Shopping: karaoke party with Carole Middleton

Release your little one’s inner rock star with superstar entertainment and a cool karaoke theme

What girl or boy doesn’t love to grab the mic and have a singalong with friends? And a birthday party is the perfect excuse to get their groove on.

Firstly, why not set the tone for your little one’s celebration with printed invitations designed to look like a CD cover, concert tickets or VIP backstage passes? You could even attach them to a lanyard so they can wear them on the day.

Now to set the scene at home or your venue of choice. If you can, set a stage area where the children can steal the limelight – try hanging a curtain as a backdrop or string fairylights around it to spotlight your mini performers. Give them enough space to move around and show off those dance moves!

Gold and silver balloons and hanging foil streamers will all add to the party ambience, as will a sparkly disco light ball. And don’t forget those all-important props: microphones, inflatable instruments and even a dressing-up box filled with rock star-inspired accessories, including outrageous wigs, sunglasses, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and faux leather jackets.

When it comes to the music, you might choose to hire or buy a karaoke machine for the kids, otherwise there are plenty of options to download for your computer or games console. Other games bought for consoles even come with microphones – be sure to check when purchasing.

If you want to give your food a musical twist, decorated cookies and cake pops are a great way to do it. Try icing on music notes or making the microphone cake pops from Pop Bakery (left). Elsewhere, easy-to-eat finger food is probably best for your mini muscians, including bitesize bagels and fruit kebabs.

1. A Little Lovely Company lightbox, £28.95, lullabuy.co.uk 2. Gold balloon (pack of eight), £1.49, star foil balloon, £1.49, both partypieces.co.uk 3. Inflatable keyboard, £2.99, noveltytoyshop.co.uk 4. Rolling Stones sweater, £40, littleelevenparis.com 5. Ray-Ban sunglasses, £62, childsplayclothing.co.uk 6. Plastic and paper plates, from a selection, partypieces.co.uk 7. Plaster the walls and ceilings with colour! Comes with two microphone inputs and bluetooth compatibility – iDance disco lights, £49.99, argos.co.uk 8. Dr Martens boots, £55, jakeshoes.co.uk 9. Tutu skirt, from £54, angels-face.co.uk 10. Paper cups (pack of eight), from £2.29, partypieces.co.uk 11. Microphone prop, £2.49, partypieces.co.uk 12. Throw your best shapes and hit the high notes with ‘Sing Party’ for the Wii U – ‘Sing Party’, £31.99, game.co.uk

Cake pops are a fun alternative to a traditional bake. Hit the high notes with POP Bakery’s musical-inspired treats. 

You will need:
• Cake (of your choice)
• Cream cheese frosting
• Black candy melts
• Cake pop sticks
• Silver pearl sugar sprinkles

Step one: Mix your day-old crumbled cake with the frosting.

Step two: From the mixture, weigh out roughly 30g. If you don’t have scales then use an amount that’s easy to roll into a ball in your hands.

Step three: Divide the 30g lump into roughly 18g and 12g (or 60:40). Roll the smaller part into a ball and make a cylindrical shape with the 18g portion, tapering it at one end by rolling it on your work surface. Leave the shapes to harden in the fridge for up to 30 minutes.

Step four: Dip the top of your stick into the melted candy before assembling the two shapes on to the stick.

Step five: Dip the full microphone shape in your melted black candy and then leave it to dry.

Step six: Re-dip the spherical part of the cake pop into the black melted candy and leave to stand for a second before covering with the silver sugar sprinkles.

Check out more of POP Bakery’s designs at popbakery.co.uk