How to Have Movie Night at Elementary School

Arrange to have popcorn and other treats at movie night.

Fresh popcorn, school friends and a relaxed atmosphere make elementary school movie night a favorite event among students. Prepare in advance to make movie night a huge hit with both children and adults. Carefully select the right movie that caters to the interests of a broad range of students, unless the movie night is designated for a specific age group only. Ask parents, students and other teachers to help you come up with ideas and pull movie night together.

Things You'll Need

• Permission slips
• Television
• DVD player
• Chairs
• Projector equipment
• Popcorn
• Bottled drinks

Instructions

1. Get permission from the principal or other person in charge before making movie night plans. Once you have permission, ask other teachers when movie night should occur. Plan to feature movie night on a Friday, so the kids won't need to be up early the next day. Don't host movie night on a major holiday, or around other events at the school. Ask the teachers and students to help decide on a movie that everyone will enjoy. You can also run two movies if time permits -- one for younger children and one for older kids.

2. Give the kids permission slips for their parents to sign, so you know how many children and parents plan on attending. This can help you determine what type of equipment you need and what snacks to provide.

3. Set up a large television, DVD player and other needed equipment in the gymnasium an hour or more before movie night starts. Set up extra chairs for the kids to sit on, even if there are benches in the gym. Sometimes a large classroom will also work for movie night. If the school is large, it may already have large projector equipment for you to use.

4. Provide the kids with fresh popcorn, bottled drinks and other snacks. If your budget is tight, ask the parents to help with the cost, or ask everyone to bring their own snacks.

5. Ask the kids and parents to help clean up a few minutes after the movie is over.

Tips & Warnings

• If there isn't enough room for everyone, you can also host different movie nights for various age groups.

References

• Movlic: Programming Ideas