Hohner Kids HMX3008B Toddler Glockenspiel

cage bells! My first Honer product was the cage bells for my baby. Grandma got us two, one for the parent and one for the baby. The cage bells are very very well made and have held up to a lot. The colors are pretty and the sound is very nice. My 2 kids have enjoyed them from the time they could first hold them all the way till now when they are 3 and 18 months. O, but wait this is a review for the glockenspiel!!! :-() Ok. I really like the glockenspiel and am happy with the purchase. We did our research and looked at many reviews and this is the one you want! It is durable, well designed. Nice rounded edges that are designed to take the impact of being dropped (my 18 month has tested this feature out many times!!!) The keys are well secured and will not fall off like some of the other glockenspiels you may look at that are designed for older children. Has a beautiful sound. When we first got it I could not get it to make a pretty sound, but my husband could! I quickly learned that you want to hit the keys quickly with the mallet. It is all in the flick of the wrist!!! The only negative I want to point out is that the mallet is flimsy, but given the quality of their products, maybe it is supposed to be, I am trying to say, maybe they know what they are doing. I was concerned about the mallet holding up, but it has so far. I wish it came with 2 mallets for my 2 children, but they have learned to take turns after the newness wore off. Some other things work on the keys as well, such as a plastic mixing spoon handle! If this helps, please mark it as helpful! Update (January 8, 2015): It has been almost a year since I reviewed this. I am still overly happy with this product. It is so durable. It has been dropped and well loved, meaning used a lot and still going strong! The mallet (which I had expressed concern over) has held up well. It does look a little warped from misuse, but I explained to the kids (now 4 1/2 and 2 1/2) that you can not bend the mallet and they have been better with it. This is a good quality item! and my kids like playing with it even still.

I bought this product for my 12 month old daughter for her birthday. I was looking for a xylophone instrument that would be durable, musically toned, and not be a hazard to my child. I believe this product has met all of those requirements and then some. It has a very nice sound and none of the keys sound off. It all flows and sounds correct in the musical scale. It does not sound overly loud or obnoxious but has a good melodic "ting" sound. The product is not made of wood so I was a little skeptical of how hardy it would be considering plastic and a determined toddler can be a bit risky. I'm very pleased with how it has held up considering I've seen it thrown, stepped on, and pounded. It's been six months and there are no signs of wear and tear. The xylophone is not very heavy so she can carry it easily and at 12 months she was able to drag it around with her as she crawled. The soft plastic screws that hold the keys in place are very safely enclosed on the back side so as to prevent a choking hazard from a child pulling them out or trying to pull off the keys. The mallet did concern me a bit. While it is light and plastic so I don't have to worry about her knocking someone out with it, she can easily fit the head of the mallet into her mouth. This, combined with learning to walk, made me a bit concerned that she would fall down on it with it still in her mouth. As a result, I've put the mallet away for when she is older and not as interested in exploring with her mouth. She is still able to use the instrument fine using blocks and other toys to play the keys. Overall, I am very happy with this product and would buy this again as well as recommend it to a friend. Pros: -musically tuned and sounds pleasant -not too loud -durable -safe for young children Cons: -mallet a bit too skinny and long as it inevitably ends up in a teething child's mouth (problem fixed by using other toys to play instrument)

I got the Hohner xylophone/glockenspiel based on previous reviews about this being one full octave (C-major) and true to pitch. The other ones seemed too hokey in comparison. Overall, I am glad I got it. The previous reviewers were right to rave about this toy! Our baby has enjoyed hearing the glockenspiel and banging on the notes. So have his slightly older friends (aged 11 months to 2 years) and much, much older parents. The notes don't sound tinny and annoying (at least not to me); they sound more like bells. Our baby also thinks the yellow plastic safety mallet is good for teething on. If he isn't left alone with this mallet, I don't worry about him gagging on it. (It's ~7 inches long). Sometimes when he gets a little shrieky, the only thing the baby can hear above his own voice is the crystal-clear notes of this glockenspiel. He often stops mid-shriek as we gently brush the mallet across the keys, back and forth. The effect is almost as magical when we use our thumbnail instead of the mallet. To help everyone identify the notes, the keys are color coded and engraved. For example, the "D" key is yellow and has a capital "D" engraved. Above each key is sol-fa syllable stamped into the blue plastic frame. (Just above the dark blue "C" key is "Do"; above the yellow "D" key is "Re", etc.) Hohner includes a little sheet music with this glockenspiel, for people who can't rattle off one-octave tunes in C major. The four songs provided are "Little Jonathan", "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", "Beethoven's 9th Symphony" and "Jingle Bells". For those who need a little help with reading sheet music, the printed music notes' colors correspond to the colors of the keys on the glockenspiel. Our baby is fine with hearing us practice our scales, but I've been getting bored with the four-song set. A quick Google search for one-octave tunes and songs did offer some suggestions. There was mention of "Yellow Submarine". It comes close, but is one note beyond the reach of this little glockenspiel. Same goes for "You Are My Sunshine". "Do Re Mi" and "Freres Jacques" work well without much modification. If more one-octave melodies are needed, there is at least one book on the market, such as _Twenty-four Easy-to-Play One-Octave Melodies_. This toy was made in Israel. Hohner advertises this toy as being free of lead, PVC, BPA, phthalates, and nitrosamine.

We bought this xylophone for our 2.5 year old daughters for Christmas this past year and all four of us are very pleased with the product! There are quite a number of things that this instrument does very well: 1. It is well constructed, which is important for any parent(s) of toddlers. The bars are strongly attached, the entire unit is sturdy and clearly durable. The xylophone is also quite attractive; the entire thing is bright, colorful, and shiny - in other words, great for kids! 2. It comes with a nice booklet containing some simple sheet music. This will be more fun when they are a bit older and can read the music, but since the notes are color-coded with the bars, it is still accessible to them now. I do wish that the booklet was in a slightly larger format (larger font, etc), but that is only a minor complaint. 3. The sound quality is quite nice. It still sounds like you are hitting metal with a plastic mallet, but the sound is much richer than, for example, a hammer hitting a bell or some other simple kids toy style instrument. No bars seem out of place or out of tune with the rest. And thankfully, it is not a loud toy! There is nice (and natural), but not overwhelming sound. 4. The carrying case is nicer than I anticipated. It is sturdy yet light and does a nice job protecting the xylophone. As with the included songbook, it is additions like this that make this toy stand out. I only have one actual complaint, and that is that I'm not overly impressed with the mallet. It is plastic, which is neither here nor there other than it is a bit flimsy. It does not droop, but it is easily bent. And the mallet head being a flat disc is a curious choice. Our daughters first attempted use was to press the bars with the flat surface of the mallet. They quickly figured out the correct angle, but the shape does not make for intuitive usage. A minor quibble about the mallet design aside, this is a wonderful xylophone that sounds very nice and should hold up well under repeated use! Highly recommended.

Unlike other toy xylophones on the market, this one actually sounds great! It's sturdy with no sharp edges and the notes sound beautiful. It even comes with a little song book with color-coded notes to make it easier to learn to play the songs. My 11 month old is too young for it (all she wants to do is suck on the mallet,) but she will occasionally bang on the metal keys with her hand and is still able to make a sound that she enjoys. I'd say this toy might be better suited for an older child, as my almost 6 year old loves it. 12 months seems too young to grasp the proper way to use this toy. But the toy does seem safe for baby under supervision. There are no sharp edges or loose parts besides the mallet, but being made out of metal and heavy duty plastic, it is a bit heavy and can hurt a child if thrown (which is my baby's favorite game.) Overall, a nice quality xylophone that we can grow into.

I bought this for my baby girl for her 1st birthday, and it has been a hit from day one. With a little parental guidance, it took her less than a minute to figure out how to hit the keys with the mallet, and then she was making music! She was so excited and proud of herself, and she hasn't put this toy down since. As other reviewers have commented, unlike to many other xylophones on the market (esp. the wooden ones), this Hohner xylophone is pitch-perfect. (And the notes are nice and clear). My daughter is still too young for us to attempt the structured melodies in the pamphlet that comes with the xylophone. But because the keys are the correct pitch, we'll be able to play actual songs with it when she gets older. At this point, I'm not sure what she likes more ... the xylophone or the mallet! At her age, everything goes into my little-one's mouth, and the mallet is no exception. She takes frequent "breaks" from banging on the keys to chew and suck on the mallet, and I don't have to worry about her doing this because it's BPA-, lead- and phthalate-free. Plus the plastic is pliable and the surfaces are curved, so there are no hard, sharp edges to poke my teething baby in the mouth or to pose any danger if she accidentally falls on the mallet or hits herself with it. (Very common occurrences for a walking/running toddler!). This product has also shown itself to be quite sturdy so far. My baby has tossed the xylophone around, flipped it over, stepped on it, etc., and thus far, it is unscathed. And the mallet has stood up to her gnawing on it and pretty much bending it every which way. Overall, a wonderful, fun toy for teaching baby everything from cause-and-effect and hand-eye coordination, to the pure joy of making music. Grade: A+

This is hands down the best kids xylophone ever. I got it for my daughter's first birthday and she loves it. Every time I come home from work or downstairs after taking a nap (thanks to my lovely husband), she immediately runs over to the xylophone and bangs out some 'music.' I love it. It has the perfect pitch and I love the thin little stick it comes to play with. There is a little holder for it under the xylophone so it won't get lost. I didn't realize how much I liked this thing until a friend of mine got her the one from Hape (the one that has the pounding bench and balls)...that thing is beyond irritating. The pitch is ridiculously high, not in any pitch, and it comes with a hammer to both pound the balls and the xylophone. My daughter quickly figured out how to hammer everything in sight, including the dog, her head, our heads, the wall...). You can't really appreciate how great this xylophone is until you get a bad one. This one is the BEST! We have a lot of Hohner Kids musical toys and they are all great quality and musically accurate (in terms of pitch, etc.)

I got this for my son for his first birthday. I really have only 1 concern - he doesn't get to use it all the time, because his 6 year old sister loves it too. Musically, it's got a sweet tone, and I cannot detect any off pitch notes (not that I'm claiming perfect pitch). Structurally, the frame is a piece of solid-feeling plastic. The metal bars don't feel any more loose than they need to be to work. Both the kids have dropped it without problems. The mallet is light, but we haven't had any issues with wear in the first 2 months. As far as ergonomics, it's light enough that my 14 month old can easily carry it around. It is compact, but my 6 year old and I don't have any problems hitting the correct bar. (My son is still on the chapter about bang-away-with-huge-grin in the instruction manual). The mallet clicks into brackets underneath the frame. It clicks in easily, but seems to be held securely. It has not popped loose involuntarily yet. It slides easily into the bag, which also includes a few melodies to tink out. In summary, a great little instrument, obviously designed for small children, and no real drawbacks other than popularity.