Teach Your Preschooler About Music with This Fun Toy

Are you looking for a fun way to teach your preschooler about music? Your little one can learn all about instruments, music styles, tempo, and even how to create their own music.

Did I mention you can do all of this with a fun toy that will keep them entertained for hours? Because we found one that is just perfect!

{This post is sponsored by Fisher-Price & contains affiliate links.}

Learn about different instruments

The Think & Learn Rocktopus by Fisher-Price is the coolest toy of the holiday season.

It comes with 15 different instruments that can be placed in the Rocktopus’s hands. Each one lights up and plays music that sounds like that instrument. And the Rocktopus will tell your child about each instrument. It has little fun facts about each one. 

To maximize learning: go through each instrument one by one with your preschooler and say the name and put it in the Rocktopus’s hand to play it.

Talk about what kind of instrument it is. Is it a brass instrument? A woodwind? Percussion? All very important vocabulary terms for little musicians!

Learn about a variety of musical styles

When you mix up the instruments, it creates different musical styles as your child plays.

If you use the maracas and the congas it’s more of a Latin style of music. The electric guitar, bass, and drum kit make rock music. Add in the horns and brass instruments to make a jazzy tune. 

To maximize learning: first show your preschooler which instruments go together to make a certain music style.

Then play a game where you put the instruments in and have your child guess what style it is.

Another way to play is to ask your child to pick instruments for a musical style. For example ask “can you make classical music?” And your child can place instruments in like the violin and piano. 

Learn how tempo works

There are two fun buttons on the Rocktopus that make the music go faster and slower. This teaches your preschooler tempo! 

Toot loves to make it go faster, faster, faster! But I showed her that the red button slows down the music. 

To maximize learning: explain that tempo is how fast or slow the beat of the music is.

Clap your hands along with the music. Let your child push the faster or slower buttons and keep clapping to show the tempo speeds up or slows down. 

Your preschooler can clap along too and feel the beat. Then try speeding it up or slowing it down while they clap! 

Learn how to compose and mix music

The best part about the Rocktopus is the ability to mix and compose music. Toot immediately wanted to change all of the instruments out to see how they sounded together. She loves creating her own music with it.

I was amazed at how all the parts blend together to make a cohesive song no matter which instruments she used and how she set the tempo. That probably took a lot of planning on the part of Fisher-Price. Props to them.

To maximize learning: Step back and let your child be creative. I know it’s very tempting to reach in and play with it. I mean I did. IT’S FUN. But allow your little composer space to make creative choices.

Ask questions like “What sounds do you like together?” and “Do you like fast or slow music?”

Bonus: Learn math!

Ok so you don’t just learn music with this toy. This Rocktopus also teaches math! Music does have a lot of math in it, but it straight up has a math game that teaches addition and subtraction. 

It will ask your child to take away a number of his instruments or add a number of instruments. They get to learn math and have fun at the same time!

You can teach your preschooler about music with the Think & Learn Rocktopus!

Get the Think & Learn Rocktopus at Walmart now or pick it up as a gift for this holiday season! The Rocktopus would be the perfect gift for any music loving kid age 3 to 6. 

#RocktopusWalmart

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