Musical Instruments for Children

When it comes to making music, you can never start too early. While serious music lessons generally only become an option around the age of seven, there's no reason why kids or even toddlers shouldn't dip their toes in any earlier. In this department, you'll find plenty of fun musical instruments for children of all ages.

Wooden Musical Instruments for Children

Let's be honest, kids aren't exactly careful. As such, it's a good idea to get them an instrument that can't break easily. Wooden musical instruments like a wood block, castanets and other easy-to-play percussion instruments are a logical choice, so don't forget to browse through our range of percussion instruments for kids.

Musical Instruments for Babies and Toddlers: Are They Toys or Not?

When is an instrument a toy and when is it a real musical instrument? A musical instrument can have a child-friendly, colourful design and still be considered a fully-fledged, playable instrument. Take castanets, which are not only perfect for kids in terms of looks as well as price, but are real instruments (commonly used in Spanish folk). Things like music-based electronic learning toys are something else entirely. After all, pushing a button to activate the sound of a sheep is nothing like making music. So what about musical instruments for babies? These exist too, though they might only serve as something babies will only chew on at first. It generally takes most wee ones a little time to discover the rhythmic and melodic potential of them.

Musical Instruments for Kids: Start With a Percussion Pack

Bax Music offers an extensive range of percussion instruments for children, including complete packs which are great for families and groups since they set you up with a bunch of different instruments. Available in standard as well as quirky shapes, shakers are an attractive choice due to their soft sound and limited volume. So are BoomWhackers and kid-sized cajons, which only require a little bit of practice to serve as a great introduction to rhythms and, potentially, a future career as a drummer.

Guitar for Kids

While percussion instruments offer the easiest start, there are quite a few other instruments young music makers could try. Smaller guitars, including children's guitars, are often labelled with a size (e.g. 3/4 or 1/2). These sizes are not measured as fractions, so the 1/2-sized guitar is not half the size of a standard guitar. The differences are actually much smaller than that. Either way, a young child will probably need a 1/2-size guitar - see our Children's Guitar Buyer's Guide for more detailed info.

Ukuleles for Kids

Since a standard soprano ukulele is already a small instrument in and of itself, it can be comfortable for children and adults alike. There's a massive range of ukuleles available, but not all are colourful or cool enough for your kids to want to play. Then there's the price, which is an important matter for most parents since kids do love breaking stuff. You'll find various suitable ukuleles in our range of children's ukuleles.

Drum Kits for Kids

A drum kit is a bigger investment and one that's worth thinking about deeply, especially if you're not sure whether or not your kid is going to love drumming. Fortunately, there are special acoustic drum kits for children. These purpose-made kits are more compact, less extensive and much cheaper than 'real' drum kits but can nevertheless serve as a great starting point for young beginners. The same goes for electronic drum kits, which are more compact by default and feature a headphone output for silent practice. Explore our range of children's drum kits.

Recorders for Kids

Since they're relatively simply instruments, recorders offer a lot of value for money. Any plastic soprano recorder with a double bore and German fingering is a solid pick for starters. Apart from that, it's a matter of setting your budget and picking the right finish for your child. Explore our range of children's recorders or dive into our purpose-written Recorder Buyer's Guide.

Harmonicas for Kids

Just like recorders, harmonicas have a relatively straightforward construction and offer an affordable way to start making music. The only thing you have to pay attention to when you're picking out a harmonica for your child is the price and the finish. It should also be a diatonic harmonica, which all of the models in our collection of children's harmonica are.

Keyboards for Kids

Pianos may be too bulky and too expensive for children to play but keyboards aren't. Children's keyboards can be roughly divided into two groups: affordable keyboards equipped with standard keys and affordable keyboards equipped with mini-keys. Either type of keyboard sets your kid up with ample sounds, rhythms and options, offering an extensive introduction to the world of music.

DJ Controllers for Kids

Our range of children's DJ sets mainly includes real DJ controllers aimed at kids in terms of price and user-friendliness. These kind of DJ controllers can be connected to a computer and are exactly what your child needs to mix their favourite music. The smartest way to go about picking up a DJ controller for your kid is to grab a pair of headphones and speakers on the side, and don't forget to read the product description or check the specifications to make sure that the controller is compatible with your computer or mobile device.