Ukulele for a toddler?

rocko

rocko

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Thinking ahead to holiday prezzies and my son will be nearly 4 years old.

He might be ready for more than a toy uke. Anyone have suggestions?

I'm thinking plastic body would be best. A Dolphin or a Flea perhaps?
 
Go with a Dolphin... I bought my kids a Dolphin and a Leolani. Dolphin is much better. A Flea would be nice, but too nice for a toddler? The Flea knock-off that was on these boards was absolutely terrible, so this the Dolphin recommendation.
 
My 5 year old had a plastic Woody Ukulele. From the movie Toy Story.
 
Mine actually like solid koa best.
 
I second the dolphin. I got my 2 yr old grand niece a Hilo and wish I payed the extra $20 for a dolphin. The dolphin is 100x more playable.

Also, if he doesn't get the Uke bug you have a decent Uke for you or someone else.
 
I'd go with the Dolphin. I just got one from Uke Republic for myself (OK, maybe for the Grandkids this Christmas). Intonation was still a little off as received but I'm comfortable with filing the nut slots until it satisfied me.
Be sure to purchase an electronic tuner if you want to keep your sanity around kids (they could care less about "tune").
HTH
 
For sure the Toy Story Woody Uke isn't a player. But my little guy has dropped and banged it around so much I am glad it's a plastic one.
 
um, have you considered a dolphin mate?? he he

I bought one for each of my kids at ages 5 and 8 and they are perfect gifts, as they sound well good enough to play a nice tune on and if they break the sky won't cave in. Actually I bought mine mahalos...even cheaper at $25 bucks a pop. My son's hangs next to his bed and often at storytime I grab it down and we sing a song or two. My daughter has since graduated to an Emil Bader hand built mango pineapple which she loves.

Great present idea though, the gift of music is a precious one and sows seeds that grow for a lifetime. :)
 
Thanks, all. Seems like Dolphin is the leading candidate. Now, which color...

:D
 
And after the holiday, I'll start working on getting his name on the Moore Bettah build list. ;-)
 
I think someone should mention dolphins in this thread
attachment.php
 
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rocko said:
Now, which color...
Click to expand...
anything except pink or black. I got a candy apple red and found it quite nice as this is not just bright red, but sparkling bright red.

PS: And don't forget to put the matching Aurora strings on to make it look really awesome ;)
 
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I'd say a Dolphin too although I'm a bit skeptical that kids below five or six would be able to concentrate on playing (or have the motor skills needed). I started playing instruments at six and my nephews and nieces simply do not have a long enough attention span to play anything and they are eight and five. I guess it depends on a kid and in any case, you cannot lose with Dolphin. Getting a child anything more expensive is a bit of an overkill IMO. As for colour... Do they still have the burst colours available? I've got the red one which is pretty nice and the green one I saw was beautiful. Of course it depends on what is your child's favourite colour. :) For some reason I like the blue as well.
 
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pootsie said:
I think someone should mention dolphins in this thread
attachment.php
Click to expand...

Looks like you've got a color-matched strap rigged up for it. Maybe a stupid question, but where does it attach? No strap button, right? Or does the other end loop around the body of the uke?
 
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My son has had a Dolphin. He got it when he was 6 months old. He is now 2, and the thing is a tank. He loves it and plays with it almost everyday. He asks for it by name now. He calls it "ookie" or "Dittar".

Rich
 
IMO 4 years is too young. I'd recommend working on rhythm with some small percussion instruments and marching. This way he'll start paying closer attention to music & lengthen attention to such tasks.
 
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