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Roses for Valentine's Day are seen on display at the Safeway store in Wheaton, Maryland February 13, 2015. Reuters/Gary Cameron

For parents, date nights are particularly difficult to achieve, with the kids on tow. The upcoming Valentine’s Day is an ideal opportunity to plan a special evening alone. Parents can take a well-deserved break from their daily family duties for a few hours to enjoy each other’s company and to reconnect.

Parents can ensure a stress-free night out by hiring a babysitter or asking a friend to look after the kids. To keep with the theme and help children understand the meaning of love, one activity they could do is watch kid-friendly romantic movies. Here are five films that are can be watched by kids of different ages on Valentine’s Day.

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1. “The Sound of Music” (Rated G)
For Valentine’s Day, give children a dose of romance, music and history with this classic film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The 1965 American movie is an adaptation of the Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein and is based on the memoir “The Story of Trapp Family Singers” by Maria von Trapp. “The Sound of Music” tells the story of Maria, a young Austrian woman training to become a nun, who was sent to the home of Captain von Trapp, a retired naval officer, to become a governess to his children. It was a struggle at first to care for seven children with different personalities and own problems, but Maria was able to win them over with her kindness, patience and music. In addition to endearing herself to the family, she also found love in Captain von Trapp and they end up together. The film is not just about love and lyrics, however, as it presented various challenges such as escaping from the Nazis. Still, in the end, it’s music and their love for each other that saved the whole family.


Source: YouTube/20th Century Fox

2. “WALL-E” (Rated G)
A list of kid-friendly movies won’t be complete without a Walt Disney entry. However, this particular animated film is not about a princess and her prince. Rather, it’s about WALL-E, a robot who is programmed to clean up Earth which has become lifeless and filled with waste. Set in the faraway future, WALL-E falls in love with another robot called EVE. The film follows the adventure of two robots with different tasks but feels the same emotions like humans.


Source: YouTube/Disney UK

3. “Enchanted” (Rated PG)
For young girls craving for a movie about Disney princesses, “Enchanted” is an unconventional option. A musical, live-action and animated romantic comedy film in one, it follows the story of Giselle (Amy Adams) a princess-to-be who suddenly finds herself banished from the animated world of Andalasia and transported to the “real” world with humans. She meets and eventually falls for Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a single father, who welcomes her to his home and helps her. They teach each other valuable lessons in life, while Prince Edward (James Marsden) is set to rescue her from the evil hands of his stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon).


Source: YouTube/Disneyonline

4. “A Cinderella Story” (Rated PG)
From one princess tale to another, “A Cinderella Story” is a teen romantic comedy film that hit the theatres in 2004. The movie, directed by Mark Rosman, is inspired by the classic fairytale “Cinderella,” but set in modern time. Hilary Duff plays Sam, who suffers the same damsel-in-distress fate. After her father died, she was forced to live with her evil stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge) and her two stepsisters. She takes a break from her chores at home and the diner by engaging on an anonymous Internet communication with Jake (Chad Michael Murray). The two meets and falls in love at a school dance, but just like Cinderella, she flees before he can even know her name. The story basically follows the fairytale’s plot, from the case of the missing shoe – a cellphone in this movie – to the leading man’s quest for his princess.


Source: YouTube/Movieclips Trailer Vault

5. “Twilight” (Rated PG-13)
A love story for teens, “Twilight” is the first installment of a romantic movie series based on Stephenie Meyer’s novels with the same title. The film tells the story of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), an ordinary teenager who meets and eventually develops feelings for Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a vampire. The highly popular film features the challenges faced by the two characters who are literally from different worlds. It also deals with a love triangle, with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) also in the picture as Bella’s best friend and Edward’s rival.


Source: YouTube/CleverTV

All these movies can be watched via streaming on Netflix Australia.