Musical Toys For Babies – How it Helps in Baby’s Development

When Should You Introduce Musical Toys to Your Baby?

There is no age bar to incorporate music for the baby and it can be done at any stage, but the earlier the better. This is because it stimulates the senses and helps with growth and development. It could be a simple rattle vs. one which has predefined music. Eg, a common one is a mobile hanging toy in a cot or cradle. You can start as soon as you can. Even a days old baby can enjoy the benefits and comfort of soft soothing music.

Top 9 Developmental Benefits of Musical Toys For Babies

Music is very important and is a therapy in itself. It is a medium to connect, express, communicate, and get creative. It is interesting to know that music has the potential to affect the growth and development of the baby. Some of the benefits for a baby who is a year old are as under:

1. Fine and Gross Motor Skills

• Musical toys help in the development of gross motor skills.
• It is common to see babies shake or bang the toys. These help to offer strength to the arm muscles. It even helps with coordination.
• Besides the big movement, it even refines the fine motor skills in the baby.
• These include holding or playing a drum and putting toys in their mouth.
• All these activities need proper hand-eye coordination, and this even improves their hand grip.
• Playing with trumpets, whistles or mouth organ is good for improving control of their mouth and tongue muscles.

[Read : Baby’s Fine Motor Skill Development]

2. Expression

• When babies are not able to express themselves, they get frustration as they do not have the vocabulary.
• Musical toys offer babies all the help in releasing their pent-up energy.

3. Listening and Communication Skills

• Musical toys help in developing listening skills.
• When parents sing along with songs or rhymes, it is similar to the language spoken which makes it easier for the baby in learning to speak.
• When babies who are infants to one year get exposure to different sounds, pitches, and rhythms, it helps in developing their listening skills.
• They even get used to loud, soft, high and low sounds.
• It even helps them in speaking soon, as they start picking up words which they hear in a rhythmic manner. Words like no, yes, take, jump, and clap are common ones that are used in lullabies or nursery rhymes.
• Some babies also learn modulation of pitch at a very early age as they keep listening to words that are said in a low or high pitch.

4. Helps to Stimulate Baby’s Senses

• Music has the power to stimulate the senses of a baby.
• This comprises sound, touch, vision etc.
• This is great for the growth of the brain as well.
• Widening the spectrum of the rhythm and pitch offers better exposure to the baby.
• Repeating the same rhythm and sound again also helps in better connectivity with the brain.
• It even helps the baby to recognize different sets of sounds that he has been hearing for long.

[Read : Baby Hearing Development After Birth]

5. Cognitive Skills

• Music also helps the baby in enhancing the problem-solving skills
• It is good for enhancing critical thinking as well.
• It is seen that babies who get exposure to music are better performers in speech, reading, listening and language development.

[Read : Motor And Cognitive Skills Development Of A Baby]

6. Sensory Development

• Listening to music from an early age also enables babies till 1 year old to enhance the functioning of the brain.
• This also allows them to transmit information in a more efficient manner.
• When music is repeatedly played it helps in stimulating the neural path making the brain imbibe things and transmit them in a faster and more efficient way.
• Babies who get early exposure to music are better performers in listening, and reading and have better language development as well.

7. Creativity

• Babies are curious about nature and love to experiment and enjoy, so they keep creating their own sounds.
• Flutes, xylophones, and drums give a peculiar sound, so they keep repeating it.
• On the other hand, the sounds made by hitting and striking like bells, castanets etc help in stimulating these young brains and show their talent as well.
• Once the baby is exposed to music, he can be seen producing music with house items, especially utensils and boxes.

8. Patience and Perseverance

• It requires a lot of patience and time for the baby to master the art of playing the mini-musical instruments.
• While they are playful, they pick up things in an easier way, they keep repeating after the sound or sing along with slight changes here and there.
• This gives them a sense of achieving something new.
• This even teaches them to wait for their turn till some other baby is using the same instrument, thus enforcing positive interactions in a social gathering.

9. Communication

• Exposing the baby to various pitches and rhythms helps to develop listening skills .
• Babies learn better when they hear repeatedly.
• It is common for a year old to use words like cat says meow, boo, and baba since they are from popular nursery rhymes.
• A great channel in learning to speak and listen in the most effective manner possible.

Types of Musical Toys For Babies

Musical toys can be of multipurpose as they have vibrant colors, shapes, and rhythm. Multipurpose toys have many benefits for babies like enhancing attention span and reasoning power and creativity. Musical types are available in two types, one is a toy instrument with which the baby can play music and the other is toys that have predefined music like rhymes or sounds.

1. Crib Toys

These are the first types of musical toys you can introduce to your baby. You can choose from a range of hanging squeaky toys that make different sounds when they tug against them. 

2. Rattles

Many parents introduce rattles as one of the first types of toys for babies. Rattles are available in different textures and types and some of them are designed to make different types of sounds when the babies hold and move them around. 

3. Light And Musical Toys

These are toys that produce sounds as well as light while sometimes moving around also. Light and musical toys work on multiple skills such as hearing capabilities and tracking skills. When buying musical toys, ensure that the light and sound are not too harsh. Bright lights can cause problems to your baby’s vision. In case you need to use such toys, make sure to use them in brightly lit rooms as opposed to dark rooms.

4. Squeezy Bath Toys

Most babies love bath time while some babies may fear it. In either case. Squeezy bath toys can be an excellent bath companion to your munchkin. Babies squeeze the toys while enjoying their bath time. This improves their grip, fine motor skills, listening skills and hand-eye coordination.

5. Push Button Musical Toys

Some toys make different sounds when you push buttons. These sounds may be those of different animals, rhymes, or popular songs. Popular examples include toys modelled as mobile phones, computers, and even radios.

6. Musical Instruments

These are the most popular musical toys and may play a key role in your baby developing an interest in learning music or playing an instrument. Popular musical instruments such as pianos, keyboards, and drums give babies a way to expend their pent-up energy and also learn to play a new tune of their creation every time. 

7. Keying Musical Toys

These toys play music every time you give them a key and continue playing as long as the key winding lasts. Keying musical toys were some of the earliest toys babies played with before the revolution of battery-operated toys set in.

8. Musical Play Mats

Playmats designed as pianos and drums as all the rage today. These toys are perfect for older babies and those who are nearing one year of age. You can let your baby stand on the mat and it will make different sounds depending on where your baby is standing on the mat or hitting on the mat in the case of drum musical mats

Remember to supervise your baby especially when they are playing with battery-operated toys. Choking is a real risk and you can never be too careful.

Top 5 Tips to Choose the Right Musical Toys For Babies

Music is a medium by which the baby can develop better concentration, auditory skills, speech, language etc. A huge difference is made in the baby’s development when the correct toys are given to him. Five essential tips that are helpful in selecting the right toys for babies are:

• Avoid toys that make too much noise.
• Never take toys with sharp edges or painted toys as they can have harmful chemicals.
• Do not take toys that are used.
• Do not give too small objects that the baby might swallow mistakenly.
• Avoid devices that can affect the creative ability or eyesight of the baby.

Thus, music can redefine the whole personality of the child, so the earlier, the better it is. Let the baby explore his own new ways and gather his wings upfront with a high confidence level, morale and dreams that fly.

FAQ’s

1. Is it OK to Play Music All Night For a Baby?

As per studies playing music is good before the baby sleeps, post that it must be off else it is a need every time the baby sleeps.

2. How Loud Should I Play Music For My Baby?

Sounds that exceed 60 decibels are harmful for the baby’s ears. So, any sound in the range of 50-60 decibels is normal for the baby but exceeding that is not good for the baby.

3. Does Music Help Babies Sleep Longer?

Music not only helps a baby to help a baby in sleeping but even makes him sleep for longer duration as it is a gentle way to help the baby sleep well.

4. Can Music Overstimulate a Baby?

Soothing music or the ones without lyrics or instrumental melody for babies does not overstimulate the baby yet loud noise does.

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