7 Summer Movies Your Children Will Want to Watch

1. The Garfield Movie (May 24)

Garfield's peaceful existence is shattered when two (canine) gangsters kidnap him and Odie and take them to their outpost, where Garfield is rescued by his long-lost father, Vic. The trio then gets entangled in a dangerous yet hilarious heist at a local dairy farm. The backdrop to the plot is Garfield's distrust of his father, who allegedly abandoned him in a dark alley as a kitten. The film includes solid lessons about reconciliation and features the voices of Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, and Cecily Strong. Rated PG for action/peril and mild thematic elements.

2. Inside Out 2 (June 14)

The adventures of Riley continue as she enters her teen years -- she's 13 now -- and experiences a new range of emotions: Anxiety, Envy, and Embarrassment. Suddenly, her tried and true emotions -- including Joy -- are suppressed. This Disney/Pixar film is the sequel to the 2015 blockbuster Inside Out, which followed Riley as she moved from the Midwest to San Francisco. The new movie includes the voices of Maya Hawke, Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, and Liza Lapira. Rated PG for some thematic elements.

3. A Quiet Place: Day One (June 27)

Blind alien monsters with an acute sense of hearing invade Earth. They also eat people. It's a prequel to the 2018 film A Quiet Place and its 2021 sequel A Quiet Place Part II, although it spotlights not the Abbott family portrayed by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, but instead, a woman in New York City fighting for survival. Krasinski co-wrote it and produced it. This franchise isn't appropriate for young children, yet the first two films were tame enough for most teens and some tweens. They also contained plenty of family-friendly themes. Rated PG-13 for terror and violent content/bloody images.

Photo credit: ©Paramount

4. Despicable Me 4 (July 3)

America's favorite supervillain-turned-good guy -- Gru -- is forced to go on the run with his family when the evil Max Superball escapes from prison. In Despicable Me 4, Gru also has a new addition to the family: a baby boy, Gru Jr. It's the fourth film in a franchise that began in 2010, and that has had two spinoffs: Minions (2015) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). The latter movie grossed $100 million on opening weekend in the U.S. and finished with $370 million domestically, making it one of the most successful films post-pandemic. Universal, which owns the films, is hoping to repeat those numbers. It's a kid-friendly franchise with a redemptive story arc. Rated PG for action and rude humor.

5. Twisters (July 19)

Tornado chasers team up to try and predict -- and perhaps even tame -- nature's most powerful storms. The film follows the story of a meteorologist who is haunted by a past encounter with a twister and travels to the open plains to help test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she encounters Tyler Owens, a brash "tornado wrangler" who draws as many crowds as he does clicks on social media. Universal describes it as an "adrenaline-pumping, seat-gripping, big-screen thrill ride." The trailer certainly supports that description. It's the sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language, and injury images.

6. Harold and the Purple Crayon (Aug. 2)

An adventurous young man who can create anything simply by drawing it embarks on a real-world journey filled with imagination and wonder. It's based on the 1955 children's book of the same name and tells the story of Harold, who draws himself off the pages of a book and enters the physical world, where he eventually learns that his powers have fallen into the wrong hands. Harold and the Purple Crayon stars Zachary Levi (Shazam! franchise), Lil Rel Howery (Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie), and Benjamin Bottani (Leo, The Chosen). Rated PG for mild action and thematic elements.

7. Ryan's World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure (Aug. 16)

It's a feature-length film spotlighting one of YouTube's most popular channels: Ryan's World. (It has 37 million subscribers.) The film is a mix of animation and live-action. "Making a feature film has been a dream of ours that became a reality," said Shion Kaji, Ryan's father and CEO of Sunlight Entertainment, the family's company which is producing the film. "We are over the moon that we will be able to share our newest, biggest adventure yet and connect with even more fans who love to laugh, play, and learn like we do." Rated PG for action/mild violence.

Related Resource: The Hidden Dangers Lurking in Children's Entertainment

Media is bombarding our children at every turn, and at the same time, the generation gap is widening.  Christian Parent/Crazy World Podcast host Catherine speaks to the many ways that entertainment and media are bombarding our kids’ lives with deeply concerning messages. Listen in to hear how to recognize the hidden dangers lurking in your children's entertainment. Listen below! Be sure to subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!