There's something about having a microphone in a room that brings out the performer in many kids. I had this set up in a corner of the living room when a gaggle of 7-year-old girls showed up for a birthday party , and before I could get it out of the way, they instantly ran to it and started singing into it, even though it wasn't functional at the time.

The Sing-A-Song Microphone from International Playthings offers a Karaoke experience sans the screen, all in one microphone and stand. The base of the stand has a built in speaker, 3 LED's that flash to the beat of the music, on/off switch for the LED's, and a power/volume dial, plus 2 1/8" miniplugs. The microphone (which draws its power from its jack) has a power switch and 3 buttons.

Designed for preschoolers through early primaries, this mic has an adjustable stand with removable mic, much like a real mic stand. Little singers can press buttons on the mic to scroll through 20 available tunes like "Yankee Doodle," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and "Little Brown Jug". (How did that song ever become a kids' song?) The tempo of some of those songs runs a bit fast for little singers to keep up, though. The other button on the mic plays audience sound effects like applause and laughter (for budding comedians).

If your Sinatra would rather choose from a personal music collection, like a CD or MP3 player, an extra audio jack (and included cord) allow for singing along to your own tunes. My 7-year-old plugged in her MP3 player and with mic in one hand (she preferred holding it to leaving it in the stand) and player in the other and would sing her entire collection given the opportunity.

The base and mic are fairly sturdy, but the hollow stand seems a bit flimsy. If your kids tend to be rough on their toys, they may end up holding the mic whether they want to or not. Setup, though, is simple, and adjusting the stand is easy enough for kids to do themselves.

The amplification and gain on the mic isn't very high, so if the child holds the mic more than a few inches from the mouth, the voice cannot be heard through the speaker, and being a very small speaker, the sound quality isn't great, but good enough for a child's entertainment. Also, there's no "stop" button for the included music, but we figured out that the audience button will stop the music after a short applause/laughter postlude. My other complaint has to do with the batteries. Although it doesn't seem to drain its 4 AA batteries very quickly, since it has a dial to turn it on, I guarantee that your child will leave it on when done more often than turning it off. Use rechargeables, though, and this won't be a big deal.

If your child enjoys singing (or telling jokes) in the publicity of your own home and won't smash it like a rock star, this is a decent toy for the performer in your child.