MUSIC INSPIRES!!!

Music has always, and always will, play an important role in a baby’s development. We use music to expresses ourselves. Music allows us to experience joy and happiness. Music is a part of our daily lives and culture. Music also inspires us and encourages social and verbal interactions.

Having musical toys for 1-year-olds encourages open-play, engagement, and natural learning. Kids of all ages love to move around and dance to music. Think of the many silly songs you learned as a child. It is amazing how you still remember all the words. Music has been known to increase life long learning benefits in children of all ages. It is never too early to introduce a child to the love and learning of music, expose them to vocabulary and rhymes and tap out rhythms. Below is a list of just 5 musical toys we recommend for 1-year-old child development. 

Recommendations:

1. Xylophone
2. Touch Sensitive Musical Toys
3. Percussion Toys
4. Tambourine
5. Beginner Keyboard 

1.  Xylophone

Infants and toddlers love hearing music and banging things to make noise. Xylophones are one of the classic music toys for 1-year-olds. This fun activity promotes the understanding of cause-and-effect while proving motor skills practice. Keep little hands busy with the beautifully colorful instrument.

Recommended because:

• Teaches cause and effect
• Promotes motor skills
• Hands-on activity

2. Touch-sensitive Toys

Touch-sensitive toys for 1-year-olds reinforce learning and development. Toys that incorporate lights and sounds stimulate your child’s senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Things like spinners, roller balls, and other engagement will not only add to the learning experience, but also the fun! There are so many aspects to explore this type of while transitioning from infant to toddler.

Recommended because:

• Interactive – responds to touch
• Hands-on activities to stimulate coordination
• Entertaining
• Promotes sensory stimulation, cause and effect, and motor skills

3. Percussion Toys

Percussion toys may come in many forms such as a drum, maraca or any kind of shaker or bells. Children can jingle, jangle, shake, and dance to their own improvised rhythms.

Recommended because:

• Develops fine motor and hand-eye coordination
• Encourages open and imaginative play
• Can be played with others or independently
• Typically inexpensive

4. Tambourine

The tambourine creates a fun and engaging play time for all those little noise makers out there! The jingling sounds encourage kids to move and get their groove on! This is a great way to introduce rhythm, which is also an essential part of learning to play any instrument.

Recommended because:

• Kids love them and find making jingling noises fun!
• Great way to introduce timing and rhythmic skills
• Inexpensive

5. Beginner Keyboard

Keyboard provide sensory fun for children. With each press of a piano key, a child learns about the black versus the white keys and how they each create different sounds.

Recommended because:

• Encourages motor skills, sensory learning and cause and effect learning
• Scientific evidence exists of the life long benefits of learning to play the piano.
• One of the few instruments in which multiple sounds can be played simultaneously to provide a full and harmonious experience.

We hope you enjoyed learning about musical toys and how they benefit child learning.  

Check back in for recommendations for 2 and 3 years olds coming soon!