Wooden Tambourine - Fox

A small tambourine a child can hold in one hand

Most tambourines are built for adult hands, and a three-year-old ends up clutching them with both arms. This wooden tambourine measures 18 cm and weighs 0.19 kg, about the weight of an apple. A child grips it in one hand and keeps the other free to tap, which is how the instrument is meant to be played.

As a hand-held tambourine, it needs no stand and no setting up: it comes out of the basket and the music starts. It slips into a bag for a music group or a visit to the grandparents, and it is light enough that a tired arm is never the reason to stop.

Tapping in time: how a child plays the fox tambourine

Put on a song your child knows by heart. Show them once: tambourine in one hand, the flat fingers of the other hand tapping on each beat. Then let them try. At 3, the taps land everywhere, and that is normal. Slow the game down: clap the beat together first, then move the claps onto the tambourine.

A few weeks later, try the echo game. You tap two beats, they answer with two. You tap three, slow, slow, quick, and they copy. Then swap roles, because children love setting a pattern that an adult gets wrong. Around 4 or 5, many can hold a steady beat through a whole nursery rhyme and stop on the last word.

What they gain is easy to see. Keeping time means listening and moving together, so the ear and the hand learn to work as a pair. One hand holds still while the other moves, which is real coordination practice. And in a group, a child with a tambourine has a job: wait, come in on the beat, stop with everyone else.

It is a toy tambourine in size and weight, but the gesture is the one a musician uses. One habit worth setting from the first day: agree on a stop signal, a raised hand for example, before the first song. Children enjoy the sudden silence as much as the noise, and you will be glad of it.

The fox design and our other tambourines

The fox decoration is shared with the Children's Wooden Toy Piano - Fox, so the two make a matching pair: one child at the keys, another marking the beat. If you are choosing a children's wooden tambourine as a present for a third birthday, the fox is usually what wins the child over before the first tap.

We stock other models, and the names say what sets them apart. The Rainbow Wooden Tambourine swaps the fox for rainbow colours. The Natural Skin Wooden Tambourine for Children has a natural skin head, for a more traditional feel under the hand. The Montessori Wooden Hand Drum Rattle & Tambourine combines several instruments in one. The fox model is not suitable for under-threes: for a younger child, look at our baby tambourine instead. All of them belong with the rest of our Montessori toys.

Fox tambourine: questions from parents

What size tambourine is best for a child?

One they can hold in a single hand without their wrist dropping. At 18 cm and 0.19 kg, this model is sized for children from 3, where a full-size adult instrument is too wide and too heavy.

What age is the fox tambourine suitable for?

From 3 years. Because of small parts, the fox tambourine is not suitable for younger children.

How does a child play a tambourine?

They hold it in one hand and tap it with the fingers or palm of the other, in time with a song. Teach them to play it at arm's length, never close to the ear.

Does the fox tambourine match other instruments?

Yes. It carries the same fox design as the Children's Wooden Toy Piano - Fox, so the two can be given and played together.

Size, weight and care

• Size: 18 cm
• Weight: 0.19 kg
• Material: wood, fox design
• Age: 3+
• Reference: REFL10721

A wooden tambourine asks for very little. Wipe it with a soft dry cloth, or a barely damp one for sticky marks, and dry it at once. Keep it away from water, damp and radiators, and bring it back indoors after a session in the garden.

Warning: Small parts. Choking hazard. Do not use close to the ear. Misuse may cause hearing damage. Please retain this information. Warning: Not suitable for children under 3 years.