Family Friendly Christmas Movie Favorites

A few weeks ago I mentioned sharing a blog post on my family friendly Christmas movie favorites! Several of you responded that you would love to hear what they are, and I am excited to share them with you!
These family friendly Christmas movie favorites are full of Christmas spirit, clean and uplifting. We enjoy them each and every year as part of our family traditions as we celebrate my favorite holiday, Christmas! As we go through these please know, these are just from our personal collection. I realize there are probably many more out there, so please feel free to comment any that I am missing!

To make things a little easier for those who are just looking for a quick reference list, I am separating my family friendly Christmas movie favorites into different categories. Hopefully at a quick glance, you can find some new titles you haven’t seen before!
Family Friendly Christmas Movie Favorites for Younger Kids
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer
- Frosty the Snowman
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
- Polar Express
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
All of these movies are so special and magical to me. I especially love watching them with my boys because it reminds me of watching them myself growing up. The Original Christmas Classics Collection which includes Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town were always a must. My mom especially loves Rudolf and has an entire collection of figurines from the Rudolf series that she displays each year at Christmas.

When Polar Express came out, I remember our family sitting and watching the movie in amazement. The scenes were so colorful and magical and really sparked so much Christmas imagination in us. We still watch it year after year and my dad loves singing and dancing silly to the hot chocolate song with the grandkids.
Honestly I could write so much about these, I love them all so much, but you will just have to see them for yourself and let me know what you think!
Family Friendly Christmas Movie Favorites for Older Kids
Now I do realize several of these choices have words or scenes that aren’t appropriate for all ages and that is why I put them in a different category. I also learned after buying them on DVD that they can be a bit different from the versions that we watched on cable growing up haha! Use your own discretion and family guidelines when going through these, check the ratings on another site I love called IMDb that can tell you exactly what is in each movie before you view it.

Regardless, this list once again contains so many great Christmas choices. From the wise story we can learn in A Christmas Carol of where to put our priorities this time of year, especially during a very materialized holiday to the imagination sparked by watching The Santa Claus and pondering if all of that could actually be true, we can say this list can help keep the spirit of Christmas alive even in your older kids.
Family Friendly Hallmark Christmas Movie Favorites
- Trading Christmas
- Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Once Upon a Christmas Miracle
I feel like most either love or hate Hallmark Christmas movies haha! Yes, I realize they all have a similar plot line, but something about these just pulls me right into the story! These are feel good movies, that are sure to put you in the Christmas spirit and fun to watch with girl friends or significant others (if they will agree to it! haha).
Classic Family Friendly Christmas Movie Favorites

These classics will always hold a special place in my heart and I am sure you have heard of most. Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas may not sound as familiar to you, but they are beautiful Christmas classics that I definitely recommend!

After reading through this list, it is funny to me that I was never bothered with so many variations of Santa Claus, the North Pole, and how Christmas Eve really goes down haha. Instead, this list brings me joy recalling the memories as a little girl of the magic and spirit of Christmas. Oh if I could somehow type it and explain to you how special it was and still is! All I can pray for is to keep it alive by sharing it now with my own boys.

I hope you have enjoyed this list of family friendly Christmas movie favorites I have put together for you. Did I include your Christmas favorites? Or do you have others that I missed? Let me know in the comments below and I hope this sparks some Christmas happiness for you and your families.

PIN IT FOR LATER

I love White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut, and A Christmas Carol. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them! When my son was 2, he was stuck on Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer. He wanted to watch it long after Christmas was over. I finally hid it and told him that Rudolph had to go back to the North Pole to rest up.
Haha aw what a sweet memory! I love it so much! Thank you for sharing this with me!
Andrea. I love “ Holiday Affair” with Janet Lee and Robert Mitchum and “ Remember The Night “ with Barbara Stanwick and Fred McMurray. Both of these movies were made in the 40’s. Love your movie list too. I watched them many times. Hugs
Ooh thank you for these suggestions!
We just happened to watch The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant last night. Really enjoyed it.
I love that movie so so much!
Over Thanksgiving I watched Klaus on Netflix with my adult children. Really sweet animated kid’s movie telling an interesting and original (at least to me) Santa origin story. Definitely worth adding to your list 😊
Yes, we love this one too! Thank you so much for adding it here in the comments!
We just finished It’s a wonderful Life! I never miss this one! One of my favorites is Holiday Inn. As much for the Inn itself….as the actual movie!
Merry Christmas!
Yes, I do love that one too! I forgot about that, thank you for adding it in the comments!
Thank you so much for this list. It will be a lot of fun to watch some of these movies. Most of them i do not know. I live in the Netherlands and i am not always aware that there are so much more christmas movies available in the usa.Wil
Thank you so much. Most of them i don’t know. It will be so much fun to watch some of them.
I realise that there are much more movies available in the USA then in the Netherlands were I live.
Have a great werk
So happy to hear this! I hope you love the new ones, and have a great week too!
Great List!!! Thank you for sharing your favorites !
You are welcome!
Many of your family favorites are ours as well. We watch Elf every Thanksgiving and White Christmas on Christmas Eve and pack as many others in between.
If you like the ”oldies” like Christmas in Connecticut, then here are a few more for you to consider that we own and enjoy.
Holiday Affair (Robert Mitchum)
Desk Set (Hepburn & Tracy) love!
Bundle of Joy (Debbie Reynolds)
It Happened on 5th Avenue
It’s not actually a Christmas movie but centered around Christmas time and one of my all-time favorite “chick flicks” is While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock). Love it! And if you haven’t seen the 2009 version of Little Women… it’s fantastic!
Hello Trudi! Thank you so much, I have seen many of these and love them so much, including Little Women! Thank you!
Not really a Christmas movie, but my family has to watch it every year. Funny Farm
with Chevy Chase has the most beautiful Christmas scenes. Always puts us in the
Christmas mood. if you have not seen it, you won’t be disappointed.
Thank you, I will look into that one too!
Also a must, The Family Stone. Beautifully set during Christmas and a beautiful story with some
wonderful actors in it. A must see!
Oh thank you so much, I will look into it!
The Christmas Candle is one of our favorites!
Thank you so much, I will keep this in mind!