My toddler and my preschooler often fight over the same toys, but it is actually rare to find a toy that both of them can enjoy at the same time.  So, when these Boomwhackers arrived, I thought it would be lots of fun to try them out with both kids - something I’m often not brave enough to attempt!

Okay, I’ll be honest - perhaps I enjoy this toy even more than my two kids.  Playing with these is actually addictive!  Boomwhackers are colorful hollow tubes that can be played with two included mallets (set up like a xylophone), or by banging them together.  Different sections of the tubes produce different sounds, and adding an included cap on a tube can change the sound. 

While both of my kids loved playing with the mallets, their real joy comes from banging the tubes together.  They play alone and together, and often switch off tube colors.  Because the tubes are relatively lightweight and hollow, they haven’t (yet) caused any damage.  I am actually enjoying playing with them also, and the kids and I often all play together!  As the kids get older, I know they will really enjoy the included color coded songbooks that will help them play specific songs.  Introducing music reading and other fundamentals of music is something that I think is very important.

You can find Boomwhackers at http://www.whackymusic.com/.