Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

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:
MaverickSnoopy · 27/10/2023 07:19

No. We fell foul of this with our 6yo after a friend put it on for her 8 and 4yo and thought we must have been too strict. My hardy not scared of anything 6yo was terrified and we turned it off. When it was released it was a PG but it recently came out at our local Vue and I noticed it was a 12. I've noticed that classifications have changed over time. My mum says that when we were children parents considered the content of a PG more then that it would appear now. That's anecdotal of course.

Tiredalwaystired · 27/10/2023 07:36

Common sense media is a really useful tool, where kids and parents give their own guidance in age suitability, especially on PG and PG13 films.

A clear steer towards 10+ on Jurassic Park. I would also be in the “no” camp.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jurassic-park

Jurassic Park Movie Review

Terrifyingly realistic dinos run amok in sci-fi landmark. Read Common Sense Media's Jurassic Park review, age rating, and parents guide.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jurassic-park

bryceQ · 27/10/2023 07:40

I wouldn't

There's a one on Disney called walking with dinosaurs or loads of David Attenborough ones - have you tried those?

Hummusanddipdip · 27/10/2023 07:45

Let him watch things like Lego Jurassic Park/World and Camp Cretaceous if you're all out of suitable stuff. Much more child friendly!!!!

DS is newly 4 and I wouldn't consider letting him watch any of the movies until he is much much older, it's just not appropriate, there's an age rating for a reason!

HobnobbingAboutHobnobs · 27/10/2023 07:46

Has he watched the series Gigantosaurus? My DD loved that during her dino phase.
I'm another one who watched JP at 8 and had a week of nightmares but then I've always been a scaredy cat!

C1N1C · 27/10/2023 07:47

WeDidntHaveWaterBottlesInThe80s · 26/10/2023 23:11

I honestly don't think it would be suitable. How about The Land Before Time to see how he copes with something more gentle?

Lol, I was watching Robocop and such from a young age without any problems, but The Land Before Time and the mother's death (like Bambi) traumatised me for life! I'm 40 now and I still won't watch them.

WobblyLondoner · 27/10/2023 07:48

Oh my god, NO!

MyCircumference · 27/10/2023 07:53

no,
wait til he is 5 or 6

Coolblur · 27/10/2023 07:53

No, he's too young. Besides you're suggesting skipping the good bits! There are loads of dino themed movies and programmes out there, plenty of time for the Jurassic franchise in the years to come.
I say that as mum to a now 10 yo who was dino mad, and Jurassic Park is one of my favourite movies ever since seeing it in the cinema as a (much older than 3) kid

hashbrownsandwich · 27/10/2023 08:06

Absolutely not.

Try Dino Ranch, the good dinosaur, land before time.

hashbrownsandwich · 27/10/2023 08:06

Dinosaur train

SpadeAndBucket · 27/10/2023 08:07

Has he seen Dinosaur Train? It's a series but there's loads of educational stuff in it and it's quite funny.

This thread makes me laugh because I also have a nearly three year old but mine is such a scaredy cat we haven't managed to watch any film at all - she's even petrified of the Julia Donaldson ones. Tried her on Winnie the Pooh and she cried and asked to turn off the bad scary bear telly 😂

ButWhatIsIt · 27/10/2023 08:11

My youngest watched it at around that age with no adverse effects.

The land before time has me sobbing at the end, no matter how many times I watch it.

Em4815 · 27/10/2023 08:16

Have you shown him Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous? My son of the same age loves it (literally only wants to watch the toothy bits!), dinosaurs are realistic (like those in JP) but no blood or gore. Later series go a bit weird with made up dinosaurs so we tend to stick to the first 2 series (on a loop .... all the time .... fast forwarding the talky bits on request ...!)

Susuwatariandkodama · 27/10/2023 08:40

I was 3 when I watched Jurassic Park, it was one of my favourite movies as a child and led to my dinosaur obsession! My two also watched it around that age and loved it, we still watch it several times a year!

Tdcp · 27/10/2023 08:41

my DD watched that age 2 and she loved it then and still loves it now.

Piratesue · 27/10/2023 08:42

My youngest was watching Jurassic and marvel films from 3, depends on the child I think

TeenMum87 · 27/10/2023 08:43

Nope. The Land That Time Forgot has nice friendly dinosaurs, Jurasic Park’s want to rip you apart!

Bells3032 · 27/10/2023 08:45

I am not a firm believer is following certificates but even for me that would be a no. there's lots of very graphic scenes in there and it's quite scary.

Has he watched the walking with dinosaurs series. i think you can get it on bbc iplayer. more realistic dinos but less scary as no people involved

legalseagull · 27/10/2023 08:55

Fucking madness. Confused

RosyPie6 · 27/10/2023 08:57

WeDidntHaveWaterBottlesInThe80s · 26/10/2023 23:11

I honestly don't think it would be suitable. How about The Land Before Time to see how he copes with something more gentle?

This film traumatised me as a child. I watched it at a friends house and cried until my mum picked me up. Have never been able to watch it since

BatshitFloralDress · 27/10/2023 09:02

Really depends on the child. My now 7 year old would have been terrified, I remember one of his friend's watching JP at 3 and I was really surprised.

Then I met my DS2. He's just 5 now but watched JP well over a year ago. He is a very sensitive child - we joke that he is scared of his own shadow. But not when it comes to dinosaurs 🤷‍♀️

We watched various scenes on YouTube before hand - to gauge if any of it was going to be too much, but he was fine. Maybe you could try that - work your way up to the whole film.

We took him to the exhibition when it was in London last year. He was fine with it. He got upset when a very realistic t-Rex 'chased' us and we briefly worried we'd gone too far, but no it turns out he was just upset because he thought Bumpy (a cute little baby Ankylosaurus) would be coming back.

Speaking of Bumpy, as others have said Camp Cretaceous on Netflix is very good. My DS doesn't fully understand the storyline in some of the later series but he doesn't care but he's not bothered about the story, he just like the dinosaurs, and Ben and Bumpy.

muchalover · 27/10/2023 09:03

Not sure why he needs to watch new and inappropriate for his age things. It's not a race. Gigantosaurus is a series about dinosaurs.

My grandson plays lego dimensions with me and loves all the characters particularly Dr Who and Gizmo but hasn't watched any of the films as they are not appropriate. We tried the Sarah Jane series but at 5 he isn't following the story and just wants to see robots so we will save it for later.

DottyLottieLou · 27/10/2023 13:48

My daughter says she is still traumatised from watching it when she was little. She's 28 now. I wouldn't.

Curlewwoohoo · 27/10/2023 14:07

I put it on for my kids and neighbours kids a couple of weekends ago, kids age 6, 7, 8, 9. Two of the four were terrified! 8yo left the room right at the start. I had forgotten it starts scary! Had to turn it off altogether at the point when the T-Rex was running it's claws along the fence, with the car right next to it, in the pouring rain... So the dinos weren't even free yet. There was too much tension, 9yo was terrified! (Ps neighbour had agreed to putting it on for her kids, they had come round specifically!)

Swipe left for the next trending thread