Hello all. I have a five month old baby girl that is very interested in my guitars and ukulele. She loves hearing me play them and very much wants to grab them and interact with them. I'm not worried about immediate damage, as she is so small and I can easily control her interactions, but I was wondering when would be the right time to get a cheap, durable uke for her to interact with more independently (EDIT: meaning more 'hands on', not left alone)?
I understand kids can't truly start learning to play until 3-6 years old but I think there could be some value in occasionally letting her grab, pluck, spit up on, etc. a 'knock around' uke, like a Makala Dolphin or Flight TUS35.
What do you think? Should instruments be only for 'looking' and not 'touching' for some time, or is there value in allowing her to get her hands on an instrument?
As a child I grow up with a Piano in the house but never learnt to play it. It was played regularly by my Mother who would bang out a tune or two on it but she never showed me how to play it. Having said that she’d have put me through paid for lessons but that structure and family expense turned me off. So, the point I make here, is that once the child is old enough (or should that be developed enough) to learn then a casual introduction might be the way forward.
In my teens I learnt to play other instruments through free tuition at school. I was at the right stage for me, the tuition was free and so were the instruments and the guy giving the tuition was the right teacher for me; with that mix I made good progress and established a foundation of skills that has served me well.
Fast forward to life as a parent. My wife plays Piano and our own children grew up with one. They can all play but we put them through lessons, none of them wanted to put the effort in to learn and our society has an elitist attitude such that if you aren’t a perfect player then you shouldn’t bother - that discourages learners. So the point here is that not all children have much interest in playing (there’s lots going on in their Worlds already and plenty of other interesting stuff to do instead) and the skill of playing needs to be appropriately supported, nurtured and encouraged - which is no small task.
Fast forward again and the next generation has started to arrive. This generation are not in my regular care but I take an interest. I now see music or rather musical accomplishment as a journey with many different stopping off points and alternative routes forward. Looking in terms of education you’d need to be an early years music teacher to give a really useful answer as to what’s best but I observe that children learn in a progressive way building on earlier knowledge and experiences. I wouldn’t give a Uke to a small child but rather something percussive instead which they can rattle and band to their hearts content. Maybe later something percussive that has different pitches and later again something on which a scale and simple tunes can be played.
At what stage is a child ready to attempt to play (note that I say play rather than play with) a Uke? Well hand control, strength and coordination have a part to play in that decision as does intellect and natural talent. There are always exceptions to every ‘rule’ but just for now let’s be guided by what happens in Primary Schools. Following that lead my best guess is sometime beyond seven and before eleven, so Junior School age (as would be here in the U.K.). So what I’m saying here is before a curtain age or developmental stage a Uke is a toy rather than an instrument, of course the toy might eventually make the transition but I suspect that there are more age appropriate things for little ones to have as they learn and play.
