Do Toddlers Need Musical Toys?

The Answer is yes, toddlers do need musical toys! Since two years old, children begin to show their physical responses to music, repeat musical phrases and differentiate rhythms, intonations, tempos and other musical concepts. To help them develop musical skills while playing, we can sing and let them sing along with us some familiar lullabies, finger play songs, or through some musical toys. Of course they will not match the exact tune at first, but they will in time. Some examples of musical toys are band in a box, piano, saxophone, trumpet, microphone, etc. there a lot of choices you can find in a toy store or on-line store. You can choose one suitable with your toddler’s interest. For the beginning, you can give your toddler simple rhythm toy instruments to play with. Next time you can play a piano / keyboard, guitar or trumpet and see his response to it. I found some boys are interested in a set of drums. Maybe you can buy one for your beloved toddler too.

Besides musical toys, we can play some musical CDs or DVDs. One experience I have with my toddler is he likes music and tends to explore music through body movements. Whenever I play a record, he always moves his arms and hands following the tempo. He also loves to touch his body parts when I play Baby Einstein DVD From Head to Toe. Sometimes I hear him humming the rhythm of that song too.

Another alternative to introduce music to your toddlers is by giving visual stimulation while you sing a song. For instance, you sing a song about star, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You can point to a star above and move your hand like sparkling in the dark. Or you can give your toddler a flower when you sing about it. Or you can be a flying flight / bird and let your toddler follow you “fly” around the room.

Have a nice try.