Baby Musical Toys for Different Ages

Other than sleeping and eating, babies spend most of their time playing and having fun. Indeed, playtime is one of the most important developmental times in a baby’s life. It is during this time that babies learn and shape their characters.

Today, more and more parents have begun to recognize the benefits of music education. Baby musical toys have gained more and more popularity over the years. We are lucky today because we have an enormous range of baby musical toys to select from. However this often leads to confusion as it is indeed not easy to choose the right baby musical toy that is age-appropriate. Below are some of the facts that would help you to decide on the right musical toys for your kids.

Newborn (1 to 3 months)

Newborns are most vulnerable and are greatly dependent on their parents. At this stage of life, a newborn baby has limited senses with vision of only a few inches in front of his eyes. Despite having limited vision, a newborn baby has good hearing. The most suitable musical toy for them would be one with strong contrasting colours. Newborns are particularly responsive to stark black and white. As a newborn baby’s psychomotor is still not fully developed at this stage, he cannot grasp or hold the baby musical toys. Parents will be the one who are holding the baby musical toy and producing the sound. Remember, any sudden loud noise is certainly not good for a newborn baby. It is better to choose gentle, quieter sounds. Baby musical toys such as shakers and rattles that are bright and colourful yet gentle in sound are very good options.

The first 3 months also see the most rapid growth of baby. After 1 month, you will find your baby starting to life his/her had and shaking his/her little hands and feet happily. Rattles attached to foot socks or toys that provide soft plush with musical features would be the suitable baby musical toys for your baby.

3 to 6 months

Between 3 and 6 months a baby’s psychomotor has become more developed. He is now able to support his head and to grasp and feel small objects and textures in the hand. Baby now becomes more curious and interested in the environment and tends to put everything into his/her mouth. It is important that baby musical toys that you buy for your baby at this age should not be too small in size that they can be swallowed. These toys should also be light-weighted so that they can be held it on their little hand. Baby musical toys with bells and small parts need to be carefully chosen as they can be a choking hazard. For example, Kindermusik has a safe bell where the jingles are enclosed inside a cloth. Toys that combine musical feature and teething feature are good options too.

6 months to 1 year

At around 6 months of age baby start to have huge development on movement. They start to sit up, trying to crawl and from 9 months they begin to pull themselves along the furniture and cruising around. Now that their muscle tone is much better developed and with greater core strength, you can now introduce baby musical toys that encourage movement and which are more interactive. Baby musical toys such as Vtech Roll and Wiggle Caterpillars are ideal toys for baby in crawling phase. As they grow older, babies will be interested in more sophisticated and interactive baby musical toys. Nursery rhymes or story book with sing-along CD is one of the best gifts for your baby.

1 year onwards

When babies grow older it’s time for transition from baby musical toys into musical instruments. Simple mini musical instrument such as triangles and wood pieces can keep a 1-year-old busy and amused for the whole day. From about 3 years old, you can consider introducing your kids to more sophisticated musical instruments. Some musical store such as Melissa and Doug offers a variety of high quality wooden baby musical toys that are specially designed for young kids.

While it may seem like overkill to give your baby new baby musical toys even few months, you must realise that children are growing up so quickly during this stage that every month is like a whole world of difference. You cannot keep your baby interested by using the same toy that he was playing with a month ago. Babies learn so fast that their interest in a baby musical toy quickly fades away without new stimulus.