Clickety clack ladybird castanet. (Wooden Animal Castanets)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Wooden Animal Castanets
Date:	10/12/07 (248 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good childs musical instrument toy, cheap

Disadvantages: click clack click clack , click clack , click clack, click clack ......................... ..........

A toy /musical instrument that I have played with at work is the wooden lady bird animal castanet,

What is this castanet?
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This castanet is a wooden toy. This castanet is made of two small circles of wood measuring 5 ½ cm in diameter. This toy is painted a bright ladybird/Christmas red there is a black line dividing the wooden circle. (To represent wings). On the red wood either side of this line are 3 black dots.
There is a black face area with two white and black eyes on one edge of the circles. This represents a lady bird/bug. The two wooden circles are tied together by a piece of elastic red string. This castanet is chunky fits into a child's hand well

This is a very bright contrasts toy very appealing to a Childs eye. Just discovered you can buy a green frog castanet or a yellow duck one he same manufacturer and design except the frog and duck have protruding eyes.


Suitability
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This toy is really suitable for a 3 year old and over.


How to play a castanet
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This castanet is played by putting the wooden circles open in the palm of one hand, folding your fingers down and clacking the wooden circles together. (Its not as easy as you guys think)

Sound
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The sound made from this castanet is not unpleasant it's a sort tap clicking of wood together. We use castanets to accompany many songs. Castanets are used a lot in Spanish music.
The castanet is an instrument that is used to give a beat to a song a tapping instead of a drum.
You can play a fast or a slow rhythm with a castanet.

Benefits of using a castanet
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It's not just the music, the rhythm.
The castanets not only enhances and enable students to accompany music (ok so often our children need a little help to clack these castanets ) but they are good to encourage hand movements fine and gross motor movements. Some of my special needs children need an incentive to move their fingers and making a sound does give this incentive.

Using music and castanets can stimulate speech development. In a group situation you can promoter turn taking and social skills.
What's more these brightly coloured castanets are fun to use for any child,..... Go on give your child some clackers in their Christmas stocking. .
This toy/musical instrument should last quite a long time as it is fairly basic and sturdy.

The castanets I am talking about only cost 99p. You can buy them from http://www.thelittlehencompany .com/ animal-castanet---duck-frog-or-ladybird -486-p.asp or 50p from http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Toyday-Animal- Castanet/dp/B000H6UR7I
On eBay £1.25p http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ NEW-Musical-Instruments-Animal-Castanets- Ladybird_W0QQitemZ140179539493QQihZ004QQ category Z101565QQss PageNameZ WDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem.
I am sure you can buy these in high street shops and the underground market stall in Aylesbury. If not these then similar ones. Ther are frog ones and duck ones made by the same company

Summary: A wooden castanet with ladybird face