Most kids absolutely love music! From the time they’re babies, they enjoy moving their body to the beat of some tune. But did you know that musical toys for young children can actually help their development?
Studies suggest that introducing your kids to musical toys from the time they’re born can help their physical, cognitive, and emotional development.
Here’s a look at the benefits of musical toys for young kids.
Benefits of Musical Toys for Babies
A newborn infant’s brain is like a sponge, ready to soak up all kinds of information. Studies suggest that newborns who were introduced to music right after birth (and even in the womb) tend to receive many benefits from music.
Here’s a list of some of those benefits:
Advanced learning skills as they grow older: Infants who are introduced to music early tend to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills earlier than infants who were not.
Scientists aren’t sure why, but they believe that music prepares the neurons in the brain for learning.
Music helps children’s sensory development: Just like sight, touch, and taste helps kids learn, so does music.
Sound is an important part of sensory development and children who are introduced to music as infants have an easier time differentiating tones and even beats.
Music helps kids develop their fine and gross motor skills: Just like we find ourselves nodding our heads or tapping our toes to music, infants respond physically to music by waving their arms and legs, thus improving their motor skills.
As babies get older, they will wave a musical rattle, kick a piano mat, or push buttons on a musical toy on purpose, in order to get the music to keep playing.
Those movements help them further develop their motor skills.
Emotional soothing: This is a wonderful benefit of musical toys for children. Just like the sound of a parent’s voice will soothe a child, soft lullaby music will also soothe a child.
Not only can music be very soothing to kids, it can also help them relax, which can lead to a better sleep.
Language development: Musical toys that include words and lyrics can help children develop their language skills as they try and repeat the words they’re hearing in the music.
Some great musical toys for infants include mobiles, musical stuffed animals, musical rattles, and musical floor mats.
Benefits of Musical Toys for Toddlers
As children grow older, the benefits they receive from musical toys grows as well.
Some of these benefits occur as a result of building on the skills gained as an infant. Others are new benefits and skills acquired along with their growing physical and cognitive abilities.
Here’s a look at the benefits of musical toys for toddlers:
Further development of motor skills: Musical toys can help toddlers further develop their motor skills.
Grasping different musical toys in order to play with them will help with their fine motor skills. Prancing and dancing around to music they play or create will improve their gross motor skills.
Helps develop memory skills: As kids learn the words to the songs and sing them over and over, they are developing their memory skills.
The more children practice memorization of music and lyrics, the easier it is for them to memorize other material.
Helps improve listening skills: Kids who play with musical toys also tend to have improved listening skills.
Not only do toddlers listen to the words of their favorite songs, they also use those listening skills to tap out beats they hear, using something such as a toy drum set.
Teaches cause and effect: It doesn’t take a toddler long to learn that if they tap on the key of piano or push a button on a musical toy, they can produce a musical note or series of musical notes.
This teaches them that an action on their part with cause a specific result, and that result is making music.
Encourages creativity: When you provide your child with musical toys such as bells, shakers etc. they’ll make up their own music and even their own songs.
This is a great way to spark their creativity.
Exploration: Kids will use musical toys for exploration.
Many toddlers use toys for purposes other than the ones they were designed for. For example, toddlers may throw blocks or try to fit them through the hole of another toy.
Similarly, kids will also use musical toys for purposes they are not intended for, using these toys to explore the world around them.
Music can elevate a toddler’s mood: Toddlers can go from mad to happy simply by playing or listening to a joyful tune.
Using music to help turn sad feelings into happier ones can soothe and relax your toddler at the end of an active day.
You can help increase the benefits of musical toys for your toddler by acting out fun musical games such as Baby Shark with them.
Also, giving them access to as many musical toys as possible and playing music for kids to listen to is a wonderful way to increase the benefits of music for kids.
Some awesome musical toys for toddlers include shakers, musical blocks, bells, xylophones, floor piano mats, toy guitars, and toy drum sets.
Benefits of Musical Toys For Preschoolers
Preschoolers can get lots of benefits from musical toys, as well as from learning to play simple songs on some easy musical instruments.
Here are some of the benefits of musical toys and instruments for preschoolers:
Further improvement of memory skills: Preschoolers normally learn to play simple songs by memory.
So learning how to play simple songs such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” will help preschoolers improve their memory skills.
Teaches patience: Kids learn that it takes time, practice, and patience to successfully learn to play a song.
It also helps preschoolers learn discipline because they need to devote time to practice to playing the instrument in order to learn the songs.
Develops the part of the brain used for math skills: Playing a musical instrument also has the benefit or reinforcing that part of the brain used to develop math skills.
This is because kids need to learn to count beats, notes, and other skills that are related to math when they play a musical instrument.
Helps kids express themselves: Musical toys and instruments are a wonderful way to help kids express themselves and their creativity.
Kids will make their own beats using drums or play their own made up melodies using other instruments such as xylophones, guitars, and keyboards.
Improves social skills: Musical toys or instruments can also help improve a preschooler’s socialization skills.
As they interact with other kids to make music or play with musical toys, their social skills improve.
Some wonderful musical toys and instruments for preschoolers include various types of drums, set of bells, xylophones, small keyboards, and kid’s guitars.
Summary
Music can help prepare small children for school and learning and as such, it’s an important part of their development.
Giving your kids a variety of musical toys to play with from a very young age can have benefits that they’ll carry with them for a lifetime.
