Movies for 6-Year-Olds

Six is a lovely age for movie night. Most six-year-olds can now follow a full-length story and sit through a tense scene with a grown-up beside them, but a menacing villain or a sad goodbye can still follow them to bed. These are films a six-year-old will ask to see again and a parent won't mind watching twice: Pixar and Studio Ghibli, Aardman's clay animation, Paddington, a few classic musicals and one real trip to the moon.

Every pick comes from our parents' guide, and the rule is plain: every movie here has a guide age of 3 to 6. Swearing and romance barely register in any of them, so the useful distinction at this age is scary versus sad. Monsters, Inc., Toy Story and Ratatouille have villains or peril that can make a small child grab your arm. Inside Out, Babe and Encanto are more likely to bring tears, each with a loss that may prompt questions. Each note says which.

If you're not sure where to start, My Neighbor Totoro, High School Musical and Singin' in the Rain are the calmest here. Check the running time too: Toy Story and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl fit before bedtime, while The Sound of Music runs nearly three hours. When they're ready for a little more danger, try Movies for 8-Year-Olds. For evenings with older siblings, see Family Movie Night Picks.

• Paddington 2

  Movie · 2017

  The surest crowd-pleaser here: a polite bear, framed for stealing a pop-up book, charms the prison's fearsome cook with a marmalade sandwich. No swearing, and slapstick pitched right at six. Be ready for Paddington crying in his cell, a brief flashback of a performer falling to her death, and a near-drowning when his train car rolls into a river.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• My Neighbor Totoro

  Movie · 1988

  One of the calmest films here, with no villain at all: Satsuki and little Mei move to the country to be near their mother's hospital, and find a giant forest spirit living in the great camphor tree. Totoro's first roar can make a little one jump, and the frantic search for Mei brings real worry before a happy ending.

  Where to stream →4+ Parents' guide

• Toy Story

  Movie · 1995

  Six-year-olds understand Woody's jealousy when a flashy new toy takes his spot as the favorite, and it all happens in about 80 minutes. Language is mostly playground insults. The scary part is Sid, the boy next door who blows toys up, and his gloomy room of toys he has rebuilt from spare parts, which turn out to be friendly.

  Where to stream →5+ Parents' guide

• Babe

  Movie · 1995

  A live-action farm story for a six-year-old animal lover: an orphaned piglet learns to herd by asking the sheep politely. It's gentle and funny, but frank about where meat comes from. A duck is killed for dinner off screen, wild dogs maul an old ewe, who is seen bleeding before she dies, and the farmer aims a gun at Babe.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• Monsters, Inc.

  Movie · 2001

  A smart choice for a child who worries about the closet: the monsters are sure a human child's touch could kill them, until a toddler named Boo follows Sulley home. Be ready for the villain strapping Boo into a machine built to pull the screams out of her, and a moment when Sulley thinks she's been crushed. There's no profanity.

  Where to stream →5+ Parents' guide

• Singin' in the Rain

  Movie · 1952

  A first old movie six-year-olds genuinely enjoy, since it's mostly pratfalls, tap dancing and a man splashing happily through puddles. Nothing is scary and nobody swears. A few things may need a word: flirting and kisses, a vamp in a short green dress in the long ballet number, and a brief film-set scene of white actors in blackface.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• WALL-E

  Movie · 2008

  Made for a robot-loving six-year-old: the opening act is told almost entirely in pictures and beeps. The romance is two robots holding hands. EVE blasts anything that startles her with her arm cannon, the ship's red-eyed autopilot turns against the humans, and late on WALL-E is crushed so badly he seems gone for good, which can briefly worry kids.

  Where to stream →5+ Parents' guide

• Encanto

  Movie · 2021

  Most six-year-olds come for the songs, especially "We Don't Talk About Bruno," and stay for Mirabel, the one member of a magical family with no gift. There's no swearing. The darkest minute is Abuela's memory of fleeing her village, when horsemen attack and her husband is killed just out of frame; the main peril is the family's cracking, collapsing house.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• Apollo 11

  Movie · 2019

  For a six-year-old who is into rockets, this is the real thing: the 1969 moon landing told entirely through restored footage and mission audio, with no narrator. Nothing is violent or scary beyond the suspense of the landing. Little ones may drift during the radio chatter, and men in Mission Control smoke, as they did then.

  Where to stream →5+ Parents' guide

• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

  Movie · 2024

  Clay animation suits this age perfectly, and Gromit, a dog who says everything with his eyebrows, is just the kind of hero six-year-olds adore. Wallace's robot gnome is hijacked by Feathers McGraw, a silent penguin with a sinister stare. The creepy part is the penguin's army of identical gnomes; the rest is slapstick where nobody really gets hurt.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• Inside Out

  Movie · 2015

  Six is about when kids start naming their own feelings, which makes Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust an easy way in. There's no profanity. The harder parts are a dream in which a giant clown chases the emotions, a dark pit where memories vanish, and a much-loved character fading away for good, which can bring tears.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• Luca

  Movie · 2021

  A sunny Pixar story for a six-year-old who craves independence: Luca and Alberto, sea monsters who look human when dry, spend a summer in a seaside town. A teenage bully shoves kids around, and villagers wave harpoons at sea monsters. Worth a word: Luca lies to his parents and runs away, and Alberto's father left him to fend for himself.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• The Sound of Music

  Movie · 1965

  A big, tuneful musical, and the seven von Trapp children give a six-year-old plenty of kids to watch. The romance is a few kisses. The last half hour turns tense as the family hides from Nazi soldiers in a dark abbey graveyard and a gun is pointed at the captain. At nearly three hours, try splitting it over two nights.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• Ratatouille

  Movie · 2007

  Remy, a rat who would rather cook than scavenge, is a hero for any six-year-old who likes to help in the kitchen. Know that an old woman's shotgun drives the rats from her house, Remy gets lost in the sewers, his father points out dead rats hanging in a pest-control shop, and a scheming chef gets the hero drunk.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

• High School Musical

  Movie · 2006

  Squeaky clean, and made for six-year-olds who sing along: a basketball star and a shy, brainy girl try out for the school musical. There's no violence, swearing or drinking, and romance stops at a kiss on the cheek. The trouble is all social, like a scheming drama queen and teammates who want the hero to stick to sports.

  Where to stream →5+ Parents' guide

• Toy Story 5

  Movie · 2026

  The newest film here, and a good fit for a six-year-old who has started asking for screen time: Bonnie gets Lilypad, a chatty frog-shaped tablet, and leaves her toys in the garage. The peril is slapstick. Watch for dance-school girls teasing her in a group chat for still loving toys, and Jessie's old fear of being left behind.

  Where to stream →6+ Parents' guide

Still can't decide? Let us pick →

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Picks are editorial recommendations. Streaming availability changes by region and over time — the “where to stream” links check current availability on JustWatch.