Halloween Movie Jar

My kids and I love this time of year. The weather cools down. There's a ton of fun things to go out to do. When we stay in, the tv has to have a Halloween movie on. It's always been a little bit of a challenge to decide what to watch. One kid wants to watch some of the spookier movies, the other not so much. Neither kid seems to want me to watch the movies I loved as a kid. So, we leave it to the hands of fate. 

I took the idea of my Summer Theme Jar and decided to make it work for movies. We all wrote down our favorite Halloween movies and put them in the jar. We will each take a turn drawing a movie and have to watch what we pick. We make sure everyone is comfortable, get our popcorn and enjoy it together. 

Making the jar 

You can use any container you have lying around. Make it themed and use an old pumpkin bucket. Whatever you have, make sure to get the kids together to help decorate it. Here's what we used:

• Jar
• Felt
• Paper
• Scissors
• Markers

1. Measure out the felt to line the jar so no one can see inside when they draw. We used black felt and made a white moon to attach to the black. I drew little bats on the moon and rolled it up to place inside the jar, smoothing it out so it was pressed against the sides of the jar.

2. Decorate the lid. I drew a jack o'lantern to place on top. Stickers are also good to use.

3. Cut strips of paper and write out the names of everyone's favorite movies. If anyone is worried about never getting their picks, have each person use a different color paper. Fold up the strips and put them inside the jar, giving them a good shuffle.

There are a ton of movie suggestions you can find online. I like a good mix of the spooky and the fun. Here are some ideas that I found:

This is, in no way, a complete list. You'll have your favorites. Throw in whatever you like. Add the Mickey Mouse shorts for younger kids. Whatever gets your family in the spirit of the holiday.