Usually held on a Saturday night in March or early April, the show honors the year's biggest in television, film, music, and sports as voted by viewers worldwide of Nickelodeon networks.

Winners receive a hollow orange blimp figurine, a logo outline for much of the network's 1984–2009 era, which also functions as a kaleidoscope.

Individually, Selena Gomez and Adam Sandler are tied for the most trophies won with twelve, followed by Will Smith and Taylor Swift (both with 11), as well as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande (both with 9).

Whoopi Goldberg is the only person to have won a Kids' Choice Award alongside the prevailing "EGOT" combination of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

Hecht selected the awards logo from a series of network designs created by original logo designers Tom Corey and Scott Nash (Corey McPherson Nash, Boston), overseen by Goodman and Seibert (Fred/Alan, Inc., New York).

[16] Other countries with their own Kids' Choice Awards include Brazil, United Kingdom, Australia, and Indonesia, which are either fully original local productions, or inserted as continuity during their broadcast of the U.S. ceremony.

In August 2011, Nickelodeon Latin America announced a Kids' Choice Awards event for Argentina.

In June 2014, Nickelodeon Latin America announced a Kids' Choice Awards event for Colombia.

After renovations to Pauley beginning in 2011, the show was moved to the Galen Center at USC;[31] it was expected to be a temporary home, but the network retained Galen for the 2012–2014 ceremonies due to the construction of the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference and Guest Center, making it difficult to have the "Orange Carpet"; the smaller Kids' Choice Sports had its first ceremony in 2014 at Pauley.

[29] The 2020 awards, previously scheduled for March 22, were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the ceremony was later moved to May 2 to be held virtually.

[38] During the presentation of his award, Schneider was joined onstage by cast members of his shows including Kenan & Kel, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious, and Sam & Cat.

[40] In his acceptance speech, Prime proclaimed for the award to, "...seal the bond between humans, Maximals, and Autobots, as we fight together to protect the planet.

Celebrities sitting in the audience are also fair game for being slimed, as Mandy Moore first learned in 2007, and Halle Berry later found out in 2012.

Olympians, extreme sports stars and daredevils participated in special stunts performed live on national television—often landing into the trademark green slime.