Kids are often feeling excited while they’re listening to music or playing an instrument by their little hands. The piano is considered to be the best instrument to start with by most people. A kid sitting in front of a piano and playing is an adorable moment that every parent wants to see.
Your kids may have shown potential talent in music or you would like to purchase a piano for your kids to develop their interest or unlock their talents.
So, how to choose the best keyboard piano for your kids or toddlers? Here are some tips and recommendations to help you to consider.
Best Keyboard Pianos for Kids and Toddlers On the Market
What’s the Best Age to Start Learning the Piano?
The primary worry for parents is what age my kids should start learning the piano.
As a piano teacher, I would say that the recommended age for a child to start learning the piano is 5-year-olds.
Although it varies by different children, generally, for a child younger than 5, there are more obstacles that come up. My youngest student is four years old. One issue that likely to come up is short of hand muscles, so their hands may too soft for playing on an acoustic piano. Other problems include the ability to understand and cognize. For children aged 5 or above, they often show better understand and have stronger fingers compared with children aged 4 or younger.
However, it doesn’t mean that children aged 1 to 4 years cannot learn the piano. If your kids have shown their interest in playing the piano, buying a fun piano toy or keyboard could be a wise idea. But beware that for children of any age, make sure the piano you’re buying has some fun functions for them to play. It allows your kids to keep interested. The main reason that kids give up learning the piano is that they found it wasn’t fun anymore.
If you have no idea which one to get for your 1 to 4-year-olds, here are some recommended picks of best keyboard piano for kids aged 1 to 4 years old. They are very durable and safe for babies and toddlers. Enjoy the time watching your kids hitting the piano keys and starting their performance with any of them!
Best Keyboard Piano for Kids Aged 1 to 4 Years Old
1. Melissa & Doug Learn-to-Play Piano
For children aged 9 month – 3 years
Melissa & Doug learn-to-play piano is a bright piano toy. The colorful paint will draw your kids’ attention at first glance. It comes with 25 keys, offering 2 full octaves for your kids to play tunes.
It has a songbook included, which contains nine child-friendly tones. Your child will learn the notes and songs with the easy-to-play and illustrated book.
Melissa & Doug piano is made of high-quality material which makes this piano toy very solid and durable to be used by your kids. You can put it on the carpet in the living room or playroom, and your kid can sit on the floor playing without a bench.
Get one and watch your kids having an enjoyable experience with this colorful piano!
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2. Wooden Baby Grand Piano Toy
For children aged 12 month – 4 years
This piano is a baby grand piano toy with 30 mini-sized keys. It’s designed to look like a real grand piano yet in a small size. It’s wood and sturdy so that your child can sit on the bench playing. You can just sit it in the corner of the room without taking up too much space.
It allows your kids to get trained of high & low notes and key positions or have fun on it. However, you may not expect it has piano sound. The sound is more like a xylophone. So, you’re considering to buy one for children over 4 years old. I recommend you to look for more advanced piano or keyboard rather than a toy because of the sound.
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3. Play22 Piano Playmat
For children aged 12 month – 5 years
This kid piano playmat is a multi-functional playmat that both allow your kids to improve motor skills for learning and stimulate music development at the early stage. Your children can play it by touching with hand or foot. Super easy and fun!
The piano playmat is equipped with four play modes, including play record, playback, and demo. Plus 8 musical instruments are built in such as saxophone, violin, trumpet, etc, which allow your kids to get a countless amount of fun by exploring it.
It comes with 24 touch-sensitive keys that perfectly fit for most children’s feet. Your kids will love to stomp on it. But beware that the keys may be small for the children who are with big feet to play without hitting 2 keys at the same time. Check the size before purchasing it!
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Things You Need to Consider When Buying A Keyboard Piano for Kids
If your child is 5 years old or above, they are probably ready to learn to play the piano properly.
Then it’s time to decide whether you expect your kids to get serious of learning the piano and will be able to play on a real piano in the future or expect them to play for fun. It’s important that you should figure it out based on how much interest your kiddo shows on the piano.
If you’re not sure about it, I recommend you to buy a simple keyboard for your child at first. Once you know that your kids are committed to the instrument, you can get a digital piano with more advanced functions.
With the goal in mind, you should take some essential factors listed into consideration.
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Sound
Basically, music is the sound we hear. There is no doubt that how important the sound of pianos is.
A high-quality will inspire children’s interest and practice their ‘musician ears.’ So, for those who want to be a serious learner, get a keyboard or piano that as high-quality as possible depending on your budget.
Whereas if you expect your kiddo to have fun on it, it’s not that necessary to get a piano with very high-quality sound. But make sure that the keyboard is piano sound and the notes are in tune well.
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Piano Lessons
Most keyboards come with piano lessons, either a built-in lesson or instructional lessons in software.
It’s beneficial for all the kids to learn music basics by taking lessons and learn them as a game. They can learn their favorite songs by using built-in lessons with a screen on keyboard showing which notes they should hit and which figure they should use.
Casio SA-76 is an excellent choice with 50 step-by-step lessons in software, allowing children to get started easier and enjoy playing.
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Appearance
It’s better to use one that looks like a real piano or keyboard. For young children, choosing a piano or keyboard with an attractive appearance is a great idea to draw their attention, such as Melissa & Doug Learn-to-Play Piano and Okreview Piano Toy Keyboard.
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Number of Tones & Rhythms
For kids who want to learn the piano seriously, practicing songs and finger techniques are the primary tasks for them to do. Too many tones and rhythms will distract them.
Therefore, the less, the better.
However, for those who play for fun, the more tones and rhythms keyboards have, the more fun children can enjoy. It’s another way for them to keep interested and keep exploring.
Additional, some keyboards are loaded with lots of voices, including many types of strings, brass, keyboard and percussion instruments. Your children are able to get exposed to many different sounds of instruments, encouraging them to explore different sound combinations.
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Microphone
In the early stage, musical skills and passion can be built from both playing and singing. As a way to introduce your child to the music world, having a keyboard with a microphone helps your children make songs and it will be great with the use of recording and playing back.
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Important Features for Serious Kids Learner
Well, we’ve discussed some basic features. Apart from high-quality sound, what special features do kids who are serious learning piano need?
1. Touch-sensitive Keys
A touch-sensitive keyboard can be a great starter keyboard for kids. If you want to buy a keyboard allowing a child to build piano skill, which can be used as a transition to an acoustic piano, you should choose one that has similar functions to a real piano.
Touch sensitivity is one of the main features that you should have. It means you can get louder sound if you press harder and you can get lighter sound if you press softer.
A keyboard without touch-sensitive keys is volume-controlled. It will prevent your child from becoming a sensitive player because every piece of music has weak tones and strong tones to let you feel the emotions.
From my teaching experience, lots of kids struggle with the dynamics, which means they have no idea about the difference between strong notes and weak notes as well as they have difficulty to control the volume of the sound. Therefore, it’s essential for them to feel the difference between different notes and play tunes with dynamics.
2. Weighted Keys
Weighted keys, as known as hammer action keys, is to imitate the inside mechanism of a real piano. On an acoustic piano, you can feel there is natural weight while pressing the keys as well as resistance responding to your finger.
Why do you need to buy a piano with weighted keys for your kids?
Your kids may have already dreamed about being able to be a pianist and play on an acoustic piano. Getting accustomed to weighted keys ensures that they can transfer to a real piano without too much effort.
Here we’ve listed 10 keyboards and digital pianos with powerful functions to satisfy your needs either you’re looking for a keyboard piano for kids to play for fun or for serious kids learner.
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Best Keyboard Piano for Kids to Play for Fun
The keyboards or piano toys are designed to cultivate kids interest in music and instrument. They can be beneficial in instilling children’s lifelong love of music and creation.
Some keyboards have a microphone included, which can let your kids practice the singing skill as well.
#1 Casio SA-76 -Keyboard with Educational Pack
- 44 mini-sized keys
- A Close-Up Headphone included (playing without disturbing others)
- 50 Step-by-step lessons on software
- Five Drum Sounds (can be played as an accompaniment)
- Best cheap keyboard for kids
#2 Hamzer 61-key keyboard -Kids Keyboard with Microphone
- 61 key keyboard
- A high-quality microphone
- Tons of timbres, rhythms, percussions, and demo songs
- vibrato, sustain and ensemble functions to add effects
- Affordable price
#3 Vangoa Premium 49-Key Kids Electronic Keyboard
- 49 key electronic keyboard
- Attractive pink appearance
- 200 timbres, 200 rhythms, and 50 demo songs
- A small pink microphone included (improve singing skill at the same time)
- One-year warranty
#4 Electronic Piano Keyboard toy for Kids
- 37 keys
- LCD screen display
- Battery operated
- Recording function
- Availiable in red, blue and black
#5 Yamaha YPT260 Keyboard
- 61 full-sized keys
- Includes 400 voices, 130 accompaniment and 112 onboard songs
- Yamaha Education Suite, including a nine-step lesson function
- free downloadable song book
- Recording function
- Aux input to play along with your favorite songs from your devises
Best Keyboard Piano for Serious Kids Learner
The digital pianos listed below are suitable for kids aged 5 or above to play.
Digital pianos are used as an alternative instrument to a real piano. They are designed to have authentic touch and realistic feel as an acoustic piano, which allows your kids to improve their figure techniques on the piano. By hearing the high-quality sound, children are able to develop a sense of music and unlock their talents.
If you’re working on a tight budget to buy a real piano, digital pianos are great choices for you considering.
The digital pianos and keyboards listed are safe and kids-friendly for kids to play. So don’t worry! They are all sturdy and have high quality. If you expect to have better experiences, I recommend buying a compatible stand and bench as well.
#1 Yamaha P-71 Digital Piano (Full Review)
- 88 weighted keys (Graded Hammer Standard)
- Touch sensitive keys
- The sampling was recorded from a grand piano
- MIDI-capable
- Dual Mode to combine two voices together
- One of the Best Yamaha Keyboards
#2 RockJam Digital Piano for Kids Beginner
- 88 fully-sized semi-weighted keys
- Interactive learning lessons
- Stylish design
- LED light up display showing notes on the staff and figure placement
- Include key note stickers
- Free education apps
#3 Yamaha P125 High-quality Sound Digital Piano (Full Review)
- Available in 73 keys & 88 keys
- 88 fully-weighted digital piano
- Very high-quality sound (a new sound engine to recreate the sound of a concert grand piano)
- Sound Boost System
- Polyphony of 192 notes (allows your kids to be a sensitive pianist)
#4 Korg B1SP Digital Piano
- 88 weighted keys
- Home upright digital piano
- Furniture stand with three pedals attached
- Suitable to use while taking lessons
- Authetic sound quality
- One of the Best Digital Pianos under $500
Our Top-Rated Best Keyboard Pianos for Kids
Conclusion
There is no doubt that music plays a vital role in developing children’s creative ability, and two-hand skill can contribute to their coordination.
When buying a keyboard piano for your kids, make sure to consider whether the piano you choose is suitable for your children at first, including the size, height, etc.
Importantly, You do not have to rush buying a piano with lots of fancy functions. It’s better to buy a simple keyboard to stimulate their interest before finding your kids are committed to the piano. If you’ve found your kids have shown their talents in music, then congratulations to the burgeoning pianist in your family! It’s time to get a proper instrument for them to practice.
Hopefully, the information above is useful to you. And enjoy the pleasant experience of playing with your kiddo!
You can keep reading to find the right keyboard you need:
