What age did your DC watch the first harry potter

[ImFree2doasiwant]

I'm guessing 3.5 and 5 is too young.

My dd watched it at 7 after she'd read the first book.

My 9yo thinks it's too scary. Loves the books though. I'm reading first one to 7yo at the moment.

(She has found Barbie films too scary I the past... Extremely sensitive to films-!)

Family films... Disney, Pixar, Lego films.

My 5yo has talked to me a bit about HP and asked questions. I told her we'd maybe get the first book for christmas and could read it together. Those who are saying their 6/7yos read them do you mean independantly? My 5yo is a great reader for her age but cant imagine her reading them

Shes watched bits of the mandalorian, I cant wait to introduce her to star wars and jurassic park but she quiet a scared/worrying child so I know I need to wait

OP - If you are just looking for family films to watch there are probably 100 more suitable ones for that age.

My 5 yo ds watched a bit of the first film at after school club. His verdict was 'soooooo boring' Will try again maybe about 8.

Someone mentioned family films and I feel the need to recommend Abominable, utterly the most lovely kids film I ever saw. First 10 minutes a bit tense for sensitive kids possibly but the rest is simply gorgeous.

• mentioned film recommendations I have had a wine

DD read the first 2 books at age 6/7 and then was allowed to watch the films. DSC are older and loved the books but all the children understand they can watch/read the first 2 and then need to wait a bit for the later books as they aren’t age appropriate!
How to train your dragon books are far superior anyway! Especially narrated by David Tennant as audio books...

DD was 3.5, so obviously I don't think it's too young, though I am a slack lazy parent.

I think there are two things. One, do you think they'll be scared? That's something only you will know about your children, and IMO smaller children won't be scared in the way a slightly older one will, because their grasp of it is so much less sophisticated. But if your five year old is imaginative, it might be too much.

Two, do you mind if they don't get every nuance? Personally, I couldn't give a shit about this. I love rewatching and re-reading things. It's the best. My grandparents took me to see Shakespeare at a very young age, and I grew up absolutely adoring Shakespeare and being fascinated by his work. Did I understand everything about The Tempest when I saw it first? Hell no. And I'm bright enough to admit I still don't.

I don't personally think J K Rowling is quite in Shakespeare's league. I can't begin to imagine how a story could be 'spoilt' by seeing it early on. I believe stories just become richer and more enjoyable when we encounter them at different stages.

So I'd say, if you're fairly sure your children won't be upset or scared, then go for it! Just let it wash over them, and then let them watch it again, lots of times, as they get older.

DD is 4 and she loves the films.

far too young.
it's fairly scary stuff.
I'm a big fan of letting dc read it first. so about 8-9ish depending on reading ability.

and omg does jkr write about institutional capture, gripping stuff

Wow. There's so many films that are more appropiate or family friendly for a 3 -4 year old.

Aged 4 as it was on Tv last year.... he loved it. Cue Harry Potter Lego on his 5th birthday wish list!

We've just started watching them as a family with a 9 and 8 Yr old

@PineappleUpsideDownCake

Wow. There's so many films that are more appropiate or family friendly for a 3 -4 year old.

What, please?

I'd love some recommendations and I feel as my brain is going to dribble out of my ears if I watch any more bad choices.

@Bubbletrouble43 thank you, I really do need suggestions. I'm not all that keen on much of the Disney stuff tbh.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake I'm not sure why the wow. I read the books when they first cane out , as an adult. I saw the first film I think but can't remember anything about it, so have asked the question here. I do know the late books/films are really not appropriate. Do you have any recommendations?

@SarahandQuack that's rather how I feel. I really want to sit and watch a film with them now and then but really struggle with most Disney stuff if I'm honest.

Oldest was 6, we also read the book together at that age. Just the first one. He liked it but didn't understand majority of what was happening. The book was too "slow" for him with pages of descriptions of people and places.

Sorry to disagree - my two have seen all of them and are 7 and 4 - youngest has been watching them since she was a baby. They love it, not remotely disturbed. We're film buffs, they've seen literally hundreds of films. My 7yo reads parts of the books (1-4 so far) but doesn't have the attention span yet to read it properly from start to finish. They both love the whole thing. We all love it in this house so won't prevent them enjoying the books properly when older.

@Tfoot75 can you suggest lighter alternatives? I would never watch any sort of Disney/animated film by choice so really struggling with films I can enjoy with them.

Roald Dahl ones so matilda, the BFG, Charlie and the chocolate factory, fantastic Mr fox - also dark in places but enjoyable

We like classics like father of the bride, 3 men and a baby, My girl (but sad obv) there is mild swearing though but generally we try anything PG rated. Also they love the Mr Bean films.

We just watched the muppet movie tonight, and there's the live action disney remakes like aladdin, beauty and the beast, cinderella and older ones like 101 Dalmatians if you don't like animated films.

Anything musical tends to be popular as well, my 2 love the greatest showman.

Studio Ghibli films are great. Particularly My neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s delivery service. A couple are really sad. We also like ‘Song of the Sea’.

My eldest was reading Harry Potter books at age 8. We have only watched the first 3 films now, at 11.

Right, so, all things we've already watched and watched again.

That's the issue, isn't it?

Unless you love Disney (and personally, I don't), there's not very much out there that's marketed to 5 years and under, and much of what there is (Disney!) is a bit shit and/or makes adults want to go scream in a darkened room.

My eldest is 9yo & won't be watching any of the film's yet. I want them to have read the books first &, while he's an avid reader, he's quite a sensitive soul so I'm not sure how well he'd cope with the scarier bits. I'm holding off until he's old enough to do the whole series, maybe in a year or 2. He'd not be impressed if I let him read the first couple & then cut him off. I'm predicting he'll get through the whole series in a week, 2 at most, so I need to be sure he's ready to deal with the content.

I also think it'd be a shame if he read it before he was able to appreciate it fully - he has no interest in relationships as yet & I think he'd just be a bit about Harry wanting to kiss anyone. Give it a few years & I expect he'll be starting to understand some of those feelings.

I wish I could read the whole series in one go for the first time, I'm jealous!

Mine watched the first 2 when they were about 4 or 5 and then had watched them all by about 8 or 9 I think. The later ones are a lot darker but I let them watch them eventually because they were genuinely HP obsessed!!