Looking for new viewing ideas for your next family movie night? Well you’ve come to the right place! Below I am sharing 21 awesome kids movies about nature, including my pick of the best family nature movies, fun animated movies inspired by nature and super, educational nature documentaries for kids.
All of these showcase animals and wildlife in ways that are sure to inspire the whole family.
21 Kids Movies About Nature
I suggest checking out the reviews on the Common Sense Media website for any titles you are unfamiliar with. They provide helpful age recommendations from experts, parents and children. Each movie listed below is linked to an Amazon store page – these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Nature Documentaries for Kids
1. National Parks Adventure Visit some of the most beautiful national parks and learn about all of the beauty (and dangers!) nature has to offer.
2. Planet Earth A well-made documentary that took five years to complete, featuring rare glimpses of some of the most majestic animals in the world.
3. Born to Be Wild Witness the bonding between orphaned elephants and their rescuers. A triumphant story of rehabilitating the most majestic of all wild animals.
4. March of the Penguins Learn about the life of Emperor Penguins and their struggles, triumphs, and more, as filmed over an entire year.
5. Disneynature: Bears Filmed in Alaska, this kid friendly documentary follows an entire bear family around as a mother bear teaches her cubs how to survive and be a bear in the wild.
6. Arctic Tale Follow a baby polar bear and baby walrus as they learn to navigate their new surroundings along with their mothers teaching them how to explore, hunt, and more.
7. Turtle: The Incredible Journey Discover the 25-year long journey of the endangered loggerhead turtle – from birth to returning to its birthplace to continue the circle of life.
For even more educational viewing be sure to check out this collection of 7 Great Educational Shows for School Age Kids available now on Netflix.
Animated Nature Movies
8. FernGully Follow the small creatures in the forest as they battle a much bigger monster threatening the destruction of their homes.
9. Wall-E After Earth is rendered unlivable, a robot befriends a fellow robot and finds the key to save the future of Earth, reminding us all to reduce, reuse and recycle, to reduce our impact upon our planet.
10. Over the Hedge A group of forest creatures awake from their winter slumber to discover that a tall hedge has cut their forest in half!
11. Madagascar A lion, hippo, giraffe, and zebra escape their homes at the New York Zoo only to find they knew very little about their natural habitats.
12. Ice Age The funny tale of how a mammoth, sloth, and sabertooth become friends, and survived a journey to deliver a lost human baby back to its herd.
13. A Bug’s Life A misfit ant, looking for “warriors” to save his colony from grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be anything but what he was looking for.
14. Finding Nemo After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, Australia, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home, meeting many colourful characters along the way.
15. Dr Seuss’ The Lorax The Lorax teaches us love for the trees and why it’s important to protect nature.
Family Nature Movies
16. Free Willy The journey of a young man who befriends a captive killer whale and his journey to set him free.
17. Fly Away Home A special journey between a daughter and father duo who adopt and teach a flock of geese how to fly and migrate.
18. Doctor Dolittle A veterinarian discovers he can understand the language of animals is bombarded with animals of all kinds looking for his help. A fun comedy for the whole family.
19. Wild America A tale of three boys who decide running the family business isn’t their future, opting instead for an epic adventure in the wild. The brothers must deal with danger, beauty, and much more on their journey.
20. The Jungle Book The classic tale of a young boy raised in the jungle by wolves who sets out on a journey to discover who he really is.
21. We Bought a Zoo A father takes on the hefty project of rebuilding a zoo to it’s former glory as he and his children start over in a brand new place within a new community, forming friendships with people… and animals.
Learn More About the World;
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
Read the comments or scroll down to add your own: