Jammboree!!

It's no surprise that kids love music and my daughter is no exception, she just loves making noise! of any kind; bells, maracas, wooden balls banged repeatedly (on my nice Ikea desk...) xylophone, drumsticks (curteousy of her DF), tamborine, pots and pans, wooden spoons, the works... at any given time walking by our house especially during meal prep time it might sound as if someone was auditioning for stomp! or Mayumana! and I guess that's what gets me through those sometimes window shattering sounds, who knows maybe oneday I'll be the proud mother of a performer/musician extraodinaire! oh yeah and a couple minutes of "peace" and "quiet"... we mothers really are strange creatures...

Lucky for me, at least with musical instruments there are plenty of manufacturers that choose wood over plastic. Plan Toys (our go to brand for affordable wooden toys) has a whole line of kiddy instruments made from their signature organic rubberwood. We have their xylophone and we love it! Design wise it has a really nice bentwood skeleton and painted wooden keys (water based dyes) and I love the companies Green outlook. My only complaint would be the quality of the notes (yes I know very nit picky it just a toy!) but the notes don't compare to your run of the mill metal key tones... or maybe that's just what I'm used to.

We've also invested in some fab wooden maracas and a jingle stick bell instrument, we picked up at The Forest in the Rananim mall in Raanana. A magical store (if you can call it that) occupying a large area on the -1 parking level. The Forest transports you away to the land of fairies, gnomes, knights, pirates, fairytales, fables, and fantasy and is a true feast for the senses. The staff is always "in character" costumes, antics and accents be it fairies or pirates. It's a rich treasure trove of collectibles, decor, toys, vintage items, and great music from around the world. Well worth the trip IMHO that is if your in the country... for those of you based in the US or elsewhere I found these and these that even look like the same manufacturer to me...

The Forest

When we aren't making music on our own we really enjoy listening to anything by Putumayo Kids. They are a fantastic company curating and compiling childrens tunes from all cultures and countries. Our current favorite is the Animal Playground CD that has me dancing and singing along to the likes of No more Monkeys produced with caribean flare by Asheeba and the soulful song Eagles by Terri Hendrix. To get a taste you can visit their website and listen to samples and watch videos.