Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Fun Summer Activities for Kids

With all these reality TV shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, kids are well aware of the phenomenon of performing their talents and rising to the top. In this summer activity, children will organize and host a neighborhood talent show for all their friends to come and show off their best skills. Older children will especially enjoy putting together a panel of judges to make funny comments and rave about performances, unless of course, they warrant extreme criticism. However, with younger children, the focus should be more on being supportive of each other's talents and applauding courage in performing.

Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Select a Venue

The venue where your kids will be putting on the talent show depends heavily on what kind of talents you anticipate will show up, and what equipment is needed to accommodate them. For singing and spoken talents, having a microphone is advantageous so people can hear the performer. For dance talents, large open spaces are much more conducive than living rooms. If you can't find just one venue, consider splitting your time between the yard and the living room.

Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Set a Date and Time

The next step is to pick a day when the talent show should take place. This should be a time when you are not on vacation, and ideally, when your kids' best friends are not on vacation either. Saturdays tend to work well, to avoid any conflicts with day camps and other activities children may be involved with. After setting the date and time, your children should make invitations and give them to their friends. It is also a good idea to get parents informed, so do your part to talk with the parents and encourage them to come with their kids.

Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Gather Supplies and Prizes

If there will be a panel of judges, they will need a judges' table and chairs, along with some expertly placed cups displaying your favorite beverage's logo. If audio is needed, a boom box or other sound system should be in the area, which may require extension cords if it is outdoors.

The other thing to gather is prizes for the winners of the talent show, or for all the participants in the talent show if you would like to be more fair. These prizes can range anywhere from funny white elephant type gifts to candy or cash.

Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Designate a Host (or Two)

To keep things moving at the talent show, you will want to have at least one of your children (or maybe you, if there is too much competition for the role) act as host of the event. This person will have the line-up of who is performing (either made in advance or as people arrive on the day of the event) and will get up between acts to keep things moving along.

Hold a Neighborhood Talent Show: Sit Back and Enjoy

Once all the preparations are complete, there is nothing left to do but to sit back and enjoy the talent and bravery of all the kids who perform. Make sure there is a lot of positive encouragement, and that any playful insults (in the spirit of Simon on American Idol) are taken in good stride. Most of all, be proud of your kids and their many and varied talents!

For more fun summer activities for kids, see the index of all articles, with new activities being added daily!