- Musical Performance at Children's Talent Show - Miley Davis
A gymnastic routine, violin quintet and musical number from Robert Wise's "The Sound of Music" with its accompanying choreography were just a few of the acts at a talent show in June 2010 in Grapevine, Texas.
"Great turn out," said Salamasina Brown, one of the members of the activity committee that planned the event. "Lots of talent that I think a lot of people here were unaware we had."
The committee of six members plans activities for the Grapevine ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It took them about a month to plan the talent show and give people time to sign up for acts, but the event "exceeded [expectations] by far. It was fantastic," Brown said.
Ideas for Planning a Kids' Talent Show
Talent shows can be as simple or complex as their planners allow. They can have themes, displays, be done indoors or outside and have refreshments provided by participants to display cooking talents or by way of a committee budget. Some talent shows may allow acts to involve pets.
For example, the Grapevine ward talent show used displays to demonstrate time-intensive talents that included quilting, painting, sculpting and photography. Audience members had time to browse the displays while waiting for the event to officially start.
The refreshments were made by volunteers who signed up in advance, and the decorations consisted of simple centerpieces. Table cloths were made with white paper, and crayons were provided for small children to color on the paper.
Stage Acts for Children's Talent Shows
Although the performances at many talent shows feature mainly musical talents, such as playing a musical instrument or singing karaoke, there are also other alternatives for the musically challenged. These acts can consist of:
- juggling
- a short puppet show
- a demonstration of martial arts maneuvers
- blowing a bubble with gum as big as it will go
- making balloon animals
- jump rope tricks
- coming up with a Mad Lib story in advance and having the audience fill in the blanks
- giving someone with long hair an "up do" in five minutes or less
- performing various tasks while balancing something on the head
- a comedy routine (stand up, improvisational or just telling jokes)
- a dance routine
- baton twirling
- a mock fight scene or interpretive dance
- magic tricks
- demonstrating how to make a complicated paper airplane or origami piece
- presenting a funny commercial or infomercial for a pretend product
- demonstrating how to make all the different Boy Scout knots
- showing your pet doing tricks (if the show allows pets)
- eating a hot dog or other food in a matter of seconds while someone times it
- "shooting hoops" by throwing an object into a basket, bin or bucket from different distances
- yo yo tricks
For those who may be musically inclined, some ideas include playing wine glasses filled with water, group performances, writing and performing their own rap song, karaoke or using sign language to show the words they or someone else sings.
A planning group can organize a kids' talent show by using these ideas and others to provide entertainment for a club, social gathering or school activity. One final idea for a community talent show is for local businesses to be allowed places among the talent displays in return for donations to fund the show. By doing this the planners can be allowed more freedom while making monetary decisions, and the talent show can have the chance to live up to expectations or exceed them.
Miley Davis - I'm Miley Davis, a college senior at Brigham Young University - Idaho. I'm pursuing a bachelor's degree in communication with journalism ...
