30 Of The Best Space Movies For Kids & Families

Explore how three ordinary men — Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins — became the first humans to land on the moon in 1969. Comprised entirely of archival footage, including a wealth of previously unreleased 70mm film footage, Apollo 11 isn’t a typical documentary in that it contains no narration or interviews. Instead, it relies on historical film and audio recordings to explore what happened during the first Moon landing in a more cinematic way.

Stream Appollo 11, rated G, on Hulu.

Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton star as Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise — three astronauts expected to man NASA’s third mission to the moon. But when an oxygen tank onboard explodes some 200,000 miles from Earth, the crew is left without the oxygen needed to land on the Moon. With their Moon landing called off, tension builds among the three astronauts as more technical problems arise while they orbit the Moon and plan a return to Earth.

Stream Apollo 13, rated PG-13, on Starz.

In Muppets from Space, Gonzo learns he’s descended from aliens that call a distant planet home. In an effort to help Gonzo find his extraterrestrial family, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of Jim Henson's Muppets blast off into outer space for a hilarious adventure that is out of this world.

Stream Muppets from Space, rated G, on Amazon Prime.

In the year 2805 A.D., WALL-E is the last robot left on Earth. As a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class, he spends his days picking up trash. But after 700 years he’s feeling a tad bit lonely. When he spots EVE, a probe sent from another planet to scan for life on Earth, he immediately falls in love and sets off to pursue her across the galaxy.

Stream WALL-E, rated G, on Disney+.

When the spaceship 10-year-old Willy’s family is traveling on is destroyed, he’s separated from his parents during the evacuation. His escape capsule lands on an unexplored planet, leaving Willy and his survival robot Buck to discover all this new planet holds while waiting to be rescued.

Stream Terra Willy: Unexplored Planet, rated PG, on Hulu.

Introduce your kids to the Star Wars franchise with what’s likely to be the most kid-friendly film of the original trilogy. In Star Wars: A New Hope, Imperial Forces have captured Princess Leia on Darth Vader’s orders in an attempt to thwart the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Elsewhere, Luke Skywalker discovers his aunt and uncle have been murdered by stormtroopers, spurring him to ask Obi-Wan Kenobi to train him in the ways of the Jedi and allow him to help rescue the princess. The pair enlist Han Solo and Chewbacca to help them.

Stream Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, rated PG, on Disney+.

As a child, Jim Hawkins was obsessed with pirates. But as a teen, he’s become too busy skysurfing and helping his mother run Benbow Inn to lose himself in pirate adventures. However, when the 15-year-old finds a map leading to the greatest pirate treasure in the universe, he sets off on a thrilling intergalactic treasure hunt in hopes of finding money to help his mother.

Stream Treasure Planet, rated PG, on Disney+.

When five dogs tag along on a school field trip to observe a test launch of the Vision 1 spacecraft — and get stranded on the shuttle — they find themselves accidentally blasting off into space for an adventure that’s out of this world. But will they make it back to Earth?

Stream Space Buddies, rated G, on Disney+.

Families that loved Jumanji, will similarly enjoy Zathura: A Space Adventure. To beat boredom, brothers Danny and Walter begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game they find in their house. But the brothers are shocked to discover the game has magical powers and has blasted their house into space. Dax Shepard stars as an astronaut who helps the boys in their quest to get back to Earth.

Stream Zathura: A Space Adventure, rated PG, on Netflix.

In the late 1960s, everyone was abuzz with excitement about NASA’s Apollo moon landing program — even the flies. In Fly Me To The Moon, three adventurous young houseflies take the journey of a lifetime after they stow away on Apollo 11.

Stream Fly Me To The Moon, rated G, on Amazon Prime.

The Brave Little Toaster is back and this time they’re heading into space with their appliance pals. When Toaster’s human owners’ new baby is kidnapped by aliens, Toaster rallies Blanky, Lampy, Kirby, Radio, and the rest of their fellow household appliances into setting off to Mars to save the day.

Stream The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars, rated G, on Disney+.

After being told the story of the Moon Goddess as a young girl, Fei Fei dares to dream that the legend is real. When her father becomes engaged a few years after her mother’s death, Fei Fei decides to build a rocket that will take her to the moon and help her prove the Moon Goddess is real once and for all. But when Fei Fei comes face to face with the Moon Goddess she learns a powerful lesson about the importance of letting go of grief.

Stream Over The Moon, rated PG, on Netflix.

Ten-year-old Jimmy is a boy genius who spends his days inventing gadgets, such as his robotic dog. When the parents in Jimmy’s town are kidnapped by aliens, he’s initially excited to live life without parental rules. But soon Jimmy realizes he’d much rather have his parents back and sets off to rescue them in time for dinner.

Stream Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, rated G, on Netflix.

Set in a time when an alien race known as the Drej has obliterated Earth, Titan AE tells the story of Cale, a human teenager who learns his father encoded a mysterious map in the ring he gave him before placing him on an evacuation ship. When Cale realizes the map holds the key to finding Titan, a ship his father designed to enable humans to create a new Earth-like planet, he sets off on a journey to find it before the Drej do.

Stream Titan AE, rated PG, on Starz.

Directed by Michael Barnett, the 2017 documentary The Mars Generation follows a group of aspiring teenage astronauts as they attend Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Could these teens be the engineers who take mankind to Mars?

Stream The Mars Generation, rated PG, on Netflix.

Based loosely on the children’s book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, Home tells the story of how a human girl named Gratuity "Tip" Tucci (voiced by Rihanna) finds an unlikely friend in a fugitive alien (voiced by Jim Parsons). It’s set in a time when an alien race named the Boov have invaded Earth and relocated humans to more remote parts of the planet. After being separated by her mom in the invasion, Tip is desperate to find her again. But will her new alien pal prove to be more trouble than help?

Stream Home, rated PG, on Netflix.

Inspired by Belka and Strelka, the first real-life animals to ever survive an orbital space trip, Space dogs follows two stray dogs as they get drafted into a Soviet space program. After proving themselves to be some of the best in their training class, Belka and Strelka are blasted off into space. When trouble arises mid orbit, the dogs must learn to be heroes in order to get back to Earth alive.

Stream Space Dogs, rated G, on Amazon Prime.

When the U.S. military intercepts a UFO being navigated by a cat, they’re thoroughly curious. But as it turns out, this isn’t an ordinary cat, it’s an extraterrestrial. Dubbed Jake, the cat enlists scientist Frank Wilson in helping him find a substance known as “Org 12,” which will help him fix his spacecraft and return to his felinekind.

Stream The Cat From Outer Space, rated G, on Disney+.

The Magic School Bus is blasting off into space! When Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip to the International Space Station, the kids get hands-on experience as astronauts while learning about the solar system and microgravity. But will an accidentally enlarged tardigrade cause this field trip to end in disaster?

Stream The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Kids In Space on Netflix.

On his home planet of Baab, Scorch Supernova is a popular daring hero whose partner, and nerdy brother, Gary rarely gets any recognition. But when Scorch intercepts a distress signal coming from a dangerous planet, he ignores his brother’s warning and jets off for a solo rescue mission that leads him right into a trap. Can Gary save his brother before it’s too late?

Stream Escape From Planet Earth, rated PG, on Netflix.

Based on the Chinese comic 7723 by Wang Nima, Next Gen tells the story of a rebellious teen’s unlikely friendship with a rogue robot. In a world where sentient robot technology is all the rage, teenager Mai Su is lonely. When she discovers 7723, an attack robot, with a damaged memory core in her backyard, the pair quickly become inseparable — until the evil scientist who invented 7723 finds out his location, that is. Can the two friends thwart Dr. Tanner Rice’s plan before it’s too late?

Stream Next Gen, rated PG, on Netflix.

After observing a mom on Earth, Martians living on Mars decide her “momness” is just what their new nannybots need and kidnap her. Unfortunately for them, it’s Milo’s mom they’ve kidnapped and he’s not ready to let her go without a fight.

Stream Mars Needs Moms rated PG, on Disney+.

After a mysterious meteor transforms regular old Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) into a giant, government officials capture her and lock her in a secret compound with other odd-ball monsters, including Dr. Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie), Insectasoarus, and Bob the Blob (voiced by Seth Rogen). When an alien lands on Earth and threatens an invasion, the government sends Murphy and her fellow monsters to battle the alien invader and save the planet.

Stream Monsters vs. Aliens, rated PG, on Netflix.

When Spark was just a baby, the evil power-hungry Gen. Zhong uses a space Kraken capable of creating black holes to capture the throne of planet Bana. Now a teen, Spark lives with a mechanic named Chunk and a warrior named Vix in an abandoned area of the planet used mainly as a garbage dump. When a birthmark reveals Spark’s connection to Bana’s royal family, the teen sets out to challenge Zhong and return Bana to its former glory.

Stream Spark: A Space Tail, rated PG, on Amazon Prime.

Eight years after he first went missing, 12-year-old David Freeman is found — and he hasn’t aged at all. When David can’t remember anything about the eight years of his life he seems to have lost, his parents take him to a hospital for testing. There doctors discover images of an alien spaceship that recently crashed near a NASA research facility embedded in David’s brainwaves. But when David visits NASA in hopes of unlocking his missing memories, he finds himself on the ride of his life after accidentally boarding the captured spaceship and becoming the Navigator.

Stream Flight of the Navigator, rated PG, on Disney+.

Directed and shot in a style made to resemble found home movie footage, Earth To Echo begins with friends Tuck, Alex, and Munch receiving strange encoded messages on their cell phones shortly after a major construction project begins in their neighborhood. When no adults believe the friends’ claim that the messages are a map, the boys set out to solve the mystery themselves. But can they help the damaged cybernetic alien they find before a ruthless scientist captures him for testing?

Stream Earth To Echo, rated PG, on Starz.

While a lot of sci-fi movies tackle the topic of aliens visiting Earth, Planet 51 playfully explores the reverse. The animated comedy tells the story of astronaut Capt. Charles “Chuck” Baker, a human who assumes himself to be the first lifeform to ever set foot on Planet 51. The problem is, Planet 51 has long been inhabited by happy little green people who view Chuck as an alien invader.

Stream Planet 51, rated PG, on Starz.

After stealing a highly-coveted orb, space adventurer Peter Quill teams up with fellow outlaws Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, and Drax the Destroyer to evade those looking to capture the orb and use its powers for nefarious means. Together, the four become guardians of the galaxy and find themselves thrown into countless adventures in their quest to save the universe.

Stream Guardians of the Galaxy, rated PG-13, on Disney+.

Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the Disney Clubhouse gang blast off on a special intergalactic treasure hunt perfect for preschool-aged children. In it, the Clubhouse gang find themselves on an out-of-this-world adventure while looking for treasure stars. Parents should note, “Space Adventure” is the 22nd episode of the third season of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney+.

Stream Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Space Adventure, rated 3+, on Disney+.

Haunted by dreams where he flies over a circuit board city, Ben Crandall begins drawing what he sees in his dreams and showing the sketches to his genius friend Wolfgang, who manages to build a microchip from Ben’s drawings. Together with their friend Darren, the boys discover the microchip can generate an electromagnetic bubble capable of moving whatever it surrounds at limitless speeds. In hopes of exploring the galaxy, the boys use an abandoned rollercoaster car to build a spaceship.

Stream Explorers, rated PG, on Amazon Prime or PlutoTV.