Karaoke Night

Karaoke is something that most parents don’t do much of. While you may have been the hit of karaoke night before you had kids, you’re likely not able to find time to hit up the bar on any type of regular basis now. That doesn’t mean your glory days have to be completely over. A karaoke machine is a cheap expense that can allow for fun evenings at home with the family.

There are a lot of options for karaoke at home, but unless you want to spend a bunch of time (and money) on a nice setup at home, buying a complete karaoke machine setup is probably your best option. These machines are fully featured for some basic and fun evenings at home. You’re not going to get the best sound or have the best setup ever, but for a night at home with the family, these machines do a pretty good job. Also, by having a cheap machine, you won’t be as worried about your kids accidentally breaking something.

All you really need to be able to use this karaoke machine is a device that can connect to it via bluetooth. Your phone, or other device, will work fine for connecting up and get the music pumping through it. There’s no screen or way to see the words right on the machine itself, so you’ll need to use your phone or whatever device you're connected with to see the words to the song - a laptop may be a better option for this reason.

Our typical setup includes connecting a laptop up to the machine via bluetooth and then outputting the screen to our television (via an HDMI cable). This allows us to be able to have the words up on the screen with the music coming through this device which handles both the music and person singing. You don’t have to hook it up to your television, but it’s certainly easier for younger kids to read and sing the words that way.

In terms of actual music to sing, Youtube is probably the easiest option with the most variety - you can find practically any song that you want for karaoke on Youtube. Once again, the quality isn’t the best usually on Youtube, but for a fun family activity it’s totally fine. There are other sites that will get you better quality, but a lot of them will cost money to use the premium features - probably not worth it unless you’re serious about your karaoke.

Yet another benefit of this machine is that it’s portable. Want to head over to grandma and grandpa’s house to show off your skills (or your kids’ skills)? Not a problem. Just grab it and go. Your kids can take it to a friend’s house or wherever you’re willing to let them, and it’s all really simple - you won’t get that in any system you try putting together yourself.

For most people, karaoke isn’t something they’d normally do in front of a large group. In your home though, with just you and your family, you should really have no shame (not that you should with groups either, but it’s easier when with your family). Bust out your favorite song from when you were younger, or try to sing your child’s favorite song. It doesn’t really matter what you choose - just have a good time busting out notes that you’re probably way off on.

Karaoke night should be a fun activity that you and your family do a few times a year at least. It’s a really easy way to have a fun evening with your family while not making too big of a fool of yourself, at least with people that will really care. Get your karaoke machine now.