You can choose to buy your child musical instruments (real ones) or musical toys. Each option has its pros and cons.

If you buy (real musical) instruments for kids, there is a big advantage. Early exposure to these instruments will make them very refined players. This will not only encourage your child's interest in music but can also help them start a career as a musician.

There are many of us who know it's true that someone who is an excellent player of a certain instrument "can't go hungry." They always have work. These polished players tend to be those who were introduced to these instruments at a young, impressionable age.

Moreover, even if you're not interested in getting your child started on a music career (but you want to improve their appreciation of music), research shows that early exposure to actual musical instruments can boost certain brain functions. Children who had instrumental lessons, for example, showed better spatial reasoning abilities than their peers who didn't.

One of the downsides to buying real instruments for children is that they are more expensive. The real musical instruments that are available for children are not appropriate for all age groups. For some kids, you will need to introduce them to musical toy first to stimulate their natural interest in music. You need to wait until your child's cognitive and psychomotor abilities (coordination skills) are sufficiently developed before they can begin to learn to play these instruments.

Musical toys cost less than actual musical instruments. You can use musical toys to introduce your children to music if they are old enough to relate to them. Some musical toys give a meaningful introduction to music. For example, the toy keyboards where you can play melodies.

Some of these toys are available for under $10. You have no choice but to buy musical toys if your child is under certain age limits. You can't expect most kids younger than four to play real instruments.