Rev Up Movie Night: Host a Drive-In Showing
Boost interest and attendance in your next movie night by creating your own “drive-in” showing with the help of some cardboard boxes and a little imagination. This idea is easy, inexpensive and keeps little audience members busy before the show!
Materials Needed: Cardboard boxes big enough for children to sit in, box cutters for the adults to use, acrylic paints, brushes of various sizes, paper plates, tape, glue, cups and blankets (optional).
Step 1: Gather Your Boxes
This may take a little bit of finessing in terms of soliciting box donations from patrons and local businesses. Remember, you want your boxes big enough to comfortably fit a child. Seal the bottoms with extra packing tape.
Step 2: Advertise Your Event and Pick Your Movie.
Create fliers, post announcements, post to your social media accounts and advertise on your website to draw interest in this event. It may help to have a sign-up sheet for this event, so you can get an accurate number of boxes that you will need. Don’t forget to encourage your patrons to bring blankets to make their “cars” more comfortable. Next, book your showing by calling your Movie Licensing USA manager. Great movie suggestions for this event include Cars, Cars 2, Herbie Fully Loaded and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but any new release can also draw a good-sized crowd.
Image courtesy of Osgood Elementary
Our PAT organization at Osgood hosted a "Drive-In Movie Night" with our annual site license. Students were encouraged to make cars out of cardboard boxes that they could "drive" to the movie. Any student who decorated a car was entered into a drawing to win a copy of the movie we showed! This is our second year working with Movie Licensing USA and it is one of our students’ favorite events! Osgood Elementary
Step 3: Start Painting.
Before the night of your event, grab your boxes and some paint. Add a basecoat to the cars to help decorating go faster. These cardboard cars can also be cut before they are painted or after they have dried to help speed up car creation. When patrons arrive, let imaginations run wild! Big brushes will help detailing the “cars” go quicker, while smaller brushes will keep kids occupied for longer stretches of time.
Step 4: Cut it Out.
While kids are painting, parents can do the cutting. To keep the car sturdy, fold in the sides of the boxes. Encourage parents to customize their child’s creation with windows, doors and shapes. A windshield can even be made by folding down one of the flaps of the box and taping the top fold to its bottom half, then cutting out the center. Once the cars are dry, have the kids glue on the paper plates for wheels and cups for headlights. They can even make vanity license plates with their names on them.
Step 5: Park and Watch the Show.
Once your cars are finished and have dried, it’s time to “park” them for the show. Have the kids place their cars where they want to watch the movie. Pass out some movie-themed treats like popcorn or theater candy to keep inside of their boxes during the movie. After the show, encourage families to take their cars home!
Image courtesy of Osgood Elementary