Musical presents from Santa?

How can Santa help with your child's the musical development? He could give:

- musical instruments
- rhyming or singing books
- recorded music
- puppets.

In this post I'll look at some ideas for musical instruments.

Please, please check the sound produced by the instrument. Is it a rich, interesting, satisfying sound, or is it a tinny, grating or electronic sound? Is the sound authentic? If it is a tuned instrument, such as a xylophone, is the pitch correct? Some of them are really woeful, so be careful.

Ideas for presents include:

- slide whistle
- kazoo (good for encouraging them to vocalise)
- maracas
- African percussion instruments
- claves (tapping sticks)
- guiro
- finger cymbals
- drum (authentic)
- bells (choking hazard)
- castanets (the wooden ones make the best sound but the plastic ones don't get chewed!)

For older kids (6-7 years plus):
- marimba
- recorder
- ukelele

I believe the sound quality should not be less just because the instrument is for a child. As a general rule, I avoid anything that needs to be plugged in or needs batteries. The rellies will probably provide enough of those kinds of noise-making devices without Santa adding to the problem!

For nice sounding instruments, the local music shop is often a better bet than the toy shop.