Rubber Chicken Karaoke

Oct 23, 2025

There aren’t a lot of programs that are still vividly remembered and talked about years after summer comes to an end. Rubber Chicken Karaoke, originally found in the iREAD 2021: Reading Colors Your World Resource Guide, will never be forgotten. What better way to have some barnyard fun? It’s silly. It’s creative. It works for all ages. And it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to do. 

Host a live or virtual Chicken Karaoke program!

Participants should collect their rubber chicken along with a list of sample chicken parodies a few days before the event. For sample parodies, do an Internet search for “rubber chicken song parodies.” Patrons can select an appropriate song for their rubber chicken to perform. The librarian or patron can look for the karaoke music in the library music collection or by doing a search for the song title on YouTube.

Karaoke version: Patrons should have a few days to practice the song with their rubber chicken. On the day of the program, give each participant an opportunity to perform a 2- to 3-minute version of their rubber chicken singing their song.

Options:

You can choose to have a winner. Make the trophy by spray painting a rubber chicken gold and mounting it to wood or clay so that it stands up.

You can do an introduction to the Rubber Chicken singing program or a YouTube video a few days before karaoke night.  Show participants how the chicken’s “voice” changes depending on how hard and how long you press on it.

Update for 2026:

If you wanted to do this as more of a passive program for 2026, you can have folks make a video of their chicken songs and send them to the library. The patrons don’t necessarily have to be on screen.. They can choose to dress their chickens up or create scenery or props. And you can share them with other patrons throughout the summer. You may want to have the community vote for their favorite. If you have green screens or a place to record within the library, encourage participants to use those resources. You can have backdrops and props set up for use as well. Whatever works best for you and your library. 

There is also Chicken Karaoke by Heidi E. Y. Stemple (Simon Spotlight, 2023) that can be incorporated into the program. 

Need some inspiration? Look no further than the Muppets. Their chicken songs are a long-standing tradition.