Children naturally love watching movies especially if it involves fun animated characters, adventure stories, wacky scenes, and a bit of action and fantasy romance on the side. Apart from entertainment, children actually gain a lot of benefits from kids learning videos.
All of children’s movies are designed to tickle the young mind’s imagination while providing important life lessons. On top of that, parents who are co-watching with their children get to spend some fun family quality time. Children’s movies do more than just entertain the audience who are young and the young at heart. Basically, it is a lot more than just enjoying one’s free time. Here are some of the many benefits children get while movie watching.
Improves their Vocabulary
A child’s mind works like a sponge. It is able to take in everything your child sees or hears. And in this case, fun and interesting conversations embedded in the movies can significantly help expand your child’s vocabulary. As children enjoy those fun and hilarious scenes in the movie, they become exposed to new words and get to learn their meanings.
However, it is inevitable for children to come up with a few questions in their mind while watching a movie. This is simply why parents are strongly encouraged to watch movies with their kids. Parents can supplement their children’s learning by facilitating an educational conversation as the latter becomes curious on some terms and events in the film. With the help of a dictionary or an encyclopedia, parents can guide their children in using these information resources to find the answers to their questions on their own.
Stimulate Emotions
There is no doubt that movie watching can get children relaxed. Aside from that, emotional responses of children are effectively stimulated through the film’s narrative. Children become hooked with the film’s story and in turn, empathize with the main characters. Such immersion to fictional and non-fictional events allow the children to steer their behavioral development on the values and morals depicted in the film.
Learn Foreign Language
Movies especially those produced for the young audience often have a cultural context. This in turn introduces a number of foreign words to your child. Through characters that personify a country’s culture, children become increasingly interested in appreciating and experiencing different corners of the world. Check this article for professional teachers opinion regarding how to teach English as a Second Language to Kids.
Boost Critical Thinking Skills
Although kid’s movies often revolve around themes that render a fight between the good and the bad, the stories are rigged with complications along various scenes which stimulate the child’s critical thinking skills. The child’s imagination also comes into play as he/she tries to presuppose an alternative or original ending of the story.
All-Time Best Movies for Kids
Don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, we have come up with a short list to give you and your kids a fun head start.
Finding Nemo
The film “Finding Nemo” offers a wide array of values and morals you’d want your child to learn from. It teaches the value of friendship as Dory and Nemo’s father Marlin share a sense of camaraderie while on a quest to rescue the latter’s son. Basically, the theme of the movie teaches the importance of obeying parents and avoiding unknown and dangerous places.
Toy Story
Toy Story is hands down one the best movies ever created for children. Its story is as fun and as playful as its characters. As the title clearly implies, the movie is a story of toys – living toys! The main characters are a gang of different toys owned by a young playful boy named Andy. It teaches the value of acceptance no matter how different and unique one may be. It also enlightens children to value their personal things and toys no matter how old or simple they are.
Meet the Robinsons
The film showcases the story of a young inventor, Lewis, who found himself discouraged and disappointed due to a certain shortcoming in a science fair and was eventually snatched by a young time traveler who eventually made the former meet his entire family in the future. Basically, the story of the movie teaches children about not losing hope or to keep moving forward no matter the problems that may arise. It also teaches about forgiveness and acceptance.