https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:16:08 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525574 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:44:13 +0000 tofuwad 2525574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I sold the books as a bookseller people always said to start the first book at age 8 and then read one per year and you will stay at a developmentally appropriate level. For the movies I would agree with others and say that you kind of need to err on the older end because the later movies are a lot darker than the earlier ones. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525431 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:48:45 +0000 Eko 2525431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree that I wouldn't let him watch the later ones until older, but I think the earlier ones are good stand alone movies and he can watch them whenever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525413 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:34:10 +0000 catlady 2525413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The later movies get intense and there are several deaths of beloved characters. I honestly wouldn't probably want my LO to start the series until she was closer to 10. The early ones are much more reasonable but I wouldn't want to count on a kid being content only watching part of the series if they knew that more movies existed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525411 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:31:43 +0000 Miss Ariel 2525411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think what makes it hard is the age for the first movie is way younger than the last. I think once you start they'd easily want to watch them all which could be hard to say no too. So I might try to start even older so they're old enough for them all. Maybe 9 or 10?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525376 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 18:59:17 +0000 JerricaBenton 2525376@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>7-8? I really don't think they would keep my lo's interest much before that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525321 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:55:32 +0000 caterw 2525321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 2.5 year old DD walked in on me watching the first one and sat down to watch it with me. I was super surprised that she loved it. She asks me if any cats we see are "Fessor Agonagall" and she likes to pick up sticks and say "Spittyhummus! I taked your wand away!". It's super adorable even if I'm not totally sure she gets the plot. We do skip the scary scenes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525106 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:28:45 +0000 Adira 2525106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The later movies are rated PG-13, so I would take that into account before I started watching the series.</p> <p>@honeybear: 7 or 8 for the first couple movies sounds right to me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525095 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:22:22 +0000 honeybear 2525095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Around 7 or 8? I thought it had some quite intense spots and all of the HP movies move at a really fast clip to get as much of the books' details in as possible, so I feel like they're probably harder than average for a child to follow if they aren't already extremely familiar with the plot and characters (and there are a LOT of characters in HP!). Also, HP is one situation where I am going to insist that LO read the book first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525088 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:17:26 +0000 LindsayLou 2525088@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it really depends on the kid. My step son started watching them around 4 or 5.</p> <p>Eta: I agree that 7 or 8 is a more appropriate age for the later movies. We didn't watch the whole series with my stepson until he was 8, but he'd seen the first movie with his mom several years before. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525084 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:14:01 +0000 lamariniere 2525084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just finished reading Harry Potter 1 last night with my 5 yo. For my son, I think the book was a little too advanced for him. It's definitely the most complex book we've read so far, and I think we generally read a lot of books well beyond his age. While he definitely understood what was going on, some of the details were lost on him. That said, he wanted to start book 2 tonight, so we did. </p> <p>As for the films, my son is a huge chicken and we won't be watching the HP movies anytime soon (he has never seen any Disney movies since even the opening scenes are scary to him). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525069 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:58:52 +0000 winniebee 2525069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lilyann: LOL. Our son refers to Bachelor and other adult shows as "Mommy shows" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525064 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:55:47 +0000 lilyann 2525064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: Mine loves movies too but mainly cartoon ones. He has seen a few in the theater and sat still the whole time! He will watch just about anything at night though...I may or may not have let him watch an episode of the bachelor with me :silly: He will do anything to stay up late, ha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525062 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:52:44 +0000 winniebee 2525062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lilyann: Mine will sit for a whole movie! He loves movies!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525060 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:52:14 +0000 lilyann 2525060@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 3.5 year old will watch parts of the movies with me. He isn't easily scared by movies but it doesn't keep his attention very long. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/at-what-age-do-you-think-it-is-appropriate-to-watch-harry-potter#post-2525058 Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:50:25 +0000 winniebee 2525058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When do you think Harry Potter would be appropriate to watch with a child? When they are old enough to read the books? I've never seen any of the movies, though I've read some of the books. Obviously there are some scary parts! My almost 4 year old doesn't typically get scared by movies, so I'm wondering when he could/should watch Harry Potter series. </p>