Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To let my nearly 3 year old watch jurassic Park?

167 replies

Roundandround1 · 26/10/2023 23:09

Dino mad at the moment and doesn't scare easily (not that he's watched lots of scary things!).

DH thinks he'll be fine with the first film, I'm on the fence.

What's the general consensus? I watched them myself as a kid and absolutely loved them but I'm not sure how old I was, definitely young primary at least I think.

I'm minded to let him and just skip over a few of the "scarier" bits (first couple of mins, kitchen scene, T Tex & toilet etc..)

OP posts:
MyBlueDiary · 26/10/2023 23:40

OP, at 2 the best you can hope for is that they won’t understand anything, in which case what a waste.

I do understand the urge to introduce your child to alll the wonderful things in the world. It’s hard to resist. But genuinely they will get more out of them if you take your time.

Original poster
Roundandround1 · 26/10/2023 23:41

ludicrous however to say the newer ones are scarier. The first one was terrifying and each subsequent instalment became more slapstick and banal

I don't know, I'm thinking more specifically of the scenes where the Raptor hybrid thingy whatever it is, is hunting the young girl in her bedroom etc... I thought that was quite a lot more intense than the older ones. Or maybe I've just not seen the old ones recently enough!

OP posts:
ChillyB · 26/10/2023 23:41

Watch Dino Dana on prime that's brilliant for younger dinosaur fans.

MissBattleaxe · 26/10/2023 23:41

Absolutely not. Nearly three means they are two. There's a dismembered arm, big teeth dripping with blood and children screaming in terror. Try some cartoons.

Original poster
Roundandround1 · 26/10/2023 23:42

MissBattleaxe · 26/10/2023 23:41

Absolutely not. Nearly three means they are two. There's a dismembered arm, big teeth dripping with blood and children screaming in terror. Try some cartoons.

I say nearly 3 because he's literally 3 in a few weeks time but yes 2

OP posts:
GeorgeSpeaks · 26/10/2023 23:43

Maybe watch it again without him to see how you feel?

jc12689 · 26/10/2023 23:44

How about David Attenborough's Walking With Dinosaurs?

Mum1976Mum · 26/10/2023 23:46

My 9 year old is very robust (comes from having older sibs) and only watched it with the family when he was 8. No way would we have let him watch it any younger:

Wellhellooooodear · 26/10/2023 23:47

No simply because he won't get the storyline. I largely ignore age ratings and make my own mind up but JP would be very boring for a 3 year old, even if they didn't find it frightening.

Gcsunnyside23 · 26/10/2023 23:48

My son and daughter did around that age and both were fine actually loved the movies. The first few are less gory. I think it depends on the child, you could watch a little bit and see how they go

LittleMousewithcloggson · 26/10/2023 23:49

No
Will either find it too scary or won’t understand and appreciate it
leave it until much later

Wanttobeok · 26/10/2023 23:49

Fuck no!!

Also, The Land Before Time will scar him for life

NannyR · 26/10/2023 23:49

If he's watched and enjoyed the age appropriate films about dinosaurs, does he actually need to see a long, potentially scary film that he won't really understand. If he's obsessed with dinosaurs, why not read a book about them or do some messy/tuff tray play with model dinosaurs.

ForfarFourEastFifeFive · 26/10/2023 23:50

If he loves dinosaurs, isn’t he going to be distraught when you let him watch graphic footage of them chasing children and eating people? It sounds mad to me.

Someoneonlyyouknow · 26/10/2023 23:55

My son must have seen JP2 when he was 5 (he commented that his 9 year old sibling would have been scared by some scenes). Not sure if he had seen JP before then. It really depends on the child. Same DS still won't watch The Witches (1990 version) because the little boy looked like him.

Redhairblackheart · 26/10/2023 23:56

We let DS watch them at that age, he thought they were hilarious! Took him to the cinema to watch one of the jurassic worlds and he was fine. My local cinema did a viewing of the original and DD who was 3 at the time, fell asleep half way through it!

LaviniasBigBloomers · 27/10/2023 00:00

Honest to god, as the parent of an 18 year old, the one piece of advice I give EVERY new parent is obey the age ratings on everything. When your 15 year old is begging for Grand Theft Auto, you say 'what's the age rating?' And you've been consistent all their lives so all they can say is, yeah, OK mum, I'm too young.

Start now, carry it through. Your future self will trust me.

LaviniasBigBloomers · 27/10/2023 00:01

Thank me, not trust me BlushGrin

Lovepeaceunderstanding · 27/10/2023 00:03

My 33 year old told me a few years back that watching Jurassic Park when he was a child had given him horrific nightmares. He was probably about 8 or 10 at the time. I think your child is too young.

TenderChicken · 27/10/2023 00:13

No don't do it. I won't let me 6 and 7 year olds watch it yet.

My 6 year old is currently waking up screaming for us through the night because I let him watch something too scary (Locke and Key on Netflix).

Also in general I think Jurassic Park is one of those films that can really affect you. I still have dinosaur dreams as an adult because of those films!

peskykiddds · 27/10/2023 01:01

Depends on the child. I saw it at the cinema when it came out and I was 9 and it scared the shit out of me. Younger sibling watched it from age 2 and loved it.

My eldest watched it younger than your kid (would have been 2.5 or so) and no issues, has always understood that dinosaurs = animals and what they then do isn't scary - to him. Has watched all the films and the most recent JW one is his favourite film ever. Youngest DC is scared of things in books and there's absolutely no way we'd let them watch JP or anything like that (although loves Small Soldiers, go figure).

So in a general sense I'd say probably not for a child that age as most will find it too scary for a good few years. But you know them best!

Wolfen · 27/10/2023 01:02

I'm quite relaxed about ratings for certain films and my dinosaur crazy boys watched it around 8.
Not only is it not appropriate for a 3 yr old but you could spoil their enjoyment of watching all the animated and Pixar type of movies once you start showing him more realistic films.
Let him enjoy all the age appropriate stuff first.

Singleandproud · 27/10/2023 01:09

There are lots of age appropriate dinosaur films and programmes to watch and by all means show him the initial clip of the dinosaurs coming over the hill with the iconic music. There is relatively little 'dinosaur' footage in it or at least positive dinosaur footage and although he won't understand it the music is tense and conveys alot of meaning even very small children can understand.

What I found with DD is I introduced some things to her too early, she was absolutely fine watching them but it ruined them for her as they became babyish even though she had never really grasped the story properly and she didn't want to watch them when she was older. Things like Harry Potter or Star Wars because it's magic and space but actually just ruined the entire franchise. I think there is real value in sticking to some of the age guidance for this reason alone

Mothership4two · 27/10/2023 01:25

When DS1 was little I couldn't understand why he suddenly started getting a string of nightmares night after night until I found out DFIL had been putting JP on for him when he went over to spend the afternoons with his GP.

junbean · 27/10/2023 01:33

No, I just watched it recently and marveled at how realistic it still is. It's a great movie but too gorey and scary. If you skip over those parts there's not a lot of movie left! You can probably look up scenes on youtube to show him. That's what I do when I want to show my kids something but not the whole thing.

Swipe left for the next trending thread