The set contains the following:
3 wood mallets (two for the cymbals, one for the wood block)
1 soprano wood block
1 triangle and 1 striker
2 cymbals
1 tambourine
2 rhythm sticks (one ridged and one smooth)
1 wrist bells
I like pretty much all the parts, except for the soprano wood block. It sucks and seems to be the only cheaply made item in the set. It is made of wood and has a heavy coating of varnish. It doesn't sound that great either.
The wood mallets are small, and made of two pieces. The end seems to be glued pretty well to the stick, so I make sure to supervise during use in case the end comes off, as that can be a choking hazard.
There is a ridged rhythm stick and a smooth one, made of wood and painted. The smooth stick was slightly warped, but still works alright. You scrape them together or tap them. We use these in the Music Together classes too.
There are two 5" cymbals, the handles are made of wood and the cymbal part is a thick metal. They are not curved much so the sound doesn't carry well, but they work well enough for a young child. The edges are thick enough not to cause injury. Still, you must be cautious as stepping on the edge or tripping over them is still quite painful. My daughter likes to bang them together and then hold them on the sides of her face. I tried this too, and it sounds interesting.
The triangle is nice. It is metal and has a tiny little string to hold it up. The striker is also metal and has a plastic rubbery cap on one end. It is quite small and a choking hazard, so I don't let my kid use it at all. There are three wood mallets in the set, and those work fine as a striker. The sound carries very nicely.
There is also a tambourine. It is made of plastic that looks like wood. The top part is a plastic sheeting, but seems strong enough so far. My daughter sometimes stands on it and it's still intact. The coins on the sides are a shiny metal and sound tinny.
There is only one wrist bells. These sound great. They are like the kind of medium jingle bells you see at Xmas and are attached to a nylon strap that has a rivet on it. You can put it on your wrist, however it is not adjustable. It is very loud but cheerful sounding.
Overall these are great. Some of the instruments are similar to ones used in the Music Together classes. I have stored them in a covered plastic container and everyday my daughter brings the container to me to open it. She seems to enjoy them a lot.
I highly recommend these over some cheap junky set like one from Simba. I think the quality is even better than the Band in a Bucket, which I also have. These are definitely going to last a long time.
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We create a lot of music in this house. There is no TV or videos. We dance and sing... and these instruments have totally made a great impact on our "family band". The kids love marching around with the instruments and we go in circles, dancing and singing. They also love them enough that they will take the instruments out themselves (I store the cymbals and anything that could hurt them like the rhythm sticks, unless totally supervised, in the nice storage bag it comes with) and dance and sing every afternoon. It is adorable. I only wish there were a harmonica. My kids love harmonicas and somehow I keep losing them. They have asthma and the harmonica is invaluable for one of my sons in particular to help with his upper respiratory/lung issues, in the most fun way!
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