Oscars for Kids

The Oscar telecast is almost like a holiday at my home. We turn on the early coverage or watch one of the nominees that are already out on DVD, this year it's "The Help," or we attend the Oscar Night America event at the MJR theatre. This year will be a little bit different though, see we just had our first kid, Malcolm Alexander, on Tuesday. Does this mean I have to give up on the Oscars? I certainly hope not, in fact as the years go on I mean to involve my child in my love for the movies every chance I get, and if you love movies I suggest you do the same.

Our obstacle this year will be having an infant child while trying to watch the telecast, no easy feat I'm sure. However in today's technological world there are plenty of ways to watch, I have a TiVo, it may take me a little longer than usual but I'll be able to get through the Oscars, I've gotta have something to keep me awake during those late night feedings after all.

As the years go on though, I'm sure I will use the help of Grandma and Grandpa to watch my little boy while me and the misses go and check out the latest nominees. Soon Malcolm will want to know why I get excited at the end of every February for a show that only has people talking on stage. So the challenge will be to get him involved. There are several ways to approach this. The first is to get him involved in at least one of the races. The Oscar for best animated movie features three great kids film, "Rango", "Puss in Boots" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" all of which are available on DVD so you could spend time watching each of these and letting him pick a favorite. Not only does it get him interested but you can teach them about the award process and a possible lesson in winning and losing.

There are other categories as well that you can get your kid involved in, for example the animated shorts, they are all available on itunes, but I would research them before letting them watch them as just because it is a cartoon doesn't mean it's safe for kids. Then there is the best song category, this category is usually pretty safe and often feature songs from kid friendly movies, with a couple of exceptions. This year features only two songs, "Real in Rio" from "Rio" and "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppet Movie." An easy race to get your kid involved in. In fact, this year the Muppet's are presenting.

Okay you've got the kid interested, what's the next step. I would suggest taking them to the "Oscar Night in America" party at MJR, in fact they can even dress up. It's like a mini Halloween for them and can be a fun night out for you if you have a well behaved child. Trust me they will get lots of attention when dressed up and there will plenty of other people dressed up like he is.

Unfortunately, most of the big awards come from movies that are not child appropriate. I don't think I would let my watch anything except what is listed above. How do we keep him excited? Look to the past. Several musicals have won Academy Awards, just use this blog or wikipedia to look up which ones are kid safe. There have also been 10 years of a best animated category, go beyond just the winners, watch all of the nominees for the year and then talk with your child about their opinion on what they liked and what they didn't like. The you can go even further back, the person who has won the most Oscars of all time is Walt Disney, mostly for animated shorts and documentaries, find these winning movies and watch them with your kid and explain why they won and what they did different than those that came before. It may take a little research on your end, but you will end up with a little person that loves movies almost as much as you.

My challenge of bringing up a tiny movie watcher begins now. It will be slow going for a while but it should be one doozy of a ride.