They were once to be found only in the occasional pub on a Friday night, but today karaoke machines have invaded the home, much to the delight of the parents whose children are given them by adoring friends and relatives, and by the neighbours who have to put up with daily renditions of the current pop hits being belted out by a group of children whose enthusiasm is matched only by their inability to hit the right note at least occasionally.



These machines are actually fairly inexpensive, and usually come with a few sample tracks for use by the children to get them started. The cheaper models don't tend to come with monitors, although many will provide the ability to wire the machine to a television and play the videos. The more expensive ones will either use DVDs rather than CDs or tapes, and will either have their own built in screen, or the ability to broadcast the video and lyrics on the television screen at home. The machines come with a built in amplifier, stereo speakers and a microphone. Often the machines also allow the child to alter the voice in various ways, such as adding a reverberation effect to make it sound more as though they are performing on stage. Some even come with flashing disco lights for the full club effect.

In addition to the karaoke machines there has also been an interest in dance mats. Sometimes these are sold in pairs together, but they can be bought as individual items for use on their own too. The dance mats are usually made of plastic, and have a number of squares, coloured spots or other markings to show where your feet should be to help you follow a simple dance routine. These dance routines are usually shown on the television screen, and will start with simple routines and become more and more complex. The idea of these is not as much to get children to learn to dance or to learn dance moves, but to provide them with personal challenges, friendly rivalry and competition with friends, whilst at the same time getting some exercise.

The more complex and demanding dance routines involve a great deal of very fast jumping, stepping, turning and other foot moves, that can be very difficult to copy exactly, and very tiring to keep up with. The mats themselves have pressure sensors built in to each of the coloured spots so that a computer can identify how quickly and how accurately the child is copying the moves, and will provide scores. In some cases the score can be increased simply by moving faster, completing more moves in less time and beating your opponent. Certainly the physical exercise gained from these games is well worth the money, and they prove very popular.

Together, the karaoke set and the dance mat will create blockbusting divas and pop idols, or at least, in their own minds they will be. Just remember to make sure that the enthusiasm with which these are received does not result in either late night full volume performances that sees you being ostracised by your neighbours, or that you don't keep your collection of Ming vases next to the dance mat.