Cute little castanets that are fun to play with
These aren’t technically children’s instruments, but I still brought them into our little music time at home. My daughter is 15 months and has tiny hands, so she can only make a light sound with them, but when I use them myself they can clack pretty loud. It’s a quick, sharp wooden clack instead of a soft click, and the volume depends a lot on how firmly you snap them together. They’re not painfully loud, but they definitely cut through other background noise more than our shaky eggs or rhythm sticks. We have a small collection of beginner instruments already, so I’ve gotten used to how different things sound side by side. These have a brighter, more percussive tone compared to the muffled thump of the wood blocks and the jingle of the tambourine. The pitch is higher than I expected too, almost like tapping two chopsticks together but with more body behind the sound. It actually adds a nice contrast when we’re doing little rhythms together. I’ve been using them for a few weeks now and the wood has stayed smooth even though they’ve been dropped a few times. No dents, no splintering, and the cord hasn’t stretched or loosened. The two sides still line up cleanly and make the same consistent clack they did when I first opened them. They’re simple and lightweight, and even though they’re sized for adults, it’s been fun adding them into our home music moments. Read more
