41+ Historical Movies for Kids | An Engaging Collection

• Curiosity Stream – My favorite place for historical dramas and documentaries! Best for kids 8+. Some are a little dry but all are quite informative. These videos take a secular perspective.
• PureFlix – Some might be a little dry but all of them are clean and appropriate for kids. Most videos take a Christian perspective. Learn more in our PureFlix review.
• DisneyPlus – Another source for entertaining movies but be sure to preview them to make sure they are appropriate for your children.
• Amazon Prime – A great source for movies that span many ages and categories. You can watch movies that are included as part of your subscription, or you can rent or purchase digital movies you specifically want to watch.
• Schoolhouse Teachers – Hundreds of Christian-based historical movies (plus their regular course videos) for kids from elementary through high school.
• Living Scriptures – My favorite place for Animated Heroes collections (fun and informative movies about historical figures such as Helen Keller, Christopher Columbus, etc) (They have options for LDS and non-LDS families)
• Netflix – Most of these movies are entertaining but be sure to vet ALL of them as many are not appropriate for children. Remember, you could use VidAngel to filter out content.
• YouTube – If you know what you’re looking for, YouTube is always worth a check!

Or feel free to purchase DVD or Blu-ray copies of any of the history movies listed below. However you choose to watch these movies, your kids are going to have a lot of fun learning about history in an entertaining and engaging way.

7 Best Historical Movies for Kids

These aren’t in any particular order, but I did attempt to include some for each age category starting with younger (early elementary) up to high school.

Liberty’s Kids

Liberty’s Kids

Two teenage reporters cover the events of the Revolutionary War for Ben Franklin’s newspaper, The Philadelphia Gazette. James, an American colonist, brings the rebels’ point of view to life while Sarah, a young Englishwoman stranded by fate in America, gives us the British viewpoint in her letters to her mother back in London.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Ben Franklin creates strong diplomatic bonds with France, America’s first and staunchest ally. Caught on opposite sides of the hostilities, Ben’s teenage reporters confront the real, physical dangers of the conflict, forced to choose between their friendship and their countries, their understanding of good and evil, and the moral dilemmas of war. 

Liberty’s Kids is a series we watch in our home often. Our streaming service includes Liberty’s Kids but you can also find them on Amazon and YouTube.

The Miracle Worker

The Miracle Worker

Blind and deaf after suffering a terrible fever as a baby, young Helen Keller (Patty Duke) has spent years unable to communicate, leaving her frustrated and occasionally violent. As a last chance before she is institutionalized, her parents (Inga Swenson, Andrew Prine) contact a school for the blind, which sends half-blind Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) to teach Helen. Helen is initially resistant, but Annie gradually forms a bond with her and shows Helen ways of reaching others.

The Miracle Worker is a fun version of this wonderful point in history for slightly older kids. Or if your kids are younger, the Animated Heroes series has a cute animated version. In fact, the Animated Heroes series has many animated stories about historical figures that our family loves.

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof

This adaptation of the musical chronicles the trials of a Jewish peasant, his wife, and their three strong-willed daughters in pre-revolutionary Russia. While the story itself is fictitious, watching this movie is a good way to inspire good conversations about Imperial Russia and the horrors of religious discrimination.

Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans

The year is 1971. After leading his team to 15 winning seasons, football coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone, a tough, opinionated, and very different from the beloved Yoast. How these two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions plays out in a remarkable and winning story.

Remember the Titans is one of our favorite movies and we love the conversations and the feelings of comradery watching this movie with our family inspires. Remember the Titans is available on Disney Plus.

I Am David

I Am David

David was a strong, brave and intelligent boy who had been ripped away from his mother and put into a dreadful camp. His only friend in the camp, Johannes, died some time before from a heart attack, as is revealed in a flashback in Chapter 1. One of the commandants has been keeping an eye on David , making sure he is fed properly and taking his vitamins.

This guard sets up the escape, gives him some soap, and leaves a sack outside the camp fence with bread, a bottle of water, and a compass in it. David must go south to Salonika, find a boat to Italy, then travel north to a free country that has a king. You can rent I Am David on Amazon.

Torchlighters Heroes of Faith

Torchlighters Heroes of Faith

This animated series has strong values and educational content for youth ages 8-12. Each 30-minute episode presents the story of a true-life hero from Christian history. Your kids (and you) will be challenged to shine the light of Jesus while learning about the history of our faith.

The Prince of Egypt

The Prince of Egypt

Although this movie is not totally biblically accurate, it tells the story of Moses releasing the Jews from Egyptian slavery under the hand of the evil pharaoh Rameses. The music is beautiful and it’s a good way to teach young kids some biblical history, even if you do need to fill in a few blanks.

33+ More Fun History Movies For Kids

If that list isn’t enough for you, consider these other fun history movies for kids!

• The Boy In The Striped Pajamas
• An American Tale Series
• A Night At The Museum (1, 2, and 3)
• Mr. Peabody and Sherman
• The Sound Of Music
• American Girl Movies (Samantha, Felicity, Molly, Kit, Melody, etc)
• Where The Red Fern Grows
• Free Birds
• Inspiring Animated Heros Movies by Nest (Helen Keller, Joan Of Arc, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, etc)
• Ruby Bridges
• Joseph King of Dreams
• This Is America Charlie Brown
• Saving Mr. Banks
• It’s A Wonderful Life
• Newsies
• Dolphin Tale
• One Night With The King
• The Color Of Friendship
• The Help
• Hidden Figures
• Ben-Hur
• National Treasure (1 and 2)
• The Alamo
• Munich
• The Pianist
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• A Beautiful Mind