Bigjigs Music Set for a Musical Little Miss
Our newest Bigjigs Play Patrol toy is their Music Set. This was an inspired choice for LM as music is one of her favourite things. It's a cliché to say she could dance before she could walk but she has responded to music since being a tiny baby and loves nothing more than dancing and clapping her hands to any music she hears.
The set comprises two wooden castanets, two wooden handled jingle bells and a bright wooden xylophone with metal keys and two wooden beaters. The first thing to note is the high quality finish on all of the instruments. They are all beautifully, and colourfully, painted and Agent LM wanted them out of the package straight away!
As soon as the toys were freed from their packaging both children were keen to start playing straight away.Bud is familiar with all of the instruments from music time at nursery and identified each one, telling his Sister the name of each one.
Bud spotted that there were two castanets and sleigh bells he decided that there was one for him and one for LM. He decided that the red castanet and bells were for LM and the blue ones were for him. Castanets were first to be tried out and both LM and Bud could confidently make them 'clack'. They are quite substantial so it'a s really satisfying noise and LM was delighted with how easily she could make the noise. The two wooden pieces are firmly attached and there's no gap for little fingers to get stuck in, as I've seen with some inferior sets of castanets.
Sleigh or Jingle Bells are always a hit with little ones and the two sets in this collection were no exception. Each has five metal sleigh bells attached to a plastic strip, with a bright wooden handle. The bells are very securely attached and I felt confident giving them to LM as she's still at the stage where she explores things with her mouth as well as her other senses!
The Xylophone is probably the toy that has seen the most use since it arrived and rarely a day has passed without my two entertaining us with a 'tune' on this lovely instrument. The beaters are plain wood but the xylophone itself is really lovely. All of the keys are different colours, with a beautifully painted base too. Obviously it's not properly tuned but each key offers a different 'note' so children are able to play a tune on it. Using the beaters also helps with hand eye co-ordination and making connections by needing to use the beater to generate a sound, it won't work with their fingers!
Music is an extremely important part of our family life. We always have a radio on and the children sing and dance every day. LM still doesn't really speak much but she will happily 'aaaahaaahaaah' along to music. I'm always so keen to encourage both of the children musically and the music set from Bigjigs is a fantastic way to do this. The brightly coloured design is great for helping LM to learn her colours and she's really getting to know the difference between the red castanet and the blue. An older child would be able to understand that the blue one has dots, and the red one has yellow stripes too.
I think this is a fantastic set and, with an RRP of only £15 it is excellent value for money. It is available from Bigjigs Toys themselves and other wooden toys retailrs. It would work well for a childminder, or even nursery school, as a basic music set and is perfect in a household like ours, with two children to play with it. Bud and LM have been making the most of their new set and entertaining me on a daily basis and I think I'm going to purchase one for my niece at Christmas. Agent LM's first Play Patrol mission is completed!
To see what the other Play Patrol agents have been up to follow #PlayPatrol and Bigjigs Toys on Twitter and like Bigjigs Toys on Facebook.
Dsiclosure: We received this item for review purposes.
