Musical Kids Christmas Gifts
Where to Find Holiday Presents for Toddlers and Pre-school Children
There is a wide range of gifts that suit younger children to be found in your local music store.
Harmonicas, colorful ukuleles, percussion instruments shaped like fruit, a fun keyboard instrument - there are infinite possibilities for great Christmas presents waiting at the music counter.
Christmas Gifts for Toddlers
Toddlers are not going to have the coordination to really be able to play an instrument but they will love to make a noise on any kind of percussion instrument and there is a wide range of fun shapes to be found, especially in the shaker and small drum department.
- Remo make a colorful set of bongo drums that even the 2-year-olds and under will be attracted to. This will cost in the region of $30 US.
- Remo also make a range of fruit shakers but these are perhaps a little too realistic for the under fives - they might spend more time chewing them than shaking them. Try for animal shapes, an egg shaker or more traditional colorful maracca shaped shakers for the very young child.
- From about the age of 2, a child will enjoy playing with a ukulele and a colorful, cheap (but still tunable and playable) instrument can be bought for $20 US. Parents who are musical should not expect their toddler to actually play a ukulele but they will enjoy plucking the strings. Parents can play the instrument for the small child and they will realise that it's more than just another toy.
- A sturdy harmonica of plastic construction is something that will appeal to younger children. They may take a while to figure out how to get a sound out of it but will get great enjoyment out of it once they figure it out.
- A xylophone is great for hand/eye coordination in young children
Christmas Gifts for the Preschooler
Some children of this age may show may show real aptitude for music and this should be encouraged, but almost all children will enjoy a gift with a musical slant. Many of the gift ideas for toddlers will still apply to this age group. Their increased hand/eye coordination and general physical capabilities simply mean they can do more with a musical gift than they could before.
- An electronic keyboard instrument can be great fun while actually being educational as well. These can be bought for less than $70 US and often come with programmed drum patterns, sound effects and whole tunes.
- The range of percussion instruments to suit this age group is much wider - how about a marimba (larger wooden xylophone) or even a real steel drum or full drum kit?
- Harmonicas will still appeal and so will more sophisticated wind instruments such as recorders and tin whistles
- The ukulele is a great gift for this age range as their small fingers will actually begin to be able to hold down chords and play proper tunes. This could be a wonderful foundation for their first guitar lesson .
Everything suggested here is readily available on the internet but it is sometimes more fun to Christmas shop for musical gifts at the local music store.
