We LOVE Halloween in our household! When October 1st comes around, we begin our month of not-so-spooky movie watching to start the countdown to Halloween. Because our kids range in age from 7-10 and don’t love super spooky movies, we’ve developed a list of kid-approved movies that are in our regular rotation.
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1. Curious George’s Halloween Boofest
This is number one on our holiday movie list. When we had our first son, he had an obsession with Curious George, and we watched this movie religiously. It’s not the holidays in our home until we watch Curious George’s Halloween Boofest. It’s a super cute movie with a cute message about keeping traditions going to create wonderful memories.
Rating: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
2. Halloweentown
Our daughter and I absolutely love the entire series. The storyline continues with the same characters until the second to last film. There are goblins and monsters but nothing too spooky where the kids felt they had to hide their faces. The deeper meaning of embracing who you truly are is what I appreciate most about this movie.
Rating: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
3. Haunted Mansion
This one has a little more of a “mature” level of spooky. There are a couple of scenes where the kids had to hide their faces but nothing that scares them so much that they don’t want to watch it again. Warning, the opening scene does show a hanging, and I had to have an interesting conversation with the kids about what they just saw. I thoroughly enjoy this movie, and I love how it still leaves us at the edge of our seats no matter how many times we watch it.
Rating: 9/10 in terms of cuteness, 7/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
4. The Addams Family (2019)
I love this movie, and it has a great message about acceptance. It is 100 % little kid and adult approved. We love all of the characters, but our favorite is Cousin It. We tried showing the kids the original 90s Addams Family and it was not happening. Also, there was more adult comedy than we remembered! PG in the 90s is completely different from PG nowadays!
Rating: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
5. Hotel Transylvania (all of them)
Every single movie in this series is just as good as the next! We love how old school spooky meets modern-day suburbia. My husband and I connect with the werewolf family. The look of distress on the parent’s faces and the children all running circles around them. Same. All of it, same.
Rating: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
6. ParaNorman
This is probably one of my favorite Halloween movies. The message it gives about judging based on stereotypes and how damaging that is to society makes this movie a 10/10 in my book. It’s a plus that it was sprinkled with hilarity throughout the entire film.
Rating: 7/10 in terms of cuteness, 8/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
7. Goosebumps (2015)
Our oldest loves the Goosebump series. It has a good level of scary scenes that keep the parents interested throughout the entire film. The spooky scenes didn’t have the kids covering their faces or having nightmares. The idea of a doll coming to life did stick with them until bedtime though, and it was harder for them to fall asleep the first time they saw it. But it still makes our regular rotation annually.
Rating: 9/10 in terms of cuteness, 8/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
8. Room on the Broom
This is a cute, short film that is also a book, and the kids still continue to love watching the film. It has a message of acceptance and working together and gives me warm feeling every time I see it.
Rating: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas
This is a great Halloween or Christmas movie. A classic with iconic characters and a great message. We shouldn’t be defined by one thing, and it’s healthy to explore.
Rating: 9/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
10. Hocus Pocus
The beginning was a little scary for the kids, but they loved the rest of the film. There is some lively language–again, PG in the 90s is different than PG nowadays! This film also has iconic characters and is a must-watch in order for kids to understand the millions of references made to the movie throughout the season.
Ratings: 2/10 in terms of cuteness, 9/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
11. Witches (New Version)
Again, we tried to watch the original Witches, and it was WAY TOO scary for the kids. I would say this is a modern-day PG-13 for sure. We still sat through the whole movie to make sure the kids appreciated the newer one. They definitely appreciated the newer movie more as did we. It was a lot cuter and less gory.
Ratings: 2/10 in terms of cuteness, 9/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
12. Monster House
This movie is a favorite of ours. It’s not your run-of-the-mill cute kid movie. It has a dark theme all throughout, but it has a deeper meaning at the end which you know I enjoy!
Ratings: 2/10 in terms of cuteness, 8/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
13. Under Wraps
This little gem is something we found on the Disney Channel app. My husband and I never saw it during our childhood, but we’re glad we found it and were able to enjoy it as a family. It has a cute message and doesn’t have any spooky scenes aside from a mummy rising from the dead, but he’s cute.
Ratings: 9/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
14. DreamWorks Spooky Stories
The kids love these little short films, and honestly, it’s not Halloween if we haven’t watched these at least twice. These shorts can be found on Netflix, and I hope they NEVER go away!
Ratings: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
15. The Boxtrolls
This was a great movie that we stumbled upon on VUDU. Since we loved ParaNorman so much, it suggested it to us, and we were not disappointed. Very cute movie with a cute message and a substantial level of suspense with good twists.
Ratings: 10/10 in terms of cuteness, 10/10 in terms of little kid-appropriate spookiness
Grab some spooky snacks and get your spooky on with the entire family! Feel free to add your own favorites in the comment section.
Originally published September 2022.
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