Christmas Movies for Kids Ages 4–8, Grouped by Age and Rating

The best Christmas movies for kids, grouped by age

Short answer: The shortest specials, like Olaf's Frozen Adventure and A Charlie Brown Christmas, are the usual first Christmas movies. G-rated films like The Polar Express and The Muppet Christmas Carol come next for many families. Many families wait until about 7 or 8 for Elf, Home Alone, and Klaus. Every child is different, so go by your child rather than a number.

The groups are based on two things: the MPA rating, and the content notes published by the BBFC, the UK's film classifier. The BBFC describes specific scenes, which the MPA usually doesn't, so its notes are quoted below wherever they exist.

• Short specials. Under an hour, made for the youngest viewers.
• Full-length, G or mild PG. The BBFC notes only mild or comic threat.
• Longer PG films. The BBFC notes slapstick violence, mild bad language, or scary moments.

Below the three lists there's a section on popular Christmas movies that aren't meant for young children, including National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Some older films, like Home Alone and A Christmas Story, have no reason listed in the MPA database, only the rating itself.

Christmas movies for toddlers and 4-year-olds: short specials

Short answer: These are short, which makes them easy to stop and easy to finish before bedtime.

• Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017). Rated G by the MPA, about 21 minutes. Olaf sets out to find holiday traditions for Anna and Elsa. The BBFC found "no material likely to offend or harm."
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). A TV special, so it has no MPA rating. About 25 minutes. Charlie Brown tries to find the meaning of Christmas while directing the school play.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). The original cartoon, a TV special with no MPA rating. About 26 minutes. Our How the Grinch Stole Christmas page compares this version with the 2000 and 2018 films.
• Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004). Rated G by the MPA, about 68 minutes. It's made of five short stories with Mickey and his friends, so it's easy to stop between them.

Watch together, and agree before you start that your child can say "pause" at any time.

Good Christmas movies for kids 5 and 6: G and mild PG

Short answer: These are full-length films with a happy ending. Where the BBFC has published notes, it describes only mild or comic threat.

• The Polar Express (2004). Rated G by the MPA, about 100 minutes. The BBFC notes scenes of mild threat, "including a person falling from the back of a train before they are caught, a train skidding about on breaking ice, and a puppet seeming to come to life and scare a boy," and says these scenes "are swiftly resolved."
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). Rated G by the MPA, about 86 minutes. The BBFC notes mild scary scenes as Scrooge is visited by spirits, including "a tall, silent, hooded and faceless ghost who directs Scrooge to a vision of his own grave," and a sad vision of a kind young boy who has died. It adds that "none of these spirits mean any harm to Scrooge," and their scenes come with comic moments.
• Arthur Christmas (2011). Rated PG "for some mild rude humor," about 97 minutes. The BBFC notes a sequence in which lions chase the hero and his friends, but says the threat "is broken up with comic elements and the scene is fun and exciting."
• The Grinch (2018). Rated PG "for brief rude humor," about 86 minutes. The BBFC notes "comic slapstick incidents" and "brief and swiftly resolved moments of threat." In the UK, a cut version was rated U.
• The Santa Clause (1994). Rated PG "for a few crude moments," about 97 minutes. A divorced dad accidentally becomes Santa. For its 2020 cinema release, the BBFC found "no material likely to offend or harm."
• The Santa Clause 2 (2002). Rated G by the MPA. Scott Calvin has to find a wife to stay Santa, while a toy copy takes his place at the North Pole.
• Noelle (2019). Rated G by the MPA, a Disney+ film. Santa's daughter sets out to find her brother, who is supposed to take over from their father.

Christmas movies for 7- and 8-year-olds

Short answer: These are popular PG films that many families watch every year. The BBFC notes more slapstick violence, mild bad language, or scary moments, and many families wait until about 7 or 8.

• Klaus (2019). Rated PG "for rude humor and mild action," about 97 minutes. The BBFC notes "frequent scenes of mild threat," including "scary skeleton toys and puppets hanging in a dark room" and a rope noose on a gallows used as a bell ringer, plus comic fights with "kitchen knives, spades and household implements."
• Elf (2003). Rated PG "for some mild rude humor and language," about 97 minutes. See the Elf parents guide section below.
• Home Alone (1990). Rated PG; the MPA lists no reason for this 1990 rating. About 103 minutes. The BBFC notes slapstick violence against two burglars, "occasional mild bad language, such as 'shit' and 'crap'," mild sexual humor, and booby traps that "might be dangerous if copied," like a heated door handle and water poured on icy steps.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). The live-action film is rated PG "for some crude humor," about 104 minutes. The BBFC notes that the Grinch "attempts to scare people, although these scenes are brief and comic," moments of innuendo, tricks "that would be dangerous if copied," and flashbacks that show the Grinch "being mocked and bullied in school."
• Miracle on 34th Street (1994). Rated PG "for some mild language." A department-store Santa goes to court to prove he's the real one.
• A Christmas Story (1983). Rated PG, with no reason listed. A boy in the 1940s wants just one present: a BB gun.
• Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020). Rated PG "for some thematic elements and peril." A toymaker and his granddaughter try to win back an invention that was stolen from him.

An Elf and Christmas Vacation parents guide: two very different films

Every December, thousands of parents search for a parents guide to two movies in particular: Elf and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. They're very different films.

Elf is a family movie. Its MPA rating is PG "for some mild rude humor and language." The BBFC lists more detail: mild bad language ("pissed," "crap," "friggin," and "damn"), "very mild slapstick violence" in a comic fight in a toy store and a snowball fight, jokes about burping and breaking wind, and a comic shower scene in which "no actual nudity is shown, only implied." It also notes adult characters drinking and smoking.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) is a comedy for grown-ups. It's rated PG-13, which means parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The MPA lists no reason for this 1989 rating. The BBFC notes "infrequent use of strong language," sexual references and partial nudity in a daydream scene, and that "it is implied that a cat is accidentally killed by electrocution." It's often on TV in December, so it's worth checking before a young child watches it.

A few other recent Christmas movies are also PG-13 rather than family films: Red One (2024), "for action, some violence, and language," and Spirited (2022), "for language, some suggestive material and thematic elements." For what that rating means, see PG-13.

Christmas movies with scarier moments

Short answer: Some Christmas movies are closer to Halloween films. These are rated PG with scary images or scenes in the reason, and many families wait until 8 or older.

• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Rated PG "for some scary images." The BBFC notes "mildly scary characters, such as skeletons, witches and talking pumpkins," and a scene in which "Santa is kidnapped and tied up but no harm comes to him," and says any horror "is balanced by elements of humour." If you're choosing between spooky films, our Halloween movies for kids list sorts them by how scary they are.
• A Boy Called Christmas (2021). Rated PG "for peril, action and thematic elements." The BBFC notes "a large troll," chases, and a scene in which "a boy witnesses his father fall from a snowy cliff edge" after saving him, along with "gentle references to bereavement" for the loss of a mother. It adds that scary scenes "are not sustained."
• Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009). Rated PG "for scary sequences and images." A motion-capture version of the Dickens story, with Jim Carrey as Scrooge and the three ghosts.

If your child loves the Christmas Carol story, The Muppet Christmas Carol tells the same tale with a G rating.

What do G, PG, and PG-13 mean for a Christmas movie?

Short answer: G means general audiences, all ages admitted. PG means parental guidance suggested: some material may not be suitable for children. PG-13 means parents are strongly cautioned, and some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

For Christmas movies, the reason next to a PG is often mild: "rude humor," "mild language," or "crude moments." That's different from many Halloween films, where the reason is often "scary images." The reason is worth reading, because it tells you what kind of scene to expect. For the official wording, see what PG means and rated G.

A G rating doesn't promise a movie has no tense moments. The Polar Express is rated G, and the BBFC still lists mild threat in it.

Many Christmas TV specials, like A Charlie Brown Christmas, have no MPA rating at all, because the MPA rates films, not TV programs. Some streaming films, like Klaus and Jingle Jangle, are MPA-rated.

How to pick a Christmas movie if your child still believes in Santa

Short answer: Think about what the movie says about Santa, not only about its rating.

Many Christmas movies are about believing. In The Polar Express, a boy is starting to doubt. In Miracle on 34th Street, a court decides whether Santa is real. In Elf and The Santa Clause, adults don't believe at first. A child who still believes may enjoy these, and some children may start asking questions afterward.

A few things that may help:

• Watch together. You'll know which scene raised the question.
• Ask before you answer. "What do you think?" may tell you whether your child wants reassurance or the truth.
• Follow their lead. A child who goes straight back to the snowball fight may not be worried at all.

If the questions keep coming, our guide is Santa real? has ideas for answering kindly.

How to watch a Christmas movie together

Watching together may change how a sad or tense scene feels for a young child. Three simple habits may help.

Agree on a pause. Before you start, tell your child they can say "pause" at any time. Knowing they can stop the movie may give a child some control.

Check the weather inside. At a tense or sad moment, pause and ask: "What's the weather inside you right now? Sunny, cloudy, or stormy?" Naming a feeling may help some children step back from it. In our program, this is the lesson "Weather Inside."

Notice that it passes. After a sad scene, point out that the feeling came up and went back down, often by the next funny moment. That's "The Wave," another lesson in our program: big feelings rise and pass.

Christmas movies are long, and many are on in the evening. Splitting a 100-minute film across two nights is fine. For more movies by rating, see our list of G-rated movies.

What is a good Christmas movie for kids?

For the youngest viewers, short specials like Olaf's Frozen Adventure (rated G, about 21 minutes) or A Charlie Brown Christmas are a common start. For 5- and 6-year-olds, The Muppet Christmas Carol (G) and Arthur Christmas (PG for some mild rude humor) are films where the BBFC notes only mild or comic threat. Watch together the first time, so you can pause if a scene is too much.

Is Elf appropriate for kids?

Elf is rated PG "for some mild rude humor and language." There's no scary villain. The BBFC lists mild bad language such as "pissed" and "crap," a comic fight in a toy store, jokes about burping, a comic shower scene with nudity implied but not shown, and adults drinking and smoking.

Is Home Alone appropriate for kids?

Home Alone is rated PG; the MPA lists no reason for this 1990 rating. The BBFC notes slapstick violence against the burglars, "occasional mild bad language, such as 'shit' and 'crap'," mild sexual humor, and booby traps that "might be dangerous if copied." Many families wait until about 7 or 8. Our Home Alone page lists ratings from other countries.

Is Christmas Vacation appropriate for kids?

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is rated PG-13, which means some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The BBFC notes infrequent strong language, sexual references, partial nudity in a daydream scene, and an implied death of a cat by electrocution. It isn't a children's movie, even though it's often on TV in December. Elf (PG) and Home Alone (PG) are family films about holiday chaos.

Is The Polar Express scary?

The Polar Express is rated G. The BBFC notes scenes of mild threat: a person falling from the back of the train before being caught, the train skidding on breaking ice, and a puppet that seems to come to life and scare a boy. It says these scenes are swiftly resolved. Some young children may still find the dark night train tense, so watching together may help.

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