6 Best Musical Instruments for Toddlers to Develop Their Brains

There are many benefits to teaching your child music. Many studies show that music has a profound effect on young children’s brains. Research shows that making music has even more developmental benefits than simply listening to music or observing someone play an instrument.

Hence, experimenting with musical instruments is important for your child’s holistic growth. What are the best musical instruments for toddlers? Keep reading to find out more. 

Best Musical Instruments for Toddlers

With the many benefits we listed above, musical instruments make a great gift for your toddlers. Here are some great choices for your next purchase. 

Hape Time Toy Piano

Most Versatile Musical Instruments

The toy piano is one of the most versatile instruments that a toddler can learn!

Not only will your toddler get to hear the full spectrum of notes, but your toddler also gets to benefit from improvement in reading comprehension and mental abilities, as well as greater kinesthetic and tactile learning.

This wooden piano toy comes with simple piano scores and numbering stickers to paste on piano keys for easy learning. The toy piano is just the right size for your toddler’s little hands.

This toy piano is battery-operated, making it safe from dangerous electrical plugs. It also has an easy switch to turn it on and off.

Features We Love: 

• Simple piano scores and numbering stickers for easy learning. 
• Battery-operated toy piano.
• Easy to turn on and off with a single-switch toy piano.

Drum Set For Kids

Best Musical Instruments for Rhythm Training 

Made with durable plastic, this drum set for kids is specially designed for children aged 3-6 years old. The drum set for kids is perfect for developing your toddler’s creativity, motor and rhythmic skills, as well as hand-eye coordination.

Drumming is a productive outlet for releasing energy and is a form of exercise. Research shows drumming has a positive impact on cognitive development and rhythm training.

Features We Love: 

• Adjustable according to child’s height drum set for kids
• Made of high quality and durable plastic to ensure child’s safety 
• The complete drum kit includes a snare drum, bass drum, middle drum, and cymbals. 

Hey! Play! Kid’s Toy

Best Musical Instruments for Hand-Eye Coordination

Learning the violin helps in sensory development as you need finely tuned hand-eye coordination skills to produce beautiful and accurate sounds on the instrument.

This kid’s violin features adjustable strings that play notes when pressed down and comes with a bow. 

Perfect for kids who want to play but are not quite ready for a real instrument. They will be able to learn musical sounds and play melodies. 

Features We Love: 

• 18 inches long with a lightweight plastic body and neck for easy use 
• Five push buttons that play music and sounds that your child can pretend to play along with the included bow.
• Durable plastic fingerboard 

Baby Einstein Magic Touch

Best Musical Instrument for Touch Training 

The ukulele is a unique and fun instrument for children who want to learn how to strum and pick using their fingers. It is a smaller alternative to the guitar, which is usually too big for kids.

This ukulele toy produces real chord sounds, allowing your toddler to play in two ways: either freestyle or play-along mode. With 30+ melodies, your kid will learn the power of touch as she presses the colourful keys. 

Features We Love: 

• Volume control for mom and dad. 
• 30+ melodies. 
• Two playing modes – freestyle or strum along 

Kaqinu Percussion Toy

Best Musical Instrument for Musical Concept

Percussion instruments allow babies to use their entire bodies to understand the holistic concept of music.

With a wide range of instruments, toddlers can create their own music, learn about their bodies, and develop their own understanding of materials and sound.

They also get to learn about the physical world and what vibration feels and sounds like. In addition, using percussion instruments will teach your child about cause and effect. 

This unique set of wooden percussion instruments comes in 100% natural wood for safe use and has 16 pieces of instruments that will surely inspire your kids to move, groove, and feel the beat! 

Features We Love: 

• Wide range of 16 pieces percussion set 
• 100% natural wood, no harmful water paint or chemicals used. 
• Easy to carry and store 

Colorful Glockenspiel Xylophone

Best for Saving Costs

The Colorful Glockenspiel Xylophone set is brightly coloured, comes with two wooden mallets to play with, and features 15 different keys.

It keeps children engaged and gives them the freedom to explore different sounds and piece them together to create their own special songs.

It is also good to note that this is one of the best value-for-money instruments for toddlers in the market today. 

Why do we like it?

• Colourful.
• Cost-effective.
• Durable.
• Sturdy Material: Wood and Aluminium.

Price Comparison: Musical Instruments

Here’s a price table of the best musical instruments for toddlers for your quick reference:

Editor’s Note: Each item and price is up to date at the time of publication. However, an item may be sold out, or the price may be different at a later date.

Developmental benefits of musical instruments

Music plays a powerful role in the lives of children. Here are just some of the skills they get to develop: 

• Socio-emotional skills 

Soothing music helps babies learn and practice self-regulation. Singing about feelings helps them to understand emotions.

Music activities teach them to cooperate and build relationships. By making an impact, toddlers improve their self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy. 

• Physical (motor) skills 

By dancing to music, babies get to hone their gross motor development. The development of small muscles in their hands and bodies allows for developing fine motor skills.

They learn how to keep their balance and develop body awareness. 

• Cognitive skills 

Many songs introduce numbers and counting. Through experience with different instruments and types of music, children slowly become aware of differences in pitch, timbre, tone, and volume.

Toddlers learn about rhythm, repetition, patterns and sequencing. They also get to practice language skills, math concepts, and symbolic thinking skills.

Tips for making music with toddlers

Music inspires special times and makes for great bonding with your child. How can you make music together with your toddler? 

Here are some tips and tricks: 

• Sing while you play action games gently with the baby’s fingers and toes. 
• Dance while singing with your baby. Play classical music so they can enjoy being introduced to different music genres at an early age. 
• Babies who have trouble settling into slumber respond to long, soothing lullabies with lots of verses and a certain monotony of slow rhymes and rhythms.
• Play songs with simple words to inspire babies to try their own cooing melodies and beginning songs.
• Sing a song repeatedly so that your toddler can imitate you to learn the song. 

We hope you have the best musical experience with your toddler! 

Editor’s note: The product links provided here are aimed to help simplify product searches for our readers. Purchase the items at your own discretion. We do not take liability for any transaction issues and disputes. If you purchase an item from this post, theAsianparent may receive a small cut. Each item and price is up to date at the time of publication; however, an item may be sold out or the price may be different at a later date.

Also read: 7 Best Nursery Rhymes Toys For Your Baby: CoComelon, Baby Shark and More