One of the things I love about running this store is the little surprises that pop up where something is way more popular than I ever thought it would be. As a classically trained musician, when I set up our musical instruments for relaxation and music therapy category, my main focus was on instruments that are easy to learn. As a last minute thought, I ordered in a small music box collection, which don't require any musical knowledge. I have a long history as a child with music boxes and didn't really know how it would translate, but I am obviously not the only one. Here's the top 5 reasons the hand crank music box makes a unique and beautiful gift idea.

Reason #1 to love the hand crank music box - it's music unplugged

In the age where kids and adults are glued to devices, computers, screens and technology, it's a really thoughtful and beautiful thing to give someone an 'unplugged' gift. All that's required is the simple turn of a handle and you'll get around 20 seconds of a popular tune. There's no musical skill required, all you need to do is turn the handle, but keeping the handle turning at a steady speed keeps the music playing at the right speed.

Hand Crank music box playing You Are My Sunshine
You Are My Sunshine Music Box

Reason #2 to love the hand crank music box - develop combined motor and aural skills

When buying a hand crank music box for a young child, there are some motor skills being developed and listening skills as well. When the handle turning speeds up, so does the music. Slow it down and the music slows down. Stop turning the handle and the music stops. This is not a gift that will be played with once and then put down. There's a fascination in the correlation between the speed of the handle being turned and the sound that makes this a fun toy to keep playing with.

Reason #3 to love the hand crank music box - nostalgia

Most of the songs on our music boxes are golden oldies or classic tv themes. Listening to the tune will send you off on a bit of a nostalgic time travel to somewhere back in time where the melody first entered your life. On our first delivery, one of the golden oldies we didn't order too many of was the first song to run off the shelf, and really surprised me. You Are My Sunshine was first written and recorded in 1940, but has been recorded over and over again by artists like Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Bing Crosby and The Beach Boys. More recently, it has been recorded by Christina Perri for a children's album, a young artist named Jasmine Thompson who has had over 34 million views of her YouTube recording. YouTube has a LOT of covers of this song.

Buy the theme from Game Of Thrones and be reminded of the Red Wedding or the Harry Potter Movie theme which brings so many magical images in to my head. Pick the music box that means something to you or to the person who you're buying it for and they'll love you for the memories that come to surface each time they play with it.

Reason #4 to love the hand crank music box - stress relief

I use the term 'musical stress ball' a lot when I talk about the musical instruments in our store. It's usually in relation to a tongue drum or kalimba tuned to the pentatonic scale, because you can't hit a wrong note. Anyone can pick one up, play a few notes and feel suitably distracted and relaxed and switch off for a minute or two. The same thing happens with a music box. Keep one on your desk or in your draw in the office and when you need to stop and take a moment to reset, pull it out, listen to the tune and be transported somewhere else for 30 seconds or a minute, then get back to the task at hand.

Related Products