What is it with young kids wanting to watch the same movie/video over and over?

I am not going to say they have OCD, because i did the same with 45 rpm records back in the 60s. i think its just an association with a good time they have had in their life. good memories are forever.

You’ve noticed that too? I think it’s all new to them, so they don’t mind 30 times.

There must be something reassuring about the predictability of the pleasure. I can grok that.

I have seen My Fair Lady 752,634 times and I ain’t no kid.By George,it’s good!

Above all, children like and need consistency and stability. I think that’s part of it. The know exactly what’s coming next, no surprises. Maybe it gives them a feeling of control too?

When my kids were little, the book they wanted me to read the most was “Poky Little Puppy.” Worst. Book. Ever. It was horrible…but that’s what they wanted.

They want to make their moms are word perfect on the entire score of Little Mermaid so the entire thing becomes an earworm for years. I can still sing it word perfect!

I think kids enjoy repetition because they know what to expect. In their world they have very little control over most situations, so maybe it’s nice to know what is coming. I think even adults retain a little of that. After all, sometimes when we are feeling bad or out of control we turn to a favorite old book, movie or even a favorite comfort food. The familiar is soothing.

The Neverending Story used to drive my family nuts!

I know, right? It’s like with our first, it was all about Frosty The Snowman 1000X over and over to a point that I walk around in the winter times slashing heads off snowmen. And with our second, it’s all about ‘Ah-mas, Ah-mas’ or what he means by Thomas And Friends to a point where children singing in unison make Alex homicidal. I think it’s to torture the parents, personally but also must have something to do with their short attention spans – I bet they forget they just watched it 100x times.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Ah, that’s the Christmas spirit! :)

My kids, it was Savannah Smiles and Mary Poppins. My then-three year old, had these hard sole, black shoes that she just loved to wear because she could tap dance with the chimney sweeps.

Katawagrey used to watch “Snowman” over and over. She cried every time at the end. I think she hoped he wouldn’t melt if she watched it One. More. Time.

@JilltheTooth This one?

It’s one of my favorites.

My siblings and I used to watch the musical “Scrooge” with Albert Finney and dance around the house endlessly singing the songs from it. I really miss that.

“What is it with young kids wanting to watch the same movie/video over and over?”
“young kids”
Heck. I’m 23 and I still do this, to some extent. I still like to watch favourite films again, I still play favourite video games again, I page through favourite books again, I listen to the same album on endless repeat day after day for a week. Granted, it all gets old quicker than it used to when I was little, but still.

Especially that one cool fight scene in the Matrix, or that badass chase scene in Balieue 13, or this one dialogue in Doctor Who, or that dramatic song from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, or that joke in Mission Cleopatre. Cherry picking the coolest parts and re-watching those. Come on, I can’t be the only person who does that.

Watching a film is, of course, not just about acquiring information. It’s about experiencing a story, experiencing the excitement of an adventure. And if the kids have the same adventure again, they’ll feel the same excitement again.
And why wouldn’t they? You can turn the question around, too; why do most adults get tired of a good film after a while?

@JilltheTooth Aw! Poor kittywahgrey… Kids can just break your heart without even trying, can’t they. :(

I am 19 years old and I can literally watch Aladdin and The Sandlot like twice a day, no joke. I have already watched them 100’s of a time as a kid to. I have all the Alddin movies and then The Sandlot next to all my bloody horror movies. It is a pretty funny site actually.

This is one of those questions that I read, and realized I never thought about – thanks @Jude…

We think very differently as children – what we forget is how different it is to process information when nearly everything you’re experiencing is novel. Approaching it from that perspective, I feel like it’s almost easy to understand why children revisit the same movie over and over again. I feel like it must be kind of like how adults would feel in a foreign country where they barely speak the language – going to Burger King over and over again is one of the things that provides a sense of comfort.

@Jude : Yup, that’s the one! Just the music would have her tearing up…me, too…

It just affects the way they think and it creates a memory. I used to be like that when I was a kid. :/

They like the characters. One time I had to watch the same few episodes of Ruby and Max on dvd with my little cousin over and over and over and over and over. We ended up falling asleep to it.

Kids have really different brains than we do, which means that they experience the world in a wholly different manner. I would guess that, in such an unpredictable world that they are only beginning to understand, kids would find some comfort in watching familiar shows and movies. It may be reassuring for them to know what’s coming next and I’ve heard that it helps them build their prediction skills. I remember doing that as a kid and even though I knew what was going to happen, it was still fun and exciting for me to watch.

It’s not just movies or music, either. Kids are hedonists and I can totally get down with that because I’m one, too. Think about spinning a kid around and how they always go “More! More!” until you’re ready to pass out, but they could still keep going. So, I think it also has to do with sensory pleasure and not wanting it to end.

Then, another thing to think about is what kids did before TV. Is this repetition of stories and music an evolutionary desire? Perhaps it has to do with learning and absorbing one’s culture, too. The kids of the past, they must have listened to stories and songs around a fire at night. When I think of it that way, it makes sense that the ones that repetition and learning these cultural details might help them better function in society later.

I agree with the adults who have the same, uh, quirk.

I can’t quit watching Inglorious Basterds lately.

thank gawd they’re not showing fight club on hbo right now

Kid’s aren’t as desensitized. Their minds are still full of wonder most adults have to believe doesn’t exist else feel broken and disconnected from nature. Sparkly disney movies are like drugs to them. If they can’t instigate any activities more exiting than watching a movie that made them feel awesome before, and if no one else will do it for them, they’ll watch the same stuff again. Also, they probably just like repetition more, trying to build up neural connections or whatever.

my boyfriend’s youngest sister has the complete collection of barbie DVDs,all of them she watched more than 5 times already.i guess she just love them all.

even me,i watched resident evil from 1–4 4 times already and counting. ^_^

if its a very good movie/video,not just kids but also adults will tend to watch them over and over again :)

When my daughter was very young she couldn’t get enough of the Care Bears Movie It was actually pretty good and I watched it right through a few times with her.