What are 10 year old kids into these days?
May 10, 2012 11:47 PM Subscribe
What are the 10 year old kids into these days?
I'm writing a song to perform to a group of kids at a school. I've been told that they vary in age. I've got a tune suitable for high school kids, and I can make a 5 year old dance no problem. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue as to what a 10 year old is into. I don't know what music is popular, what books are "in", and stuff like that. I'm trying to write something funny, so making references to stuff that is popular works great, but I just don't know what is popular right now for kids around 10 years old. Any examples you can give me would be great. I'm looking more for specific things such as "10 year olds love power rangers and listen to brittney spears", rather than more vague answers about how their lives are changing, they are finding their own voice, etc.
I'm writing a song to perform to a group of kids at a school. I've been told that they vary in age. I've got a tune suitable for high school kids, and I can make a 5 year old dance no problem. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue as to what a 10 year old is into. I don't know what music is popular, what books are "in", and stuff like that. I'm trying to write something funny, so making references to stuff that is popular works great, but I just don't know what is popular right now for kids around 10 years old. Any examples you can give me would be great. I'm looking more for specific things such as "10 year olds love power rangers and listen to brittney spears", rather than more vague answers about how their lives are changing, they are finding their own voice, etc.
Angry Birds was the first thing I ever did on an IPad. I know someone in his 70s who plays Angry Birds. I saw Angry Birds candies in Ace Hardware yesterday. dotgirl's 8 year old son plays it. I bet the 10 year olds also dig it.
posted by aniola at 12:26 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by aniola at 12:26 AM on May 11, 2012
My son turned 10 years old today. His favorite bands are Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Guns N Roses, but I'm pretty sure he has different music tastes than his classmates.
Kids his age LOVE Perry the Platypus (Phineas & Ferb). I (a man in his mid-30s) have a Perry T shirt that I wore to a roller rink birthday party, and so many kids would come up to me and tell me their favorite Perry or Phineas and Ferb story. I have the shirt just for my son, but ALL of the kids always go for it. The seem to like Perry more than I liked Transformers or the Ghostbusters.
If you make a reference like "my nemenemesis" you'll hook them.
posted by BurnChao at 12:59 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Kids his age LOVE Perry the Platypus (Phineas & Ferb). I (a man in his mid-30s) have a Perry T shirt that I wore to a roller rink birthday party, and so many kids would come up to me and tell me their favorite Perry or Phineas and Ferb story. I have the shirt just for my son, but ALL of the kids always go for it. The seem to like Perry more than I liked Transformers or the Ghostbusters.
If you make a reference like "my nemenemesis" you'll hook them.
posted by BurnChao at 12:59 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Beyblades. Skylanders. Star Wars (still heavily marketed). Phineas & Ferb. Harry Potter. Percy Jackson.
posted by eddydamascene at 1:06 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by eddydamascene at 1:06 AM on May 11, 2012
Minecraft is huuuuuge with my 10-year-old nephew and his friends.
posted by lovecrafty at 2:01 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by lovecrafty at 2:01 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
My 9 year old son loves Roblox (similar to Minecraft), Ninjago (a LEGO series), Breaking Benjamin (a band) and goes old school with Spongebob Squarepants.
posted by THAT William Mize at 2:24 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by THAT William Mize at 2:24 AM on May 11, 2012
XBOX and XBOX live. The Avengers movie. Seconding Angry Birds too.
posted by qsysopr at 2:49 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by qsysopr at 2:49 AM on May 11, 2012
9-and-1/2-year-old son here.
He is into XBOX, Beyblades, Adventure Time (an absolutely surreal cartoon on Cartoon Network), Foster The People, LEGO, the NFL, and soccer (football).
posted by kuanes at 4:06 AM on May 11, 2012
He is into XBOX, Beyblades, Adventure Time (an absolutely surreal cartoon on Cartoon Network), Foster The People, LEGO, the NFL, and soccer (football).
posted by kuanes at 4:06 AM on May 11, 2012
Based on my experiences with my 11 year old daughter, kids have much more varied tastes than kids did when I was young. I don't think you can generalize as much as you could 20 or 30 years ago. That's said, she is into Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, but also quirky ukulele covers and acapella music. She watches iCarly, Lab Rats, Adventure Time and Good Luck Charlie, but also Mythbusters and Regular Show. She is just finishing Harry Potter and is getting hooked on Daniel Pinkwater. She is begging to read The Hunger Games (I took her to the movie, which was a little outside her scariness comfort zone, but she liked it), but I think the book is a bit too much for her, even though she has classmates who are reading it.
If you want to know the kind of pop culture references kids get, you should check out the new Mad TV show on Cartoon Network. It is chock full of parodies and references, and my daughter thinks it is great.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:09 AM on May 11, 2012
If you want to know the kind of pop culture references kids get, you should check out the new Mad TV show on Cartoon Network. It is chock full of parodies and references, and my daughter thinks it is great.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:09 AM on May 11, 2012
I have 9-year-old boy and 11-year-old boy.
9-year-old loves Call of Duty. I wouldn't sing about that though. They both like Top 40 music, Playstation 3, Angry Birds, Minecraft, NFL, MLB, NBA.
As far as books go: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games (11-year-old), Heroes of Olympus.
posted by Fairchild at 4:27 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
9-year-old loves Call of Duty. I wouldn't sing about that though. They both like Top 40 music, Playstation 3, Angry Birds, Minecraft, NFL, MLB, NBA.
As far as books go: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games (11-year-old), Heroes of Olympus.
posted by Fairchild at 4:27 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nthing Ninjago! It is HUUUUUGE!!!!! The toy stores can't even keep the action figures in stock!
posted by Hanuman1960 at 5:31 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Hanuman1960 at 5:31 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
My ten-year-old nephew is into Lego and Minecraft, and he really loves Dr. Who, Adventure Time and especially Regular Show. Ten is right about the age when kids really start to understand and appreciate irony, sarcasm and parody. (Remember when you were a kid? When did you start reading Mad Magazine? Right around 9 or 10, I'd wager.)
Musically, he listens to what his Mom and Dad listen to, plus the theme songs of his favorite TV shows and movies - Ben10, Clone Wars, One Piece.
So, heavy-handed satire with a beat they can move to is where you want to be.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:49 AM on May 11, 2012
Musically, he listens to what his Mom and Dad listen to, plus the theme songs of his favorite TV shows and movies - Ben10, Clone Wars, One Piece.
So, heavy-handed satire with a beat they can move to is where you want to be.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:49 AM on May 11, 2012
Good lord, n'thing Minecraft. My oldest son (11) is absolutely gonzo for it. He and his buds - including one who lives 2 doors down - get together into a little online posse and it's hilarious. When the chat gets too slow, they run back and forth to each other's house to relay messages.
Also: Pokemon (on DS), Rick Riordan books, Lego, ninjas, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ben 10, Batman, The Avengers, and so on. I think he'e memorized the DC comics encyclopedia we got him a few years ago and he thought Speed Racer and the first Transformers movies were the greatest things he's ever seen.
Because he's the oldest boy, he basically helps sets the trend throughout the household. We're knee-deep in pretty much all of those things (boys and girls alike).
The girl overlap is pretty large, but would include: My Little Pony, Barbie (we tried! I promise!), Webkinz, Mario Bros-related games (DS), and anything with a cat or rabbit on it.
posted by jquinby at 5:50 AM on May 11, 2012
Also: Pokemon (on DS), Rick Riordan books, Lego, ninjas, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ben 10, Batman, The Avengers, and so on. I think he'e memorized the DC comics encyclopedia we got him a few years ago and he thought Speed Racer and the first Transformers movies were the greatest things he's ever seen.
Because he's the oldest boy, he basically helps sets the trend throughout the household. We're knee-deep in pretty much all of those things (boys and girls alike).
The girl overlap is pretty large, but would include: My Little Pony, Barbie (we tried! I promise!), Webkinz, Mario Bros-related games (DS), and anything with a cat or rabbit on it.
posted by jquinby at 5:50 AM on May 11, 2012
My friend who is eleven going on twelve, last year the only thing she could/would talk about was The Last Airbender, Percy Jackson. On and on and fucking on.
Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Ke$ha, crap like that.
We just went on a road trip and oddly enough in that one year betwen last year and this year, her tastes have totally changed.
Ten is ephermal, that's for sure.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:15 AM on May 11, 2012
Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Ke$ha, crap like that.
We just went on a road trip and oddly enough in that one year betwen last year and this year, her tastes have totally changed.
Ten is ephermal, that's for sure.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:15 AM on May 11, 2012
Nthing Hunger Games and Dr. Who.
Also enjoying their first taste of "I'm too cool for that now" by hating on Justin Bieber.
posted by apparently at 6:31 AM on May 11, 2012
Also enjoying their first taste of "I'm too cool for that now" by hating on Justin Bieber.
posted by apparently at 6:31 AM on May 11, 2012
Dr. Who.
My daughter would be furious that I forgot to mention the Doctor.
Also enjoying their first taste of "I'm too cool for that now" by hating on Justin Bieber
Big time. She claims "no one" likes the Biebs anymore. I try and tell her that someone is buying his CDs, but she is steadfast.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:41 AM on May 11, 2012
My daughter would be furious that I forgot to mention the Doctor.
Also enjoying their first taste of "I'm too cool for that now" by hating on Justin Bieber
Big time. She claims "no one" likes the Biebs anymore. I try and tell her that someone is buying his CDs, but she is steadfast.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:41 AM on May 11, 2012
You should try to ask the teachers at the school where you'll be performing- what's cool in elementary school can be really localized and they might now what's just turned over from So Awesome to Lame.
posted by MadamM at 6:46 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by MadamM at 6:46 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
So funny, my boyfriend's daughter is 10 (lives in NYC), and my nieces are 8 and 11 (live in MA), and there are a lot of things mentioned above that they're not into at all. The things I've noticed them being into are all the Disney Channel shows (but the current ones - Hannah Montana is no longer hot), American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance (they all love dance class), the Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, YouTube videos of other kids singing their own songs, making videos of themselves lip-syncing to songs and posting them on YouTube, playing Draw Something, using social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook). The MA kids love Justin Bieber, but the NYC one doesn't - I agree with Madam M that kids' taste can be very localized.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 9:36 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by Neely O'Hara at 9:36 AM on May 11, 2012
The 10 year old girl in my life is CRAZY about Pokemon and Harry Potter and also her 3DS, thinks "pop music" is the worst (by which she means Bieber and Katy Perry, to name two she's specifically denigrated), and is getting into anime and "internet culture" (like Nyan cat and so on) in general. (I'm about to email her a link to Party Cat).
I like MadamM's thought of asking teachers what's "cool" right now.
posted by bubukaba at 2:00 PM on May 11, 2012
I like MadamM's thought of asking teachers what's "cool" right now.
posted by bubukaba at 2:00 PM on May 11, 2012
I have an 11-year-old daughter and a son who is 9.
They both like iCarly and Spongebob and the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books. The boy likes Adventure Time a lot. And, weirdly enough, my daughter and her friends at school all love Oblivion and Skyrim on the Xbox360. I don't know where that came from...
They also love the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies, the Smurf movie, and other crappy family films that drive me nuts.
posted by tacodave at 3:12 PM on May 11, 2012
They both like iCarly and Spongebob and the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books. The boy likes Adventure Time a lot. And, weirdly enough, my daughter and her friends at school all love Oblivion and Skyrim on the Xbox360. I don't know where that came from...
They also love the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies, the Smurf movie, and other crappy family films that drive me nuts.
posted by tacodave at 3:12 PM on May 11, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
I know he's a bit younger than you were looking for, but I suspect the things I mentioned are popular with 10 year olds as well.
posted by dotgirl at 11:50 PM on May 10, 2012