Musical Instruments

From the xylophone to drums, bells, flutes and shakers, our musical instruments for children run from wooden maracas for newborns to a real acoustic guitar from age 5. Each one makes a real sound and is sized for small hands, so the first concert can start on the living-room rug.

What is a xylophone?

A xylophone is a percussion instrument made of bars of different lengths laid side by side and struck with a mallet: the shorter the bar, the higher the note. Its name comes from the Greek for wood and sound, and wood xylophones still give the warmest, roundest tone. Ours include a rainbow model and a xylophone-glockenspiel for little ones from 18 months, and a large Montessori version from age 3. Unlike drums and other percussion instruments, xylophone bars each give a fixed note, so a child can soon pick out the start of a nursery rhyme.

Shakers and rattles for babies

For the very youngest, wooden baby maracas are suitable from birth, with a pastel version too: shake them gently beside a newborn, and within a few months small fingers close round the handle themselves. From 6 months, the sound shaker egg fits a baby's palm, and a baby soon learns to start and stop the sound on purpose.

Drums, tambourines and percussion from age 3

Around 3, children want to keep a beat. A marching drum with sticks, rhythm claves, a frog guiro to scrape, a triangle and wooden castanets let them march round the room to the drum and freeze the moment it stops. The 8-note handbell set plays a full scale, like the bells kept among classroom Montessori educational toys, so you can ring a simple tune together, one bell each.

Wind and string instruments for older children

A trumpet or slide flute suits ages 3 and up, the harmonica age 4, while the wooden recorder and acoustic guitar wait until 5, when fingers can cover holes and press strings. Before a recorder, check that your child can seal a hole with a fingertip: if every note squeaks, the slide flute is the kinder place to start.