Musical Instruments for Little Ones
We're a pretty musical family here at supergrandkids.com, so we're always looking for new ways for little ones to help make music. Today, I saw a link for a little piano on sale. I've been teaching the older two some piano techniques, and they have a little keyboard they use, so here's my two cents on buying keyboards for kids: Make sure it has at least 61 keys! Those little keyboards, like the one in the link above, are just not going to give a kid anything in terms of learning to play. If you really want to get something entry level for them to begin to learn, try something like this:Now, our older two girls got these Concert Master Violins for Christmas last year, and they're surprisingly fun and educational. Their great-grandma got them, I think because her dad was a fiddler player. The girls have picked these up throughout the year (they're toys that have stayed at our house) and played in the various modes. You can play along with a classical piece, including several different Mozart pieces, or you can simply play by yourself. Moving the bow across the strings actually causes tones, and the play-along mode is especially fun for young classical music lovers. Here are my grandparent grades for this toy:
Durability: Good - they've been tossed in drawers, dragged around on the floor, and played quite a bit. Batteries are still going strong, and the toy still work great.
Fun Factor: Great if they're music lovers. Still being played with after almost a year!
Wow Factor: Well, they took a while for the girls to figure out, so wow factor may not have been as good as other toys.
Support Me In My Old Age Factor: Well, Great-Grandma actually bought them, and she would admit that she's well into her old age now (sorry, Great-Grandma!). Yeah, I think this was a good buy for her, and a good gift. The girls have an interest in the violin now, or maybe the fiddle, and she gets to watch them playing.
