PlanToys Wooden Sensory Drum with Drumstick 12m+

The PlanToys Wooden Sensory Drum is a beautifully made first musical instrument and sensory toy for babies and toddlers from 12 months, with a round wooden drum, wooden drumstick and raised tactile details around the side. Tap the drum to explore different beats and sounds, experiment with rhythm and discover the simple cause and effect of making a sound through movement.

It is a lovely first birthday gift for a child beginning to explore music and sound. At first they may simply enjoy tapping and listening to what happens, then gradually experiment with different rhythms, the strength of each tap and where they strike the drum. The raised details around the outside add another sensory element for little hands to touch and explore.

There is plenty happening developmentally within such simple play. Holding and controlling the drumstick encourages grip control and hand-eye coordination, while drumming supports fine and gross motor skills. Listening for different sounds helps develop auditory awareness, sound discrimination, concentration and attentive listening, while repeating an action and hearing the result introduces cause and effect in a very immediate way. PlanToys also highlights auditory development, coordination, creativity and cause-and-effect learning for this drum.

The simple design also works well for Montessori-inspired play, giving children a clear action and response to explore for themselves. It can be brought into singing and music time, used for copying simple rhythms or simply left available for children to experiment with sound independently. PlanToys currently includes the Wooden Sensory Drum within its Montessori-inspired collection.

The smooth circular body is particularly lovely. PlanToys makes its curved plywood in its own factory in Thailand, peeling reclaimed rubberwood into thin layers before bonding and compressing them into curved forms. This technique uses the wood efficiently and gives toys like the Sensory Drum their beautifully rounded shape.

PlanToys uses reclaimed rubberwood from trees that have reached the end of their latex-producing life, kiln-drying the wood rather than relying on chemical wood-preservation treatments. They use water-based dyes and E-Zero, no-added-formaldehyde adhesive, having replaced all of their conventional adhesives with E-Zero certified glue in 2005.

Find the PlanToys Wooden Sensory Drum at Babipur, with more carefully chosen wooden musical instruments and sensory toys for babies and toddlers.