Now that school has been out for awhile and it’s officially summer, I’ve been trying to cross things off our summer bucket list. One of those items was to watch an outdoor movie. There are several places nearby that offer them in the summer—and we have attended them in years past—but I really wanted to see if we could pull one off at home. Sometimes it can be such a hassle trying to corral all the kids at the public park. Today I’m sharing how to make your own drive-in at home! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone.

family movie night at home

Mike and I decided to create our very own drive-in movie theater right in our backyard! It’s so easy to host a movie night now that you can stream on any smart device. We have a wi-fi enabled projector that is just the thing we need to make these fun family movie nights a regular occurrence!

| Read: The Best Family Movie Marathons on Disney+ |

When we saw that VUDU offered Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip we knew that was the perfect movie for our first outdoor movie night of the summer. My kids have been asking to watch it for ages! Plus, it gave us the ability to go all out with our drive-in theme.

Some other fun car-themed movies when you make your own drive-in:

• Cars
• Back to the Future Trilogy
• Speed Racer
• Turbo
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

make your own drive-in

So we had a movie, copious amounts of snacks, and our smart projector. Now all that was left was our cars for our very own backyard drive-in theater. I grabbed some cardboard boxes, some brown kraft paper, some tape, and markers. These were the materials we needed for each kid to make their own cardboard car they could watch from.

First I cut all the flaps from the boxes, as well as cutting out sections for the “windshields”. Then I covered them with brown kraft paper and taped along the edges. After that all that was left was for my kids to decorate their cars! They had a great time designing what their cars would look like. They were so cute while they decided where the “steering wheels” and “buttons” should all go. Plus, it made for a great pre-movie activity to keep them busy while we waited for it to be dark enough to watch our movie outside.

You know how sometimes you plan a fun activity for your kids. But by the end of it you’re left wondering if the hassle was worth it? Well, I’m pleased to report that this was not one of those times. After our recent outdoor move night the next morning one of the first things my daughter said to me was “the special movie was awesome!!” Mission accomplished.

Find more fun family ideas on Pinterest!

What are some other fun and creative ways you can use your data with your family?