As a parent, you may be interested in finding ways to promote your child’s growth and development, and musical toys can be a fun and effective tool to achieve that. Music toys can stimulate your child’s imagination, creativity, and motor skills while also encouraging bonding between you and your little one. Whether your child is tapping, clapping, or dancing along to the beat, they can develop coordination and motor skills that may even help lay the foundation for future STEM abilities.
Introducing your child to different musical styles and sounds can also be a great learning experience. From classical to world music, there’s so much to discover. We’ve sorted through hundreds of musical toys for toddlers and kids, ranging from electronic noisemakers to interactive instruments that promote physical activity, to bring you our list of the top 10 best musical toys.
Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: VTech Zoo Jamz Piano
- Best Guitar: Baby Einstein Together in Tune Guitar
- Best Musical Mat: RenFox Kids Musical Mat
- Best Toddler Drum Set: VTech KidiBeats Drum Set
- Best Educational Musical Toy: WolVolk Cube Play Center with Lights
- Best Wooden Musical Set: LOOIKOOS Wooden Percussion Instruments
- Best Magic Cube: Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube Music Toy
- Best Xylophone: Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone
- Best Portable Music Toy: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy
- Best Piano Activity Table: Baby Einstein Discovering Music Activity Table
In This Article
HappyBabyHub’s Best Musical Toys For Toddlers & Kids Picks
VTech Zoo Jamz Piano – Best Overall
- Has an easy-to-carry handle
- Colorful
- It has piano keys and a turntable which is so cute
- Can handle kids’ rough play
- It has a mic but the cord is short
Your toddler can jam out to over 20 tunes and melodies by choosing to play the piano, violin, xylophone, or saxophone. The zebra piano has illuminated keys that help children learn at three different skill levels. But that’s not all – with the whammy bar tail and scratch disc, they can add funky sounds to their music too! Plus, they can sing along with the animal band using the microphone that amplifies their voice.
Let your kids explore their creativity by choosing an instrument and experimenting with the keys to create their own tunes. They can also learn to play a song by following the illuminated keys. And when they’re ready to rock with the animal band, just press the zebra-shaped star button and join in the fun!
- Age range: 18 months – 4 years
Baby Einstein Together in Tune Guitar – Best Guitar
- High-quality sound
- Easy volume settings
- Very interactive
- Cute design
- No batteries included
Looking for a fun way to encourage your children to play and work together? Look no further than the Together in Tune Guitar, a wooden musical toy that lets kids rock out solo or in a group! With a wireless connection that automatically harmonizes with other Together in Tune instruments nearby, your toddler can make beautiful music together while honing their fine motor skills.
This innovative baby guitar uses Magic Touch technology to produce real guitar sounds with the lightest touch on its vibrantly painted frets. And with four different settings and ten popular melodies, your little ones can experiment, layer riffs, and rock out with the whammy bar to their heart’s content. Plus, with its classic wooden design, this guitar is built to last and hold sentimental value for years to come.
- Age range: 1 – 4 years
RenFox Kids Musical Mat – Best Musical Mat
- Plenty of musical instruments to choose
- Record and playback mode is really cool
- The fabric is kid friendly
- It is easy to fold and store it
- The on-off button does not operate easily
This musical piano mat has 25 fantastic musical sounds, including 8 different instrument sounds, 8 delightful melodies, and 9 colorful music keys. The best part is that the mat responds to your baby’s natural kicking and touching, making it so much fun for them to play with.
This mat is made of soft, non-woven fabric, which is not only safe and environmentally friendly but also easy to clean. With intelligent electronic chips, the mat even enters energy-saving mode automatically after 2 minutes of inactivity.
But wait, there’s more! This music toy mat offers 5 different modes of play: demo, one-click annotation, play, playback, and record. In demo mode, your baby can listen to 9 cheerful melodies. In play mode, they can use the 9 music keys and 8 instrument sounds to create their own tunes. The playback and record modes let kids record and play back their own music, encouraging hours of creative exploration and fun!
- Age range: 1 – 3 years
VTech KidiBeats Drum Set – Best Toddler Drum Set
- Volume control works better than expected
- Some of the games seem like they could be fun
- Not a big footprint
- Not a lot of pieces to get lost
- Randomly makes sounds that have no purpose but to pull attention
This awesome toy lets your little one jam out on four electronic drums and cymbals using a pair of drumsticks. Not only is it tons of fun, but it’s also educational, teaching tricky concepts like rhythm and tempo. With nine pre-programmed tunes to play along to, your child can improvise and express their creativity in a variety of styles, from rock to dance to pop.
The KidiBeats Drum Set also helps toddlers learn letters and numbers in a fun and controlled way by following the lights on the drums. And with four different ways to play and a range of cool sounds, this toy is sure to provide hours of entertainment and education. Plus, you can adjust the sound and volume settings to suit your needs.
- Age range: 2 – 5 years
WolVolk Cube Play Center with Lights – Best Educational Musical Toy
- It is big and colorful
- It has many sounds and features as described
- Durable
- Keeps kids occupied for a long time
- The sound effects are not high quality
The WolVolk Activity Cube is a fantastic playmate for your little one, providing endless entertainment and learning opportunities. With its realistic steering wheel and motor sounds, your child can imagine themselves driving around town.
The detachable mobile phone is perfect for practicing calling and memorizing numbers. And if they feel like singing, the onboard microphone is always ready for a mini-concert.
Also, this activity cube has plenty of skill-building games and activities to keep your child engaged. They can slide colorful beads down two tracks to learn about colors and numbers or remove the apples and bananas to play a fun stretching game. And for a bit of physical activity, your child can hit the targets with the hammer and watch the little colored bead bounce around.
- Age range: 18 – 5 years
LOOIKOOS Wooden Percussion Instruments – Best Wooden Musical Set
- Very nice material
- Well made
- Easy to disinfect
- Great tools to learn and explore
- Some instruments aren’t as made well as the other
This set of wooden musical toys is perfect for your little ones who love to make music! Each instrument is made from high-quality, 100% natural wood that is non-toxic and unpainted, making them safe and eco-friendly.
Playing with these Montessori-inspired toys is a great way to spend quality time together while also promoting your child’s cooperative and problem-solving skills, self-confidence, and sense of teamwork.
Additionally, this set includes a variety of instruments that your child can shake, tap, thump, and blow, providing endless opportunities for musical exploration and experimentation.
- Age range: 3 – 5 years
Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube Music Toy – Best Magic Cube
- Unique toy for toddlers
- Great way to introduce toddlers to classical music
- Easy to use
- Portable
- Cracks a bit easily
It can be frustrating to come across a toy that your toddler doesn’t like, but fear not, because there are some amazing toys out there that produce sweet, sweet sounds. Enter the Mozart Magic Cube by Munchkin – an interactive musical cube suitable for ages 1 to 5.
This genius cube demonstrates how the master composer’s eight classical music masterpieces were created by blending different sounds. With the harp, French horn, piano, flute, and violin, your little one can mix and match any combination of these five instruments at the push of a button.
Each button for the selected instrument flashes in time with the song, and there’s even a button for the orchestra that plays all the instruments at once. You can choose from two different sound levels, so your child can rock out as loudly or softly as they please.
- Age range: 1 – 5 years
Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone – Best Xylophone
- Sturdy
- Colorful
- Good quality base and mallet
- The xylophone can be used separately
- Out of tune
This awesome musical instrument allows children between the ages of 1 and 3 years to experiment with a variety of notes and sounds by letting the balls fall on the keys or by sliding the xylophone out and creating their own unique sound with a wooden mallet.
Not only does this musical toy provide a variety of sounds and melodies, but it also features non-toxic water paint in vibrant rainbow colors and shapes, making it a treat for your child’s eyes as well as ears.
But that’s not all – this wooden toy also helps children learn the basics of music while developing important motor skills such as dexterity, manipulation, and hand-eye coordination. And as your child taps away, they’ll also be introduced to concepts like logic, matching, spatial connections, critical thinking, and cause-and-effect problem-solving.
- Age range: 1 – 3 years
Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy – Best Portable Music Toy
- Easy to hold
- Portable
- It has a high/low/off volume control slider button
- There are multicolored flashing lights
- There is a sticker instead of colored plastic on the main button
Introducing your little one to the joys of classical music has never been easier, thanks to Baby Einstein’s Take Along Tunes! With this portable musical toy, your child can enjoy delightful, baby-friendly versions of classic pieces by Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin, and Rossini both at home and on the go.
Featuring seven engaging and upbeat classical songs, your toddler can easily press the large, colorful button to switch between tracks. The lively lights that dance across the screen in time with the music add an extra level of entertainment and encourage visual perception.
- Age range: 3 months – 3 years
Baby Einstein Discovering Music Activity Table – Best Piano Activity Table
- Very entertaining with lots of sounds and lights
- Educational with classical music, shapes, numbers, and more
- It promotes standing
- 3 different languages (English, Spanish, french)
- Very lightweight
This activity table is designed to engage toddlers and help them learn about music. It’s packed with a variety of interactive features that will keep your toddler entertained for hours on end.
Your little one can tap the piano keys to create their own tunes and listen to musical notes. They can also explore different baby instruments like the piano, strummable guitar, tappable drum, and spinnable French horn. Additionally, this music table introduces colors and numbers when buttons are pressed, making it an all-around educational experience.
The middle of the table features a music book that your child can turn the pages of to activate lights, music, and discovery modes. Perfect for floor play for younger toddlers, the legs can also be attached for stand-and-play exploration as your child grows.
- Age range: 6 months – 3 years
How To Choose A Musical Toy For Toddlers?
- Age-Appropriate: Before making a purchase, confirm the recommended age range. Remember that, due to choking hazards, the suggested age range is normally 3+. As a result, the warning or age suggestion is usually present on any toy that includes a screw or a small piece that may accidentally fall off.
- Safety: Safety is the most important factor when choosing a toy for a toddler. All toys should be made of non-toxic materials and be free of small parts that could be swallowed. The toy should also be durable, so it can withstand being dropped or thrown.
- Ease Of Use: The toy should not have too many buttons or confusing controls. It should be easy for the child to activate the sounds.
- Sound: Although your child may not notice if the music is tinny or out of tune, you certainly will. Additionally, volume control is essential to prevent early hearing loss, which is becoming increasingly common (1).
- Engagement: The majority of parents ultimately want their children to play independently, and choosing toys that encourage focus and interest in play is the first step in laying the groundwork for training children to play freely.
- Milestone: Toys that require precise finger motions or other fine motor abilities may be difficult for younger toddlers who are still learning such skills. However, in a similar vein, musical toys should support the development of motor skills or milestones like letter and word recognition and color and form recognition.
What Are The Benefits of Music for Child Development?
- Cognitive: Music can help children develop their memory, concentration, and attention span. It can also help them to develop their creativity and critical thinking skills.
- Social: Music can help children develop their social skills by providing a way for them to interact with others. It can also help them to develop their cooperation skills by working together in a group.
- Emotional: Music can help children to express their emotions and to cope with their feelings. It can also help to reduce stress and anxiety (2).
- Physical: Music can help children to develop their motor skills and coordination. It can also help them to burn calories and to stay fit and active.
Are Musical Toys Good For Toddlers?
Many experts believe that musical toys are beneficial for toddlers, even as babies (3). Additionally, research indicates that musical toys, especially percussion instruments, can significantly contribute to a child’s overall development. For toddlers, musical toys can assist in early language development, while toys infused with songs can aid in language improvement and memory retention (4).
How Can Music Provide Structure In A Child’s Day?
One way music can provide structure in a child’s day is by using it as a timer for activities. For example, a child may have to clean up their toys before they can listen to a song. This can help children learn to transition between activities and focus on the task at hand. Additionally, music can be used to signal the start and end of the day.
For instance, a calm song may be played in the morning to help children wake up and start the day, while a lively song may be played at the end of the day to help children wind down before bed. Using music in this way can help children learn to follow a daily routine.
When Can A Child Start Learning A Musical Instrument?
It can be difficult to know when a child is ready to start learning a musical instrument. Both the difficulty of the instrument and the age of the child play a role in this decision. Many newborns begin making music with their first rattle shake. Toddlers often enjoy playing with toys that produce noise. Some young children may have the patience and interest to learn a traditional instrument as early as preschool, but others may not be introduced to them until primary school.
One study suggests that individuals who engage in music have more cerebral activity, indicating that their brains are working harder. This holds true for both those who are studying an instrument and young children (5).
What Are Ways I Can Encourage A Love Of Music For My Toddler?
There are many ways that you can encourage a love of music for your toddler. One way is to create a playlist of your toddler’s favorite songs and play it regularly. You can also sing nursery rhymes and other songs together, or dance to music together (6). If you have musical instruments at home, let your toddler play with them and make their own music. You can also take your toddler to music classes or concerts specifically for young children.
