As Star Wars fans, my husband and I have started showing some of the age-appropriate Star Wars films to our two boys. They have so enjoyed them, I daresay we have created mini Star Wars fans. Now, when they play with their Star Wars Lego, they actually know which scene it’s from and love to re-enact all the action.

Having said that, I still prefer not to let my kids at their ages right now to watch the Star Wars movies with the uglier aliens and scarier parts (like Episode 6). If you feel your kids are too young for Star Wars, there are also the Star Wars animated series like Star Wars Rebels and Clone Wars. They follow on with the official Star Wars stories that are great alternatives to the live-action movies.

But anyway, I have thought of why I personally love Star Wars and why I will allow my kids to watch the movies. I honestly feel the lessons we can learn from the movies have undertones of eternal truths. I also absolutely adore the music and as a musician I thoroughly enjoy listening to and playing a couple of my favourite scores.

Note: If you have not watched the Star Wars movies, there are a few spoilers contained in this article.

Star Wars Teaches Good Lessons

We all know the iconic struggle between the Light Side and the Dark Side. This obviously teaches children good and bad through the story of the Jedi versus the Sith. Take Anakin Skywalker, for example. Because he gave in to his fear, he succumbed to the Dark Side. And became a half-robotic Sith Lord we all know as Darth Vader.

The lesson: Choose the right, even if you are afraid.

Also, Star Wars teaches friendship. Han and Chewbacca, Luke and Han, Finn and Rey; these friendships all stood the test of the hardships they faced. Star Wars teaches loyalty and bravery to help your friends when in need. Like on the ice Planet Hoth, Han risked his life to go out into the freezing blizzard to find and rescue Luke. If it weren’t for brave Han, Luke would have become part of the frozen foods section for roaming carnivorous Hoth critters. He also wouldn’t have been around to help defeat the wicked Emperor.

The lesson: Help your friends, even if it’s inconvenient.

The Rebels for the Resistance were miniscule in comparison to the scary Empire or First Order. There seem to only have been a handful of rebels in comparison to the thousands of Storm Troopers and the Clone Army. Not to mention the gigantic size and amount of their space crafts. Nevertheless, the Rebels always clung onto the tiny glimmer of hope and never stopped fighting, each one becoming a hero as they gave their all for the cause.

The lesson: We must never stop fighting evil.

And lastly, what about how Vader became good Anakin again? We learn that bad people can become good. And then when you are finally good, will you always be good? Well, remember how Luke (between Episodes 6 and 7) turned bad because he lost hope in the role of the Jedi? However, he did turn good again in Episode 8 and he helped save the Resistance.

The lesson: Bad people can become good people. Good people can become bad people. We must never stop trying to be good people. 

These are awesome stories that teach our kids valuable lessons, right?

There are a bunch of other lessons that can be learned from the Star Wars movies, considering there are currently 8 movies! Soon to be 9 movies by the end of 2019.

Star Wars Movie Music Is Beautifully Emotive

Ah, John Williams, what a singular, talented composer he is! For those of you who do not know John Williams the composer, he has composed much of the beautiful movie music of our day: Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, E.T. and Hook – just to name a few. He is a great example of taking classical composition concepts and modernizing them.

The music in Star Wars is so emotive because of how beautifully the music has been written. It conveys the mood of each scene so well. His style is really fantastic and may I even go so far as to say that Star Wars would not be the great movie it is today without John Williams. I honestly still tear up when I listen to Luke and Leia’s theme.

My son can recognize the main themes of Star Wars, like Yoda’s theme and Darth Vader’s and so it has developed his ear for different melodies. At the bottom of this post, you can listen to Rey’s Theme from Episode VII – The Force Awakens. I love the sweet simplicity of the melody and the choice of instruments, it’s really a lovely theme.

Star Wars Is About Exciting Stuff Kids Love

Space ships, light sabers, aliens, robots, princesses, galaxies far away . . . it’s the making of a great story that kids (of all ages) will enjoy. It’s fun, yet mysterious and captivating.  It is the answer to the yearning of a child’s imagination. Although, with that being said, there are actually a couple of boring conversations about politics and battle strategies that children may not appreciate at all. But it never lasts too long until the next scene comes on with some kind of light-saber duel.

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With all the lessons to be learned and beautiful music to be appreciated in Star Wars movies, there’s a lot of value for kids. Whichever movies you as a parent decide to show your kids — May the Force be with you!