Favorite musical instruments for wee ones?

[pritchettzoo]

DD loves music. She'll sing and dance and shake her maracas to the beat. :) What are your favorite musical instrument toys? I'm compiling a wish list for birthday and Christmas (in case someone asks; it will not be mailed with the invitation or anything ;) ) and I'd love some suggestions.

Thanks!
Anna

[Rikkele]

Maracas, tambourine, mini-chimalong by Woodstock, and a drum (from my sister's Flamenco class).

[megulis]

A piano! Keyboard or otherwise! He loves banging on the piano, and he loves jog-dialing the Yamaha keyboard to bang on the keyboard listening to different sound effects. He also has the longer version of this:

http://tinyurl.com/5fw4x

He loves banging away!

[pixelprincess]

Do you have the bee-bop band from Parents mag? it is quite cute and has a bunch of instruments...maracas, xylophone, cymbals and drum. cute design too! we also have a FP kick and play piano that he beats up on with his hands.

DS also dances to some of the cd's that i play with indian/international music. it's fun to watch them dance, isn't it?

[zen_bliss]

we are also very musical! i'd like to find a durable keyboard that can do chords and weather a baby...

the little tikes piano/xylophone is simple but much played.

the neurosmith composer blocks have been a favorite since the beginning, and there's a variety of cartridges available. since neurosmith is out of business, eBay is now probably the only way to go. the embryonics music cubes are also kept very busy and in need of battery changes. :) the parents band set from target is also fun... as my friend pointed out, the tamborine is a figure with 'bell bottoms' (the metal shaky things are in the creature's pants!)

[houseof3boys]

You can borrow our Little Tikes piano/xylophone next time I see you if she wants to try her hand (hee hee) at that.

ETA: It is the older version of this.




http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/11577.gif

[megulis]

That is the one I have! I like that it doesn't look like a tiger or anything else.

[LittlePrince_Mom]

My DSs absolute favorite is his guitar. It's a 1/4 size of a real guitar and has real strings. He can't get enough of it even though he's still too small to hold it up. He sits it on the floor and just strums away. Drums are also a huge hit, he has a few types that make different sounds. We also have a xylophone (I actually prefer metal to the wooden ones I've found the sound to be better), maracas, 2 tambourines, bells and cymbals. I think that's it LOL and my DS isn't even a year old yet.
HTH
-E
http://lilypie.com/baby1/040916/3/5/2/+2/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[mudder17]

I love people's ideas--I'm going to jot them down for future reference!

DD's still a little young, but currently she likes banging away on our piano (with her hands, not toys) and she really enjoys "dancing" with me when I play a CD. Oh, and she loves the 80s music that plays while I'm at the chiropractor and I we lie down tummy to tummy (I'm on my back) on the hydromassage bed. For the toys that have a rattle or musical sound inside, she loves shaking them around to make the noise--I'm thinking maracas, tambourines, and cymbals will be a great hit in the future. She's started taking toys and her sippy cup and banging it on the table of her high chair--I'm thinking some plastic serving spoons and a pot pretty soon. :) I also enjoy singing to her and watching her respond to it with her own voice.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

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http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_rosequartz_3m.gif Breastfed 3 months and counting

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[miki]

DD loves these shakers: http://www.expressivetoys.com/miniorchestra.html . She grabs one in each hand and shakes whenever we sing a song. The ones we have are more colorful than in the picture.

[kymama]

The Neurosmith Music Block Composer with Longplay Swing Cartridge is currently on clearance at toysrus.com for $19.97. They also have some of the extra cartridges on clearance for $9.97 each: Classical Collection, Kids Classics, and World Music. Did a Froogle search and the closest price was $15 more. No telling how long they'll last.

[sirensrise]

violins, violins and more violins!:)

[mamarazzo]

DS also has the Mini Orchestra (the version we have is the same as the one found at BRU: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000669AJ/qid=1093207626/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl21/104-6472737-4753522?v=glance&s=toys&n=507846). He just LOVES these, and they've held up very well to many months of enthusiastic shaking and banging.

MR

[pritchettzoo]

Okay, this made me laugh--I don't know why, but I thought of the old SNL skit with Gilda Radner wondering why "violins on television" was a bad thing.

I played violin in middle and high school, so DD has one waiting for her. Of course, DH was a band geek and wants her to play the trumpet of all things. ;)

Anna

[cmyk]

Egg shakers! http://www.lprhythmix.com/Instruments/egg-shakers.html

Shelley

[sirensrise]

it was a joke, of course. i am a violinist, so i have to do what i can to spread the word. :)

[essnce629]

That's funny, we have the one that looks like a tiger which is exactly why we got it-- we put back the plain looking one! Conner loves it and so do I since it came with 4 song sheets and I can play little songs on it :).

***Latia
Conner 8/19/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif One year and counting!
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