• kids’ musical instruments Archive

    Helping kids develop an ear for music is one of the great joys of parenting. Ever since my girls could utter their first words, we’ve been introducing them to the different sounds and singers whose music delights our listening ears. My 7-year-old knew her Billy Joel from her Frank Sinatra even as a preschooler, while my 3-year-old is just beginning to identify a saxophone vs. a trumpet. We’re not surprised then that Symphony in B., a new musical toy that we saw at Toy Fair last week, has taken center stage. Following a shape sorter concept, mini maestros can place any combination of up to six miniature musical instruments (from a total of 13) in their corresponding slots, select the type of music they’d like [&hellip

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    The lucky mom that I am, I am treated to a musical serenade by my 3-year-old every afternoon. She pounds…er, plays on her kitty keyboard like there’s no tomorrow. It’s quite possible you have seen the offending musical instrument that I’m talking about: an orange-hued Cheshire cat that grins from ear to ear with a row of piano key teeth. My preschooler can’t get enough of this thing, and our ears (and forever-hiding family cat) are proof of her “music-making.” As much as I jest and sometimes cringe each time I hear her striking up the band, I secretly delight in her unabashed merriment in playing and singing along off-key. Her 7-year-old sister also partaking in the joy? Not so much… Maybe it’s because she [&hellip

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    When I was about 7 or 8, Strawberry Shortcake was one of my best playmates. Yes, there was a time when Barbie was pushed aside in favor of this sweet-smelling lass. My younger cousin and I asked Santa for her one Christmas and oddly enough, she received 2 dolls and I none. Clearly, Santa was having a senior moment, so my cousin graciously passed one doll on to me. And what a good mommy I was to Miss Shortcake:  I combed her hair, changed her clothes and took her on all sorts of adventures, from bike-riding to playing out in the backyard. (She could never truly be herself in that cramped-up strawberry, anyhow…) One of the things I never got around to doing with my [&hellip

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