74 Best Christmas Movies for Kids to Watch All Season Long
From old classics to new favorites, animated to live action, for toddlers through teens, these are the films to stream.
We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.
When it comes to finding the best Christmas movies of all-time, it's not a coincidence that most of them are family movies. Sure, sometimes you want to take in a gory holiday horror movie to cut through the treacle. But more often, the holidays come with feelings of nostalgia that take you back to your own childhood Christmases. And then, when you grow up, you want to share the same movies with your own kids, and keep the holidays and rituals going.
To that end, these are the best kids' Christmas movies to watch in 2023. A lot of them are those old classics that you watch year after year — only now you don't have to check the TV listings and set the VCR to catch them. Some of them are new favorites, so you can throw something different into the mix and see if you like it enough to add to the yearly rotation. There are animated shorts for the little ones, and a couple more mature entries for the teens and tweens.
Throw some peppermint into the popcorn, brew up some hot cocoa and choose one from this list next time family movie night rolls around.
Looking for more Christmas movies? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
The Best Christmas Movies for Kids on Netflix | The Best Romantic Christmas Movies | The Best Christmas Movies on Disney+
Genie
Follwing in the now-long tradition of casting our best comedians in genie rolls, Genie stars Melissa McCarthy as someone who's been trapped in a jewelry box for thousands of years. She is summoned around Christmastime in the present, however, by a man who lost his job and is in danger of losing his family. Will he be able to use his wishes to put everything right?
The Naughty Nine
Forget Ocean's 11 — this is The Naughty Nine. When kids on the naughty list don't receive a present from Santa, they plan a heist to take the gifts for themselves. It premieres on The Disney Channel before coming to Disney+ on November 23.
The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday
In 2022's The Bad Guys, a bunch of animals with bad reputations decided to walk the straight and narrow. But can they stay on the "nice" list, even when Christmas is the perfect time for stealing presents? What if it were up to them to save Christmas?
Family Switch
Christmas can be such a busy time, and one family starts to get distant and disconnected during the run-up to the holiday. But then something amazing happens: The parents and children switch bodies, on a day when each one of them has something important to handle. Will they be able to make it through without screwing up each other's lives — and re-forge those family bonds?
Candy Cane Lane
Chris (Eddie Murphy) wants nothing more than to win his neighborhood contest for the best Christmas decorations. (Don't we all?) In order to get a leg up, he enters a bargain with an elf — and doesn't realize that the price is basically his life. Can he find a way to defeat the elf? This comes to Prime Video on December 1.
Merry Little Batman
We know that the Grinch has tried to steal Christmas — but what about the Joker, or the Penguin, or any of Gotham's other fiends? In this full-length animated movie, when Damian Wayne — Batman's Son — catches wind of a plot to ruin the holidays, he tries to step into his father's shoes (if not his batsuit). It comes to Amazon's Prime Video on December 8.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever
Fans of the Wimpy Kid book series already knows what happens to Greg Heffley over his holiday break: He gets — gasp! — snowed in with his family! Will they make it to the other end of their Christmas vacation intact? This will come to Disney+ on December 8.
Dashing Through the Snow
This Disney+ original has all the makings of a classic Christmas movie. There's an adult, a social-worker named Eddie (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), who has lost his holiday spirit. There's a man in a red suit (Lil Rel Howery), who goes by Nick, who might help Eddie restore it. When Eddie takes his daughter to work with him on Christmas Eve, they get tangled up in an adventure with Nick that might change his life forever.
Best. Christmas. Ever! (2023)
This Netflix family comedy is great for those who are prone to holiday FOMO. It's about two college friends: Jackie (Brandy Norwood) and Charlotte (Heather Graham). Jackie's annual holiday letters make her life seem perfect, and when Charlotte is unexpectedly at Jackie's house a few days before Christmas, she goes on a mission to find out the truth behind the merry missives. It arrives on Netflix November 16.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Holiday FOMO is one thing, but Christmas melancholy is another. This perennial Peanuts classic leans into the feeling that, sometimes, Christmas just doesn't feel very merry — though there's always hope to turn it around.
PREVIEW: How to Watch and Stream 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' This Holiday Season
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
This animated classic is a meeting of two genius minds: Dr. Seuss, creator of dozens of beloved children's books, and Chuck Jones, legendary animator. And these are two great tastes that taste great together, since Jones's animation style really gives life to Dr. Seuss's creation. Add in the voices of Boris Karloff as the narrator and Thurl Ravenscroft as the one who sings "You're a Mean One," and you've got a near-perfect holiday treat.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
When you think of holiday entertainment, the stop-motion specials of Rankin and Bass — and there are so many of them! — immediately spring to mind. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is the most famous for a good reason, since it has such a great cast of characters, from the misfit toys to Yukon Cornelius. It also has a good message about accepting others' differences.
Elf (2003)
Will Ferrell is so funny in this, playing a clueless elf who enters the "real," world, it's easy to forget that it's only rated PG.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
This is for all the ones out there who start to doubt Santa's magic. It's about a man who proves — legally! — that Santa is real, and also changes the minds of some of the doubters out there.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
For those who are more Halloween fans, this stop-motion Tim Burton movie says, well, why not both? Songs by Danny Elfman, especially "What's This?" are good enough to earn a spot on your yearly holiday playlist.
Klaus (2019)
This Netflix original movie seemingly came out of nowhere in 2019 to pick up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. (It lost to Toy Story 4, but won the BAFTA.) And when you watch it, you can see why: It's a gorgeous animated feature about a postal worker who befriends a lonely toymaker — and you can see where this is going.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
There are so many A Christmas Carol adaptations, but only one has Kermit the Frog. Unlike other Muppet holiday specials, The Muppet Christmas Carol is feature-length, so it's better for kids who have longer attention spans. For hardcore Muppet fans, last year Disney+ started offering a "restored" version of the film, featuring "When Love Is Gone," a song that was cut from the theatrical version.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
No one knows how, but somehow the Guardians of the Galaxy have become the Marvel heroes most associated with Christmas. Last year, they get their own LEGO advent calendar. Then, they starred in their own holiday special, about how the gang wanted to cheer up Quill, who had the holiday blues.
Home Alone (1990)
Okay, the best parts of this movie are about how 8-year-old Kevin sets a series of booby traps to stop a pair of robbers from a home invasion, which isn't exactly in the Christmas spirit. But the experience does teach him to appreciate being with his family during the holidays, which is something we all need to be reminded of once in a while. And if you already watched the reboot and this film and still want more child antics, there's always the sequels: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Home Alone 3, Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House and Home Alone 5: The Holiday Heist.
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO WATCH ON HULU
RELATED: The True Story Behind 'Angels With Filthy Souls,' the Gangster Movie in 'Home Alone'
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
It's impossible to watch this one without getting the song stuck in your head, so be prepared to thumpity-thump-thump your way through the rest of the day.
Watch Next
Watch a Clip from Erin Krakow's New Hallmark Movie
Will There Be a New 'Hannah Swensen' Film in 2024?
Best Movies to Watch Memorial Day Weekend
See Hallmark's "Spring Into Love" Movie Schedule
