DIY Drive-In Theater Movie Party- Family Night Dinner and a Movie night

Have you ever been to a Drive-in Theater? Oh they are so much fun! We still have a running drive-in movie theater in town too! The kids have often mentioned that they wanted to go. But in our area it doesn’t get dark enough to visit the drive-in movie theater until around 9 PM. That is just far too late for the kids to be staying up. So I decided it was time I gave them a fun indoors DIY drive-in theater movie party for our family night. It would offer us an easy meal solution but also some great memories.

This would give them a hint of a drive-in movie party, but also something we could do during the day and on our own time table. And let me tell you the kids absolutely loved this drive-in theater movie party. And they are asking to do it again on Saturday!

Creating your own DIY Drive-In Theater Movie Party

The best part about our drive-in theater movie party is it’s a lot of fun, but doesn’t take a lot of effort or money! All you need is some delicious food and DIY cardboard cars for the kids to sit in. I was even able to get all my supplies at my weekly Walmart Shopping trip and it cost me less than $25!

To begin you need to gather a few supplies:

• random cardboard box you have around your house that is big enough for the kids to sit in. 
• black paper plates
• plastic table clothes from party section (costs about $1 each)
• Tape
• scissors
• Red duct tape (optional)

All of our boxes have flaps. You can either cut off the flaps or just tape them down. I taped my flaps down because I plan on using these boxes when we move in a few months. After I taped down the sides I opened up the plastic table cloth. I didn’t open it all the way though. Just enough that the height is long enough to cover the height of the box and have a little to fold under.

Then I started taping the table cloth around the box. Once I got back to the beginning of the box, I cut off the excess table cloth and taped the edges together. Then you flip the box over and fold up the extra like you would fold and tape when wrapping a present. Tada! Now your cardboard car is almost complete! Seriously that is the part that takes the most time.

Now tape on the black paper plates as tires. Four tires, two on each side. You get the point. And finally if you want, you can add some red Duck Tape as the “rear” lights. And other Duck Tape as racing stripes or such.

And now your drive-in car is complete! Seriously so easy. But the kids can’t stop talking about how awesome they are!

Easy meals for Dinner and a movie drive-in theater movie party

With the cars created, now the next step is picking out the food. We like to do a dinner and a movie for our family night. But obviously you want something that is a finger food type meal so it is easy to eat in the drive-in cars, and won’t make a big mess. And what movie is complete without Popcorn?

Since we love Tyson, the natural choice for us is the Tyson popcorn chicken. Seriously that stuff is so good! And the kids like it too! And how can you go wrong with a drive-in theater movie party with a name like Popcorn chicken? If you want to try it out, Walmart will actually be having a live demo in their stores starting September 12, 2013! Check out the store directory to see if your local Walmart is participating and dates you can find the live demo! Learn more by visiting Tyson online.

It was super easy to cook up the Tyson Popcorn chicken. Just 20 minutes in the oven while I got the rest of the finger foods ready. So easy. Then added in some carrots and grapes which I know the kids will actually eat.

And we can’t forget dessert! What is a movie party without actual popcorn? But this isn’t your normal popcorn! It’s our popular Party popcorn mix. It’s super easy to make too! Just start with our popular Homemade Kettle corn recipe with coconut oil. Then toss with your favorite M&Ms candies and Skittles. Again, the kids can’t stop talking about our Party popcorn either. It’s a hit!

Add in some of the favorite drinks. Our kids rarely get soda, so I figured they could choose between their favorite 100% juice or mini Root Beer cans. The boys wanted both. Jade choose the juice.

Selecting the show for your DIY Drive-In Theater movie party

The last step to hosting a great drive-in theater movie party is the actual movie! What better movie to watch for kids in a drive-in movie theater than Cars 2! It was a blast watching my kids enjoy their lunch of Tyson Popcorn Chicken, party popcorn and drinks in their makeshift cardboard cars watching Cars 2!

Plus it totally got me excited for the release of the new Fast & Furious 6 DVD that is releasing soon! Have you seen it yet? We keep hearing that it is really good. And the husband and I both love a good action movie with fast cars. More details on the presale of this DVD will be available at the demos!

Now you can just sit back and enjoy your afternoon or evening of family movie night! And if you are really ambitious, this Drive-In Theater movie party would be a fantastic birthday party idea too!

What movie would your family watch at your drive-in theater movie party?

What color would your kids make their cars?

What is your favorite way to enjoy Tyson Popcorn Chicken?