Rockin' American Idol Party Ideas for Kids and Teens

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Author: Gail Leino

Rockin' American Idol Party Ideas for Kids and Teens

By Gail Leino

The American Idol craze has taken America by storm. Everywhere you look children, and in particular, young adults are talking about their favorite contestant, the clothes they wore and the songs they sang. It is this burst of interest that makes an American Idol party the perfect theme for the older child-young adult crowd. This is an age group that can realistically dream of actually auditioning to participate in the program and see themselves as the next American Idol!

Ideas for an American Idol party include sending out invitations that are worded and designed to be a call for auditions for [insert birthday child's name here]'s next season. Have the guests R.S.V.P. in order to allow you to get information about the possible song choices they will either sing or lip sync to at the audition. Prepare some cutouts of your Simon, Paula, and Randy (blow up pictures of their faces and glue on to cardboard to cut them out) and put them in chairs to "judge the performances." In front of each of the cutouts put a bowl with some random comments that the judges have made in the past on pieces of paper. After the "audition," have the guests take turns picking the comments out of the bowls and reading them out loud. Take care to only select positive things - even from Simon. This exercise is about having fun, not about tearing apart anyone's self esteem, but using real comments allows the children to try to mimic the voice and demeanor of the judges as well - making it even more fun. If your guest list for the party is all girls, consider having a make-up/hairstylist competition before the actual "audition" to allow them to get glamorized for their performance.

Anyone who has watched American Idol knows that the show is absolutely crammed full of advertisements. One fun game to try would be to match the jingle to the product. Guests draw a product name out of a fish bowl and have to try and get the other guests to guess the product by either singing the jingle, or acting out a clue so the other party guests can figure out what the product it is. Any words are allowed as long as they don't include the product name. Divide the guests into teams to make it easier.

To ensure that your American Idol party is complete, supplement the activities with decorations and tableware that have the American Idol banners or lots of music related items. Small inflatable microphones would make perfect favors, perhaps attached to a picture of the guests' "audition" of the day.