14 Winter-Themed Kids' Movies For Snowy Days

Winter movies are often lumped in with Christmas movies, though ironically, Winter only starts a few days before the holidays. After stuffing your face with holiday desserts and finding new places for all of the gifts your kids received, spend the rest of their school break and the cold months to follow snuggled up on the couch watching snowy movies together.

Read through for our 14 favorite Winter movies for families.

01
The Mighty Ducks
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The Mighty Ducks

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 9 and up

What it's about: In this classic hockey movie, a hot-shot lawyer is forced to coach a pee-wee hockey team that everyone doubts. Eventually, Coach Bombay gains the respect of the young kids and teaches them how to win while confronting his own past in the final game.

What to look out for: The kids on the team have classic '90s kid humor, which includes farting, swearing, immature jokes, and other forms of playful banter, especially physical comedy.

02
Frozen
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Frozen

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 3 and up

What it's about: When newly crowned Queen Elsa of Arendelle uses her mysterious powers to create eternal Winter, her sister, Princess Anna, seeks to find a solution to the accident along with a man raised by trolls, a snowman, and a reindeer.

What to look out for: Though this universally loved kid flick is pretty tame, there are a few instances with Hans that are a little unnerving, like when he has Elsa in a holding cell and tells Anna he never loved her as he leaves her to freeze to death.

03
Miracle
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Miracle

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 8 and up

What it's about: Miracle tells the inspiring tale of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team that changed the sport of hockey and united a nation with a new feeling of hope and a stronger belief in miracles.

What to look out for: There's a bit of profanity in this one, a few fights, and a scene in which Kurt Russell makes the entire team do enough conditioning drills to make them all puke.

04
Rise of the Guardians
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Rise of the Guardians

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 7 and up

What it's about: In this cute flick, the fantastical characters in your child's life — the Tooth Fairy, Santa, the Sandman, and the Easter Bunny — all work together to defend children from Pitch Black, who turns dreams into nightmares while children sleep and causes them to cease believing in the Guardians.

What to look out for: There are a few scary scenes, most of which include Pitch Black (and Jude Law's ominous accent) and his horses, and there is a ton of fighting (in which Santa specifically is tattooed and wields swords).

05
Snow Day
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Snow Day

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 7 and up

What it's about: Are the kids on a snow day? Pop in this hilarious tale about a group of elementary kids who do everything in their power to ensure that school stays closed and their break is extended.

What to look out for: Although this film contains mostly nothing but family fun, the teenage girl that is the object of a boy's affection is a bit sexualized (think tight tops and a bit of nipple visible through said top).

06
Jack Frost
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Jack Frost

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 7 and up

What it's about: When Charlie's distant father dies in a car wreck, he comes back a year later when his son plays a "magic harmonica" in the form of a snowman. Throughout the heartwarming and hilarious film the two rekindle their broken relationship, giving them both closure.

What to look out for: I'm still not over Michael Keaton's car crash nearly 20 years later, and your kid may never be either. That, and the fact that even though he eventually puts things right with Charlie (as a snowman), he has to go back to being a normal dead person. As he disappears (but not before appearing as Michael Keaton once more) the camera pans and "Landslide" begins to play through the credits — it's devastating, but so worth the heartbreak.

07
Cool Runnings
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Cool Runnings

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 7 and up

What it's about: A charming group of underdogs from Jamaica band together as a bobsledding team in the hopes of making it to — and winning at — the Olympic Games.

What to look out for: On their road to glory, the team is involved in and witnesses many a bobsled crash, and there's some mild swearing.

08
Eight Below
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Eight Below

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 8 and up

What it's about: This gorgeous movie features adorable sled dogs and the late Paul Walker on an excursion together until a storm hits and the dogs get left behind. They must survive on their own while Walker desperately tries to get back to them in Antarctica.

What to look out for: There are a number of scary cold-weather situations in this movie, such as a character falling into icy water, getting frostbite, being trapped within a blizzard, and a few sad scenes with the dogs in which they're left behind, injured, or killed.

09
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 8 and up

What it's about: Based on the classic book, four kids travel through a wardrobe to the snow-covered land of Narnia to free it with the guidance of a mystical lion and learn of their destiny.

What to look out for: There is a fair amount of understated violence in this one, and the evil White Witch is pretty terrifying.

10
Happy Feet
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Happy Feet

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 5 and up

What it's about: Happy Feet is a sweet tale about a penguin named Mumble who discovers he has no "Heartsong" (and a terrible singing voice). Learning to embrace his tap-dancing skills, he sets out on an epic journey that proves you can make all the difference in the world if you stay true to yourself.

What to look out for: Although this movie is completely about penguins, there are a few racial stereotypes slipped in.

11
Mr. Popper's Penguins
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Mr. Popper's Penguins

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 6 and up

What it's about: Inspired by the children's book of the same name, this silly movie follows a group of penguins kept by a successful real-estate developer in a Manhattan apartment in the hopes that his kids will hang around more. He slowly slips from work-hungry to penguin caretaker and ultimate family man thanks to the flightless birds and their antics.

What to look out for: This movie has about as much slapstick humor as you'd expect from a Jim Carrey movie, and though your kids will giggle uncontrollably at all of it, there is one caveat: Carrey's character is divorced and the film has a very "happily ever after" ending that might give unrealistic expectations to children of divorce regarding their own parents.

12
Ice Age
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Ice Age

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 6 and up

What it's about: The entire Ice Age series focuses on three unlikely (and hilarious) friends who work together to solve problems. In this first film, they seek to return a lost human baby to his family.

What to look out for: There's a lot of cartoonish violence, scary animals, and dark, scary scenes. Also, the baby is lost in the first place because its mother drowns, which isn't shown, but is heavily implied.

13
Snow Dogs
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Snow Dogs

Rating: PG

Ages it's appropriate for: 8 and up

What it's about: Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a dentist who goes on an Alaskan adventure after finding out he's adopted. He learns about himself through participation in a dog-sled race, and thanks to the eccentric cast of characters.

What to look out for: There are a tons of suspenseful scenes, but if your child can tell the difference between cartoonish, slapstick violence and real peril, they should be OK.

14
March of the Penguins
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March of the Penguins

Rating: G

Ages it's appropriate for: 6 and up

What it's about: This fascinating documentary explores the annual journey of Emperor penguins as they march, single file, to their traditional breeding ground — guided by instinct.

What to look out for: Because this is a documentary, there is real life footage of penguins mating, dying, or being killed, and being blown about by freezing cold gusts of wind in shocking conditions on their trek through the tundra.