at the dollar store: M&Ms, Skittles, Whoppers, Twizzlers, Gummy Worms, Milk Duds, Junior Mints, and Raisinets. If we feel like prepping, we’ve even put together baggies with assorted wrapped fun-sized candy inside to hand out.
Hot Drinks – If it’s a chilly night, we love setting out a big batch of hot apple cider, cocoa, or hot buttered rum (for the adults) in a slow cooker for people to ladle into their cups.
Fun Ideas For Outdoor Movie Night
Cold Drinks – People usually just bring their own cold drinks, but we put bottled water and sodas in this rolling cooler in case anyone needs some. For the adult crowd, I sometimes make a batch of sangria in a drink dispenser so they can serve themselves.
It’s officially our new life goal to introduce all of the 80s and 90s movies that we grew up on to our kids.
Do you have any favorite movies that would be perfect to show at a backyard movie night? Have you ever hosted one before? I’m sure there are more great movies we haven’t thought of, but we had so much fun coming up with this list.How to Host a backyard movie night at home this summer. A fun and easy way to create your own blockbuster event.
Must Haves To Host The Ultimate Backyard Family Movie Night
This summer one of our favorite things to do is to set up an outdoor movie night. There is something so magical about watching a movie under the stars!
You can make do this as a fun family night or set it up for a small party with your neighbors. It is a great alternative to going to the movies, and much more fun in my opinion!!
It is really much easier then you would think to get this set up in your backyard. You really only need a few essential things!
How To Plan A Backyard Movie Night For The Ladies
You can buy an outdoor projector screen, or you can easily hang a white sheet. If you hang a white sheet, use a wire and tie it between two trees, your fence, or use two poles. To secure the sheet onto the wire use clothespins to attach the sheet. Secure the sheet to the ground with rocks to prevent it from blowing in the wind.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/amyspartyideas-a77456010c344468b5e5271a6cab483b.jpg?strip=all "Backyard Movie Night Ideas")
Fairy string lights are perfect because they give off enough light but enable it to be dark enough so you can still see the screen. We just strung ours between the trees and the pergola – zig zagging back and forth over the backyard. You can also add flameless candles and lanterns too!
Use pillows, benches, bean bags, and chairs for seating. You can also choose to lay out blankets instead and forgo a typical chair.
Awesome Outdoor Movie Night Essentials You Can't Do Without
Lay down rugs, blankets, poufs, floor cushions, pillows and anything you have to make your movie night cozy. The more cozy.. the better!!!
You’ll have to wait till it’s dark to be able to see the projection on the sheet so can’t do this till the sun goes down. If you don’t have a projector I linked a few top rated ones from Amazon. You can rent movies from Netflix or Amazon to project onto the screen. We watched Enchanted and Marry Poppins!
What is a Movie night without the concessions anyways? Popcorn along with your favorite movie theater candy is the way to go! We also love setting up a Crunchy Rice Rollers dessert station complete with all the fun toppings!
Backyard Movie Night Ideas—best Movie Night Ideas For Family Fun Movie Night
Let me know if you set up an outdoor movie night this summer! Please tag me over on instagram @. I would love to see it!Have you ever dreamed of movie nights under the stars?To create your own DIY outdoor movie screen, you will need either a sheet or a screen, something to mount it on (wood posts or tripod stand), portable projector (Amazon/eBay for roughly $70-$120), outdoor speakers, and
Post a Comment for "backyard movie night ideas"