Family Movie Night Activity: Over the Hedge
"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we want nothing to do with anything that's over that hedge!"
When RJ the raccoon can’t get some chips out of a vending machine, he tries to take all the food Vincent the bear has stored up in his cave. Not only does he get caught, but the food gets destroyed in the process. Now, he’s got about a week to replace all of Vincent’s food, or he’s in for it. Will RJ get the food back or will he just cause more trouble in the process? You’ll find out with this Family Movie Night Activity post.
Movie Snacks:
*Be sure to have enough treats to last you through the winter or at least your movie night. Have things like chips, pretzels, candy bars, fruit snacks, juice boxes and any other vending machine type snacks.
*The animals start swiping food that the humans are barbecuing. Fire up the grill for your movie night dinner and serve hot dogs, hamburgers and other grilled items. Keep an eye out from any animals who might what to run away with your food.
*Speaking of barbecuing, make this fun cake that looks like a grill and serve it to your family for dessert. They are sure to love it as much as the food you really grilled up for them.
Must Pause Moments:
*Possums play dead when they get scared or attacked, so see who can act like the best possum in your family. You could have a contest to see who can pose in the wackiest position the longest or even try giving your own Shakespearean goodbye speech like Ozzie does.
*While watching these animals sneak around trying to get food, play a game of Switch the Snacks. Give each person a treat at the beginning of the movie and each time they say certain words pass the treats to the person next to you. Pass them to the right each time someone in the movie says “food” or “bear” pass them to the left each time they say “human” or “hedge” or pick your own words to listen for.
*In the movie, and in real life, animals love following lights from laser pens or flashlights. Get out your flashlights and take turns following the light around the room. Have your kids act like little animals that have to crawl or scurry to catch the light, or use it to play a game of Follow the Leader.
Other Activities;
*Play Swipe the Snack, an animal version of Steal the flag. Split into teams and give each team a bag of snacks or even single treat to act as their flag. Have each team try and run across to the other team’s side and get their “flag” without being tagged. If they are tagged, they are stuck in the bear’s cave until another team member can get them out and run back to their side without being tagged. If one of the teams can get the other team’s snacks and bring it back to their side of the hedge, they win!
*The furry creatures in the movie might not be common in the area you live in, so have your family think about what animal you would see if local animals wanted food from your house. Do you live near moose, rabbits, beavers, foxes, pigeons, alligators, or just stray cats and dogs? No matter where you live, there are animals just “over the hedge” that you could learn about together as a family.
*Over the Hedge was based on a comic strip of the same name. You could look up the comic strip and read some of the other adventures of RJ and Verne, or you and your family could draw up some of your own comic strips. You could work together to come up with a story about one of their adventures, or take turns with each different box of the comic being drawn by someone different in the family and see where the story ends up.
*LyndiLou* - Movie Mom Who Lives Over The Hedge From Some Cats, Dogs, Birds and An Occasional Deer
Rated PG for some rude humor and mild comic action; 83 min; Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick