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Monologues for Kids: 12 Clean Pieces (8 to 12)
These 12 original monologues for kids suit actors aged about 8 to 12. Each is clean, under 150 words and built around a want a child really has: keeping the class hamster, winning a spelling bee, trading chores, saving a library book. Most are funny, a few are serious. Copy or print any of them.
Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial
In short
A good kids monologue is under a minute, clean, and about something a child really wants, like keeping the class hamster or trading chores. These 12 originals are written for ages 8 to 12, mostly funny, each under 150 words.
Monologues for kids
Showing 12 of 12. All original, written for ScriptLix. Running times are estimates at 140 spoken words a minute. Time yourself out loud.
- ComedicAny genderKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Class Hamster
Jordan, 9, on Monday morning, to the teacher, who is about to look in the cage of Peanut, the class hamster, back from a weekend at Jordan's house. Jordan wants to be trusted with him again.
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Okay. Before you look in the cage, I need you to know Peanut is fine. He's better than fine. He's living his best life.
Friday he ate a whole carrot. That's normal. Saturday he got out. That's less normal. He was inside the couch for six hours. My dad took the whole couch apart with a butter knife. We found him Sunday morning in my mom's boot, asleep, with eleven Cheerios. We don't keep Cheerios. Nobody knows where he got them.
So he's a little rounder. And he knows where the boots are now. That's on me.
But think about it. Nobody else in this class has ever found a hamster in a boot. I have experience now. I'm the most qualified person in this room.
So can I take him at Thanksgiving?
133 words, about 57 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicFemaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Lemonade Merger
Priya, 10, at her lemonade stand, to the boy who just set up a cookie stand right across the street. She wants him to join forces instead of stealing her customers.
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Hey. Cookie boy. Can we talk business?
I've been out here since nine. I have a sign with glitter. I have a cooler. I have a cup system. And then you show up at ten thirty with cookies your grandma made, which, I'm not stupid, are better than anything I have.
Mrs. Delgado walked right past me. She buys from me every Saturday. She looked me in the eye and crossed the street.
Here's the thing. Cookies make people thirsty. You know what fixes thirsty? Me. So we push the tables together. One cookie and one lemonade, a dollar fifty. We split it down the middle.
And I keep the sign. The glitter took two hours.
Deal? Shake on it. Not that hand. That hand has cookie on it.
129 words, about 55 sec spoken (estimate)
- SeriocomicMaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
Step Left
Marcus, 11, in the car after a soccer game, to his dad, who is driving. Marcus let in the goal that lost the game, and he wants his dad to stop replaying it.
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You can stop. I know where I should have stood. I was there. I was the one standing in the wrong place.
You keep saying "if you'd just stepped left." I know. I see it every time I close my eyes. I saw it in the snack line. I saw it in the bathroom.
Coach said it was a team loss. He said it like four times. Then you got in the car and said "step left" before you even did your seatbelt.
And I don't need the story about how famous players lose games too. I looked it up. Mostly they didn't.
Can we just get the drive through? And not talk about it till we're home? Like a deal. Fries for quiet.
Then you can show me how to step left. Tomorrow. In the yard.
137 words, about 59 sec spoken (estimate)
- SeriocomicFemaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
Play the Tape
Hannah, 12, at the microphone of the county spelling bee, to the head judge, who has just rung the bell on her. She wants the judge to check the video before she sits down.
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Excuse me. Sir. I know the bell rang. Everyone heard the bell.
But could you check one more time? The word was "rhythm." I said R, H, Y, T, H, M. You heard R, H, Y, T, H, U, M. I did not say U. I would never say U. I have never said U in that word in my whole life.
What happened was, I sneezed. Right in the middle. It sounded like a U. I know it did, because my brother in the third row is laughing.
I studied for four months. I have flashcards in the shower. They're laminated.
I'm not asking you to give it to me. I'm asking you to play the tape. There's a camera right there. The red light's on.
I'll wait.
129 words, about 55 sec spoken (estimate)
- DramaticAny genderKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Wobbly Table
Sam, 10, in the school cafeteria, to a new kid eating alone. Sam wants the new kid to come sit at Sam's table, without making it weird.
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You can sit there if you want. I'm not telling you to move. I'm just saying there's also a seat over here.
I was new last year. I sat in that exact spot. That table wobbles, right? Put a napkin under the leg. Folded four times. I figured that out in October.
Nobody talked to me until Halloween. Then Devin asked if I wanted his raisins, and I didn't, but I said yes, and now we're friends. That's how it works here. Somebody offers you raisins.
I don't have raisins. I have pretzels. Mostly the broken ones.
You don't have to talk. Devin talks enough for everybody. He's going to tell you about his snake. Just nod. The snake's name is Greg.
So. Pretzel?
124 words, about 53 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicMaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Tooth Audit
Eli, 8, at breakfast, to his mom, holding the one dollar he found under his pillow. He has done the math and wants a raise from the tooth fairy.
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Mom, I need to ask you something about the tooth fairy, and you have to be honest.
Jaxon got five dollars for his tooth. Five. And his tooth was tiny. I saw it. It was like a grain of rice.
My tooth was huge. It was the one in the back. It took three weeks and an apple to get it out. And I got one dollar.
I did the math. Jaxon's tooth is worth five of mine. That doesn't make sense, because mine is bigger. So either she doesn't look at the teeth, or she likes Jaxon more.
I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying you probably have her email.
Can you write to her? Tell her the size. You can borrow my ruler. I measured it before it went under the pillow, just in case.
138 words, about 59 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicFemaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Drum
Zoe, 9, at her family's yard sale, to a neighbor browsing the tables. She wants the neighbor to take her little brother's toy drum away forever.
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Hi! Welcome to the yard sale. Everything on this table is a quarter, and everything on that table is my mom's, so ask her.
But I want to show you something special. This drum. It's red. It's shiny. It's almost new, because nobody has ever played it gently.
It's my brother's. He's four. He plays it at six in the morning. He plays it during my piano practice. He played it during my birthday candles.
You can have it for free. Actually, I'll pay you. I have three dollars from my birthday card.
Wait. Don't look. He's right there. He's waving at you. He thinks you came for his rock collection.
Okay. Take the drum, buy one rock, and walk fast.
121 words, about 52 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicAny genderKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Resume
Riley, 11, on a neighbor's front porch, to Mrs. Okafor, who put up a sign looking for someone to walk her dog. Riley wants the job and has prepared.
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Hi, Mrs. Okafor. I'm here about the dog sign. I brought a resume. It's one page. My mom said resumes are one page.
Experience. I walked our cat once. On a leash. It didn't go great, but I learned that animals have opinions.
Skills. I'm very good at picking things up with a bag. I practiced on leaves.
References. My grandma. She can't come to the phone right now, she's at water aerobics, but she'll say good things. I told her what to say.
I know I'm eleven. But I'm a mature eleven. I make my own toast. I've never lost a key.
Pay me four dollars instead of five, and let me throw the ball one extra time. Moose looks like a ball guy.
Is that him at the window? He's smiling at me. Dogs know.
137 words, about 59 sec spoken (estimate)
- SeriocomicMaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Ice Maker
Theo, 8, at bedtime, through the wall, to his older sister, who just moved into her own room. He wants her to leave her door open.
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Are you asleep? You're not asleep. I can hear your phone.
I'm not scared. I want to say that first.
It's just, before, when we shared a room, I could hear you breathing. And it was annoying. You breathe really loud. Like a vacuum. But I knew where you were.
Now there's a wall. And the house makes noises. The fridge does a thing. Dad says it's the ice maker. It doesn't sound like ice. It sounds like it's thinking.
I'm not asking to sleep in your room. I'll be nine in four months. I'm just asking, could you leave your door open? A crack. A crack this big.
And then if the fridge does the thing, you could say "it's the ice maker." In your voice. Not Dad's. Yours works better.
132 words, about 57 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicFemaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Puffy Book
Ava, 10, at the library desk, to the librarian, returning a book that has been through a lot. She wants to check out the sequel today.
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Hi. I'm returning this. It's a little late. And a little puffy.
What happened was, I was reading it in the bath, which I know you're not supposed to do, but it was the part where the dragon finds out the queen lied, and I couldn't stop. Then my cat jumped on the edge. And then the book was in the bath with me.
I dried every page with the hair dryer. It took a whole episode of my mom's show. Some pages are wavy now, but you can read all of it. I checked. I read it again, to check.
I'll pay the fine. I have four dollars and a coupon for a free smoothie.
But there's a book two. It's on that cart, right there. And I have to know what the dragon does.
I'll read it at the table. Far from water. Promise.
146 words, about 1 min 3 sec spoken (estimate)
- DramaticMaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The Good Knot
Diego, 12, on the dock at the family cabin, to his uncle, the first summer since his grandfather died. The family is talking about selling, and Diego wants one thing before they do.
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This is where he stood. Right here, where the board's a different color. He said the fish could hear you if you walked on the loud boards, so you had to step on the quiet ones.
I heard you and Mom last night. I wasn't listening on purpose. The walls here are thin. Grandpa said that was a feature.
I'm not asking you not to sell it. I know it costs money. I know the roof leaks over the bathroom.
He was going to teach me the good knot this summer. The one that doesn't slip. I watched him do it a hundred times and I still can't.
Do you know it? Could you show me? Right now, before dinner?
Then I'd have it. Then it doesn't matter so much where the dock is.
134 words, about 57 sec spoken (estimate)
- ComedicMaleKids, 8 to 12About 1 minute
The New Chart
Owen, 10, in the kitchen, to his parents, presenting a chore chart he made himself. He wants to trade jobs with his little sister.
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Okay, everybody sit down. I made a chart.
On the old chart, I do dishes and Lily feeds the fish. Let's look at that. Dishes: every night, forty minutes, sometimes there's lasagna stuck on and you have to scrape it with your fingernails. Fish: once a day, ten seconds, one pinch. The fish doesn't even look at her.
On the new chart, I feed the fish and Lily does dishes. But wait. To be fair, I also take out the recycling on Thursdays. That's me being generous.
Lily is going to say she's only eight. Dad, when you were eight you had a paper route. You told me. You tell me every time I ask for a ride.
I color coded it. Blue is me. Pink is Lily. Green is the fish.
132 words, about 57 sec spoken (estimate)
How to use it
- 1
Let the child pick from two or three you like, so the piece feels like theirs.
- 2
Ask who they are talking to and what they want from that person, in their own words.
- 3
Learn it a few lines a day, out loud, and practice it to a real person, not a mirror.
What makes a good monologue for a kid?
A real situation from a kid's life and a clear thing to win. Children are good at wanting things; a piece about convincing a parent or a teacher gives them something to play instead of a feeling to fake. Short sentences and concrete objects, a drum, a ruler, a wet book, make it easier to remember.
How long should a kids audition monologue be?
Thirty seconds to a minute. Most children's theater and school auditions ask for under a minute, and a young actor who finishes calmly makes a better impression than one racing through a long piece. Every piece here is under 150 words.
What should a kid do in the audition room?
Say their name and the title clearly, take a breath, then talk to one imaginary person just past the casting table, not to the panel. Stand still unless the piece needs a move. If they forget a line, it is fine to stop, smile and start the sentence again.
Questions writers ask
Are these monologues appropriate for young children?
Yes. They are clean and written for ages 8 to 12. Two touch on gentle loss and moving schools; read them first if your child is sensitive.
Can a girl perform a piece marked for a boy?
Usually, yes. Change the name and the pronouns. Pieces marked any gender work for anyone as written.
What about older kids and teens?
Actors 13 and up should see the teen monologues page, which has pieces written for teenage characters.
How long should a kids audition monologue be?
Under a minute, which is about 100 to 150 words. Every piece here fits. A shorter piece your child knows cold beats a longer one they are still reaching for.