Elf & the 20 best holiday movies and DVDs for kids (and kids-at-heart)

Tonight (12/20/08) at 8/7c CBS airs the new holiday classic Elf! My whole family loves this movie! If you miss it, Elf is #1 on the must-see holiday movie list below!

Holiday movies and other shows infuse the spirit of Christmas (and occasionally Hanukkah too) into our lives. They're fun and usually have a good lesson to learn too. Here's a look at 20 of the best available on DVD for kids...

1. Elf - My personal favorite Christmas movie. This one stars Will Ferrell and is fun for kids and adults. It's filled with lots of silliness and good-hearted characters.
2. The Polar Express - My daughter Ava's favorite holiday film by far. She likes watching this one all year long. It's a heart warming story with beautiful animation. (If you love this movie, you'll be interested in riding the real Polar Express. Read my story on it HERE.)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks is new on DVD this year. It's a story with a good lesson about family complete with fun holiday songs, sung chipmunk style. The DVD has a new Chipmunks Christmas music video as well.
4. Dr Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas is the live action movie  of the classic book starring Jim Carrey as The Grinch. I like to read the book with my girls and watch this one. This DVD is bargain priced right now. Last week I was shopping for it and it was $20, but now it's only $7! Time to buy for the collection!
5. A Christmas Story is the ultimate story of a classic American Christmas. If you haven't seen this one you should. Note: It's not really a movie young children will like, but older children will enjoy along with you!
6. The Night Before Christmas DVD Collection is a great collection of classic kids books on DVD... and it includes stories on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and more!
7. The Nightmare Before Christmas brings a nice new Christmas story and look with lots of good songs. This one is great for kids and adults. It just came out in a new box set and on BluRay too.
8. Elmo's Christmas Countdown - This is a really fun brand new DVD. It's got lots of music and popular actors. Parents won't mind watching this one with the kids! Good stuff.
9. Snow Days - Barney, Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder and more have holiday special shows all nicely packaged on this one DVD. It's great because you can watch one at a time if you want too.
10. The Original TV Christmas Classics Collection has Rudolph, Frosty and Santa Claus is Comin' To Town and others all in one set. Some of these hold up, but others don't. Still the collection is nice to have. My toddler particularly likes to watch the Frosty cartoons and the sing-a-long classics DVD that came with our pack when we bought it.
11. Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas has several short cartoons with good lessons. For little ones who like Mickey, Donald and the rest of the gang this one is highly recommended.
12. Miracle on 34th Street may be black and white but still a great story that older children will enjoy. There's also a more modern version.
13. 8 Crazy Nights - This is Adam Sandler's funny animated movie about Hanukkah. It's best for older kids and adults.
    
14. The Christmas Toy is from 1990 but seems older because it's made with real puppets (really Muppets) not any animated characters. The story holds up nicely and entertains my girls.
15. Merry Berry Christmas features Strawberry Shortcake and friends learning that the most important thing about Christmas is being with friends and family.
16. Pingu's South Pole Adventures - Not so much a holiday movie as it is a winter movie with snow and lots of adorable animals. But very entertaining without dialogue, so little kids can follow it easily.
17. The Santa Clause stars Tim Allen in a comical take on Santa Claus' existance. There's also two sequels.
18. Jingle All the Way stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad in another Christmas comedy focusing on the craze behind the most popular Christmas toy of the season.
19. Home Alone made Macauly Culkin a household name, and for good reason. This movie is set at Christmas-time and is funny. But if your kids are prone to act out things they see in movies, you'll want to skip this one because there's lots of hitting and related funny bits.
20. Christmas Vacation this would be much higher on the list, as it's one of my favorite Christmas movies, but it does have some content that you may not think is appropriate for your little ones. But if you haven't somehow seen Chevy Chase as the ultimate Christmas-loving Dad, you should!

Bonus movie:The Child King is a special Christmas story that features two brothers - one with Down Syndrome, the other who doesn't believe in Santa - who take a journey to believe in themselves and Christmas.