Movies.
I really like them.
And according to the billions of dollars Hollywood spends each year to make movies, I’m guessing a lot of you like movies, too.
In fact, if you are a mom reading, you may even look forward to the gathering of your little ones each week for “family movie night”.
But do you struggle, like I do to find movies everyone wants to watch? Or even a movie that will help you think more than lose brain cells?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could relax, enjoy a movie with your family AND teach your children more about God’s great big story?
Well, my good friend, Amanda White (OhAmanda.com)…who also likes movies and loves Jesus…and I want to help your family do just that.
In today’s episode entitled, “Family Movie Moms” we share a lot of our theories/philosophies about movies and… a new vision.
Our goal is to 1)write frequent family movie discussion guides 2) broadcast a regular feature on the GCM podcast, called “Family Movie Moms”. Each show will include current movies reviews and ideas/questions to help teach your kiddos how to see truth and gain discernment as they view entertainment.
In today’s episode we chat about (quite a few things):
- personal family screen time limits
- the effects of video games on our kids
- how much t.v. we watched when we were kids
- recording movies on our VCR & renting Beta tapes
- why we write family movie discussion guides
- thoughts on “The Lego Movie” & “Disney’s Pirate Fairy”
- being counter-cultural and yet engaging culture
- teaching our children discretion when watching shows (not to emulate everything they watch).
- thoughts on “How to Train your Dragon 2” & “Frozen”
- difference between watching a movie once & meditating on a movie
- this quote:
Connect with Amanda:
Twitter :: Instagram :: Facebook :: Blog
Show Notes:
- “Pirates of Penzance”
- “Wizard of Oz”
- Phil Vischer Podcast
- “The Lego Movie” Family Discussion Guide (GCM)
- “Disney’s Pirate Fairy” Movie Discussion Guide (OhAmanda)
- “How to Train your Dragon 2”
- “Frozen”
Help out the “family movie moms” by letting us know what movies would you like us to review?
**How to listen to the podcast:**
1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.
2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice, you can listen via Stitcher.
3. Subscribe to the Podcast – access the podcast in iTunes (Click here to access via iTunes). You can also search for it on your smartphone app (like the ones listed above) and subscribe.
*If you missed past episodes, you can listen via iTunes or click on this page of the GodCenteredMom site to find a listing of all the episodes.
I love this! It would be beneficial to my family to learn about non-cartoon movies like Spider-Man. At 11 and 13, my boys are growing more into this area of PG and PG-13 and I would love to have some insight on these as well.
As we do more w/this, I’ll be on the lookout for more movies (even ones my kids don’t see just b/c they are only 5 and 8) to review. Thanks!
a
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Love hearing you girls chat, you both are so fun!! Can’t wait for more movie mom podcasts.
xo
Hey ladies! I enjoyed your podcast and your perspectives. My oldest daughter is 11 and I have 9 yr old and 5 yr old boys (plus a 1 yr old baby girl). My husband is a pastor and also a video game lover. It has been a journey for me to learn to appreciate video games, but I defer to him on this, because he loves the Lord and our kids. What I have learned is that it IS possible to allow your children to play games and still lead a normal, God-honoring life. The kids play Minecraft with their Daddy and the creativity that pours from my kids is astounding. We have also been able to have conversations about how passion is a gift from God and their passion for video games is an opportunity to understand the passion they are meant to have for God.
So just a different perspective. Look forward to your next episodes- especially on “How to Train your Dragon 2” as my boys loved the first one! Oh, and would love to hear your take on “Maleficent”.
Thanks, Becky! As with everything, it depends on how we lead our kids w/it. It’s all about being purposeful (which I know you are!). Do you think maybe I wouldn’t be as purposeful w/video games b/c I don’t get into them? But your husband can b/c he does like them? I wonder if is a personal/interest thing, too?
Anywhoo. Love your insight as always! 😉
a
Ooh. And I got an invite for Maleficent but didn’t get to go! Hoping I can see it soon!
a
Will your movie choices and discussion guides be geared toward various age groups? (3 – 5, 6 – 10, etc.) I’m excited to do this with my daughter!
Hmmm. Well, mine will be for *my* kids’ ages (5 and 8)! But Heather might be able to accommodate more. And really, any of them can be a jumping off point. (I hope!)
Check out Heather’s links above to see some we’ve already done. 🙂
I love the distinction you made between watching and meditating on a movie. And, it made me think of the flip side – the difference between just reading and really meditating on God’s Word. It’s ok for our kids to be “into” Star Wars or princesses and ok for me to enjoy watching Survivor or reading for book club – but, let’s meditate on what counts.
Thank you so much for this podcast. What a great idea! I don’t let my kids watch too many movies (ages 3- girl and 5- boy). The few times that I’ve tried to engage in a mini conversation about the movie we just watched I get a blank stare from my son. I don’t think he wants to/is ready to talk about movies. I do want to start this though as I feel there should be direction in how my children learn to filter what they see in the media. I just don’t know the right approach to it. I hope you give some ideas about how/when to do have these discussions. Thanks, girls! It was fun to listen to you!