Make a Cinema at Home – a fun activity on a rainy day

We just had 3 beautiful sunny days here in the West of Ireland. Actual sunglasses were needed. And it was glorious!! Well, today it’s back to the gray, cloudy, rainy weather we typically find here. I wrote a post last year with 10 simple rainy day activities to do with the kiddies. Basically, they are what we get up to on rainy days like today when the kids can’t go outside to play.

One item on the list is to go to the cinema or create your own cinema at home. The kiddies & I equally enjoy this so I decided to snap a few photos so I could share what our home cinema experience is like.

You can simply turn on a movie & close the curtains… or you can make it really fun for the kiddies with a few simple, super easy steps!

Step 1: Snacks

No trip to the cinema is complete without snacks. I mean, come on! I use cups that have lids & straw holes to prevent spills in the sitting room. They look like the actual cinema cups so the kids love it. We make popcorn & pour some into a bowl for each person. And we take out the tin of sweets so everyone can pick one.

I set the snacks up on the center island like this…

Step 2: Charge for the snacks & tickets

Yes, I make my kids pay to watch a movie in the sitting room. No, not with real money! It’s way more fun to set up a little cinema cash register where the kiddies can line up to pay & choose their snacks. It takes no time to set up but makes the cinema at home experience more exciting.

We have a little plastic shop that we use. If you don’t have one, a toy cash register works just as well.

Have the kids get their play wallets & money & form a queue at the cinema. They each state which movie they want to attend & order their snacks from the shop (as shown above). In our house, for five euros they get a ticket with snack combination deal. I save old gift cards that the kids play with & pretend they are credit cards.

If you wanted to create cinema tickets to hand out when the children pay that’s a fun extra & adds to the cinema vibe. But, if it’s a last minute at home cinema trip it works just as well without paper tickets.

I set up the cinema till in the kitchen & stand behind the shop. Then I direct the kids to theater 2 a/k/a the sitting room where their film is showing.

Step 3: Add a dash of imagination

Imagination is one of the best gifts you can give your kiddies. Imaginative kids turn into intelligent & open-minded adults. Growing imagination through this type of play as a family is a gift for the kids & parents alike. We are never too old to use our imagination! So jump into this game with your heart & mind – it will be a real trip to the cinema then.

Step 4: Close the Curtains

Make your sitting room as dark as possible so that it is like a cinema. Close the curtain & any doors. It’s nice to have this done in advance of the kids buying tickets so that when they enter the theater it feels realistic.

And that’s it! This is so simple to set up, it only takes a couple of minutes to pop the popcorn & pull a few things together. But it’s well worth it & makes the at-home cinema experience all the more fun!

All that’s left to do is enjoy the show!

What are your favourite rainy day activities? x