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?
How fun! Love the idea.
OMG, I am in love with this post and the snacks and the cars! Tyson’s is one of my guiltiest pleasures. They taste so good and they are so easy to make. 🙂 Great, great post!
What a cute idea! This looks like a great rainy day activity…making and decorating the cars (maybe some tape in different colors?), doing some kid cooking for snacks, then movie time!
This is a fantastic idea! Love it!
What a super FUN idea! I’ve never had popcorn with m&m’s and Skittles in it but I like mixing sour patch kids with mine LOL!
OMG the cutest idea ever!!! Those are some serious movie snacks, too! I want to come to your house for movie night!!! Love the idea of snacking on Tysons, too. So yummy!
LOVE this!! We have family time each weekend and this is a perfect idea. Yes, way too late for little ones and not worth sacrificing the sleep time they so need. I’m going to pin this to come back to again soon!!
How cute! We would watch the Disney Planes movie! My daughter loves pink/purple/red so that’s what color our cars would be! We like to eat the Tyson Popcorn Chicken with ranch dressing!
Oh my oldest is obsessed with ranch Dressing! we have to try that dipping sauce! 🙂
This is so cute. I wish I had hung on to some of our moving boxes now.
Too, too cute!! And great for winter nights at home when everyone has cabin fever.
You had a totally awesome party! Love what you did!
Love this idea! I have always wanted to make the drive in cars for my kids. I bet they had a blast!
This is such a cute idea. I love how it encourages family time.
My son would love the cars I would love the snacks lol How fun for the kiddos thanks for sharing.
I love this post and those cute cars they made to go to the Drive In! How clever and what great snacks as well.
Well this looks like a blast, but what wouldn’t be with those fun Tyson chicken popcorn pieces? I wonder who put their car on their head first….
Love the cars!!! They got rid of the drive-in in our hometown a few years ago. Can I come hang out at yours?
I cannot believe what a cute idea this is. Your kids look so happy and you can pull out those “cars” any time. What a fun idea for a birthday party or sleep over too! The chicken looks yummilicious and the veggie snacks are a perfect accompaniment.
What an adorable idea!! I love the drive in cars concept.
Oh my gosh! I love this whole dang on party! I want to be invited. I bet they had thee most fun and you are the most amazing Mom ever. How are you gonna one up this? The chicken bites are perfect and I love the sides. I am putting this right on into my great moves by a great mom category!
This is such a great idea! I am totally doing it!
What a totally cute idea! LOVE IT! Tyson is one of my favorites! Thanks for sharing your drive in movie!
Oh my God, what a fun idea! I’m never going to forget this trick and saving for my own future children haha. So smart!
This is so adorable; I love the little cars!! 🙂 I am pinning this to do when my niece and nephew come to visit.
Those cars you made are awesome! The kids look like they are really enjoying their drive in movie. So fun!
Hahaha so so cute . Love this idea .
Ohh wow this is cool! My son loves sitting on boxes too! I wish he has kids his age to join him in a movie play date 🙂
Super neat and creative. I bet everyone had a total blast!
What a cute idea. I need to do this the next time my Grandson comes over. Thanks for the great idea
Such cute “cars” for the drive in. And come on, WHO Doesn’t love a meal you can eat with your fingers out of a bowl?! Great idea.
This is the cutest idea I have ever seen! I think my son would love to sit in his little car and watch a movie! I’m going to try this out soon. Thanks so much for an post!
Love the cars!
Awesome.. Thank you for sharing
How adorable and how much fun for the kids. You are very creative. I have never had Tyson’s popcorn chicken before but I have been wanting to give it a try. Looks like a quick and simple solution for a meal every once and awhile.
This looks like a lot of fun. What a super cool idea. My 8yr old and toddler would love this. My party pooper pre-teen might not so much but it’s ok. I’m going to steal this idea. Thank you. 🙂
You always have the cutest ideas, Amber! I love those cars! How creative.
Those cardboard box cars are too cute! I love this idea to amp up movie night at home.Thanks for sharing all the details so we can recreate it in our own homes.
these cars are really cute – I’m sure the kids can think of plenty of games to play with them!
Oh my I love this idea! I wish I was your kid right now! That must be possible for grown ups too. I bet this would be so much fun 🙂
that is the cutest thing ever! What fun, this would be perfect for our Friday parties. I always make the last day of the school week a full out party. This would be great!
Oh my gosh, what cute cars! I love going to drive-in theaters too. We just had one in the past few months watching Despicable Me 2. I love your indoor drive-in theater idea. Got to think about doing one soon.
This looks like a great idea for a movie night. The kids would certainly love all of the snacks and the pretend play.
oh how cool is that?! you are so creative i would have never thought of that!! so awesome~
This idea is very cool and kids will surely like it. A great birthday idea, too! I will definitely give this a try on my little man’s b-day.
YOu are so creative. I can imagine the kids will cherish this memory forever. And what a great way to contain kids! HAHAHAHA. You sneaky devil you. Super snacks too!
haha! I know right? I didn’t even plan about keeping them contained, but it so did the trick! Especially since miss Jade can’t climb out by herself, so she was stuck there until she actually ate something. No running around during dinner time! Yeah! lol. It also kept the dog from eating off their plates…thankfully. silly dog.
Oh my gosh, this is the cutest idea! Our closest drive-in theater is about an hour away, so this is a perfect idea for us! Pinning so I can reference it later! Thanks so much!
This is so great and what a wonderful idea. Looks like you guys had a great time.
I love this idea. It is so clever and my kids would love it, even the big kids.
Loved your craft idea for cars! It inspired our Doc McStuffins Mobile Clinic. I shared a link to your post on my post and pinned. Very creative!
Monica
http://www.happyandblessedhome.com/games-and-fun-activities-for-a-doc-mcstuffins-slumber-party/
What a great idea. I love this and it makes a night extra special. Cute car boxes! The Chicken looks great now I wanna buy some!