Movies Like Children Play Outdoors

If you liked Children Play Outdoors (1973), a family movie directed by Ivanka Grubcheva, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
★ 6.3/10Also family
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set…
2
Recess: All Growed Down (2003)
★ 6.5/10Also family
T.J. and The Recess Gang are kidnapped by the Third Street School's kindergartners, who are in turn being bullied by a new kid in their class.
3
Sneakerella (2022)
★ 5.9/10Also family
When El, an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens, meets Kira King, the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King, sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity…
4
Snoopy Presents: There's No Place Like Home, Snoopy (2026)
★ 8.3/10Also family
When Snoopy's beloved doghouse goes missing, he tries to track it down, and learns what makes a house feel like home.
5
PAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue (2020)
★ 7.1/10Also family
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
6
Chang Can Dunk (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also family
Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American, bets the high school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming. The bet leads 5' 8" Chang on a quest to learn to dunk—not only to impress his crush, Kristy, but to gain the…
7
Departure (2016)
★ 6.3/10Also family
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from…
8
Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)
★ 6.2/10Also family
Admiral Frank Beardsley returns to New London to run the Coast Guard Academy, his last stop before a probable promotion to head the Guard. A widower with eight children, he runs a loving but tight ship, with charts and…
9
The Loud House Movie (2021)
★ 7.2/10Also family
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
10
Ploey: You Never Fly Alone (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also family
A plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one next spring.
11
Skater Girl (2021)
★ 7.2/10Also family
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
12
Secondhand Lions (2003)
★ 7.2/10Also family
The comedic adventures of an introverted boy left on the doorstep of a pair of reluctant, eccentric great-uncles, whose exotic remembrances stir the boy's spirit and re-ignite the men's lives.
13
Anastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
★ 5.9/10Also family
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
14
The Happiest Millionaire (1967)
★ 6.8/10Also family
A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter, Cordelia Drexel Biddle, tires of the unusual antics of her…
15
Shorts (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also family
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
16
Momo (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also family
Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time…
17
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
★ 6.9/10Also family
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy…
18
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
★ 6.5/10Also family
Georgia Nicolson is fourteen, lives with nosey parents who don't understand her, an annoying three year old sister and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blonde, have a smaller nose and a…
19
Flicka (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also family
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets…
20
Cadet Kelly (2002)
★ 6.2/10Also family
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.