Family Friendly Christmas Movies to Stream This Holiday Season
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Have you been wondering if a streaming service might be worth the monthly fees? The holidays are the perfect time to give them a try. Most streaming services have a free one-month trial, so the holidays are a great time to try out a few streaming services and see which one might be best for your family. There are plenty of family friendly Christmas movies–dramas, comedies, and classics. You can find Christmas movies to keep everyone in the family happy.
I’ve broken my list down by streaming service. It’s easy to look at the movies available on the list and decide if that service has movies your family will love. I’ve also included movie lists for Google Play and YouTube. Here you can rent or purchase movies to stream. We love having this option in our home. Our entire family can watch a movie for less than $5.00.
Before we dive in and look at all the Christmas movies available for streaming, let’s talk about some ways to enhance our screen time. Watching movies is typically considered non-interactive, meaning we’re sitting still and not really actively engaging with the media in any way. But that doesn’t mean we can’t connect with the media.
Encourage your kids to engage and connect with the movies they watch by asking questions about the movie.
To help your kids connect with the movies they stream, ask:
- What was the message of the movie? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
- What was your favorite part of the movie?
- What was your least favorite part of the movie?
- Who was your favorite character? Why?
- Who was your least favorite character? Why?
- Did any of the characters make you angry? Why?
- Did you begin to see any of the characters in a different light as the movie progressed?
- Did anything in the movie remind you of an experience you’ve had in your life?
It’s also interesting to see how the same story is interpreted by different directors and actors. Younger children can watch the animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and then compare it to the 2000 version with Jim Carrey.
Teens can compare and contrast the numerous versions of A Christmas Carol. Start with older original versions on Amazon or this highly rated 1938 version. Or, rent the 1984 version. Then, look at some animated versions like Mickey’s Christmas Carol and The Muppets Christmas Carol. You can also check out Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey Finally, learn about how A Christmas Carol came to be in The Man Who Invented Christmas.
Now that you have some ideas for helping your kids connect and engage with movies, get out your holiday calendar. And instead of running from event to event, plan in some cozy family evenings with pizza, popcorn, and Christmas movies! Here’s a huge list of Christmas movies from PureFlix, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Google Play, and Disney+ to help make your planning easier.
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on PureFlix
All the content you’ll find on PureFlix is safe for young eyes. So, if you want to be 100% sure the Christmas movies you stream this holiday season are family friendly, a subscription to PureFlix is just $12.99/month. PureFlix has added to their list of holiday movies, so this year you’ll find lots of movies to add to your family’s holiday movie list.
Abbott and Costello: The Christmas Show
Go Look in the Manger-Candy Maker’s Christmas
Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: Late Christmas Gift
The Ride: A Christmas Eve Parable
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on Disney+
Disney+ is now available and parents everywhere are rejoicing. Verizon customers who have the unlimited plan can get Disney+ FREE for one year. It’s a great way to try Disney+ out to see if it’s a fit for your family. Hulu subscribers can also try Disney+ at a steep discount. If you currently use Hulu be sure to add on Disney+ to your currently Hulu subscription instead of adding Disney + as a separate streaming option. Doing so will save you money and make managing your family’s streaming services so much easier.
I love that the content available on Disney+ is family friendly. You won’t run into any “R” rated content while browsing for movies or series there. But, this doesn’t mean young kids don’t need guidance when selecting content to view. Child profiles still may pull in movies and series you don’t want your child viewing. And, there currently isn’t a way to remove content from your child’s profile. I do love the default setting for play is set so movies won’t play on and on, setting our kids up for binge watching. Well done Disney! And, there is plenty of kid friendly content available. All in all, Disney+ is a great resource for families. Here are just some of the fun holiday movies you’ll find available on Disney+.
Decorating Disney Holiday Magic
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast The Enchanted Christmas
Disney’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Disney’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol
Disney’s Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
Disney’s Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas
Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol
Disney’s Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
Santa Clause 3 the Escape Clause
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on Amazon
There are two options on Amazon. You can rent movies for a small fee. Renting movies on Amazon doesn’t require an Amazon Prime account. Instead, you pay to rent the movie.
The second option is movies available under Amazon Prime. These movies available under Amazon Prime are part of that subscription service. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you don’t “rent” the movies or shows. They are part of your subscription.
There are a number of Christmas movies for families available on Amazon. Some are available in Amazon Prime; others are available to rent or purchase. I’ve divided this list up to note which movies are part of Amazon Prime and which are not, simply because many of us have subscription services to multiple streaming services. If you do as well, be sure to check the Christmas movie list for the other streaming services to see if the movie your family would like to watch is on that list.
Amazon Prime
Movies on this list are FREE if you have an Amazon Prime account. You can rent them without an Amazon Prime account.
Adventures in Odyssey: Electric Christmas
Amazing Christmas Recipes for Kids
An American Girl Story – Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas – Season 102
Christmas Minecraft Movies with Little Kelly
If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie
Mandie and the Forgotten Christmas
Amazon
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Ultimate Edition
Miracle on 34th Street – 1994 Edition
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on Netflix
Netflix is a great streaming service if your family loves movies. Subscriptions start as low as $7.99/month. And, Netflix does offer parental control options. It’s easy to set up a profile for your child and set an age restriction on the content your child can view. And, it’s easy to remove a movie from your child’s Netflix feed if there is a movie you don’t want your child to watch. This means you can keep family friendly Christmas movies in your child’s profile.
Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure
Curious George-A Very Monkey Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas
Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of the Mouse
The Great British Baking Show: Holidays
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on Hulu
Hulu has movies. But, this streaming service is best for those who want access to television shows and are looking to ditch their high priced cable service. Hulu subscriptions start at $5.99/month.
We dumped our $99/month cable service and went with Hulu’s commercial free service. I’m happy to pay an extra $11.99/month for no commercials. And, I’m still saving a boatload of money.
Hulu does offer parental control features. They aren’t as robust as Netflix. And, there isn’t a way to remove a show from your child’s profile. If you have a 13-year-old who is going to watch shows you have deemed inappropriate for them, keep their account set to “only kid friendly programming.”
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
Holiday Baking Championship-Food Network
Miracle on 34th Street – 1994 Edition
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on YouTube
YouTube is a great place to find free videos. But did you know you can rent many popular movies on YouTube? It’s easy and the rental for most movies ranges between $2.99-$5.99.
A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Curious George Christmas Special
Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Fairly Odd Parents: A Fairly Odd Christmas
Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Santa Claus in Coming to Town (45th Anniversary Full Version)
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Family Friendly Christmas Movies on Google Play
I love Google. I use Google music and books. So, I was thrilled to learn I could purchase or rent movies through the Google Play Store.
We had many of our favorite Christmas movies on VCR or DVD. They’ve definitely seen better days. So, I’m purchasing a couple of our favorites instead of renting. Then we’ll have them to watch again and again every year.
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey
Eloise: Little Miss Christmas – Bundle
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – 1966 animated version
Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You
Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version)
Miracle On 34th Street (the 1994 version)
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas
What is your favorite family friendly Christmas movie? Be sure to share it with us so we can continue to grow our list!
I love the idea of helping kids to connect with the movies! I have Netflix, so I will be looking through your Christmas movies on the Netflix list. We love to watch A Christmas Story and Polar Express. My partner’s favorite is How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
Those are some of our favorites as well. Would you believe I didn’t see A Christmas Story until I was an adult?!
Great questions to keep kids engaged also to discuss learning points and take-home messages!
Pete’s Christmas was fun!
Thanks Rebecca! What a fun movie. I’ve added it to the list.
So many good options. We always watch Elf…that is our favorite. But there are so many more to see from this list!
Elf is a favorite in our house as well!
What a great list. We just watched The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Thanks! I love the Muppets.
on top of my hallmark movies this is great to have
Thank you for putting this list together! It’s massive! I’m always looking for family friendly movies, especially around the holidays.
I definitely need to save this! Love all the tips about watching movies together but more importantly, all the fabulous suggestions. Thank you!
I truly love getting to watch the Christmas movies with my kids. They bring up such good conversations.
They do! We often complain about kids “veggie out” in front of the screen. But movies can create great conversation starters.
Great list of Movies. My fav. will always be Home Alone.
We love Home Alone here as well.
Oh wow what a cool list! I’m definitely bookmarking this for Christmas break!
Definitely going to look at some of these with they kids.
I’m definitely enjoying all of the Christmas picks on Disney+ this year! Great list!
-Jennifer