Best Music Apps for Kids: Unleash Your Child’s Musical Talents

Looking for the best music apps for kids? Whether your child loves to sing, experiment with sounds, or simply enjoys listening to tunes, the right app can spark creativity and turn screen time into a positive, enriching experience. From safe, kid-friendly platforms to interactive tools that let them make their own music or connect with friends, there are plenty of options to explore. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the top music apps for kids—and help you find the perfect fit for your family.

Contents:

• The Benefits of Music for Kids
• Our Top Picks: 10 Best Music Streaming Apps for Kids
• Best Music-Making Apps for Kids
• How Parents and Kids Can Connect with Music
• Safety Tips for Using Music Apps
• FAQs

The Benefits of Music for Kids

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Listening to and creating music is great for kids. Even babies and toddlers can benefit, with studies showing that listening to music can enhance brain function and promote the formation of new neural networks in even the youngest of children.

Here are some key benefits of music for kids:

1. Cognitive development: Engaging with music helps stimulate various areas of the brain, supporting the development of memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. It can also enhance mathematical and spatial-temporal abilities.
2. Emotional expression: Music provides a platform for children to express and process their emotions. It can help them develop emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and the ability to regulate their moods.
3. Language and communication skills: Listening to and singing songs, as well as learning musical patterns, can improve language acquisition, vocabulary, and communication skills.
4. Creativity and self-expression: Music encourages children to explore their creativity and express themselves in unique ways. It nurtures imagination, improvisation, and originality, fostering their artistic and self-expression abilities.
5. Relaxation and stress relief: Listening to soothing music or engaging in musical activities can help children relax, reduce stress, and promote emotional well-being. It serves as a form of therapy and provides a healthy outlet for emotions.

Creating music or learning to play an instrument has been linked to increased language, math, and memory skills and, incredibly, can help children develop social skills and regulate their emotions. For older kids, setting aside time to practice regularly with their instruments is also an effective way of building up the capacity for discipline, concentration, and the ability to work towards goals.

Our Top Picks: 10 Best Music Streaming Apps for Kids

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Tongo Music

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The app offers 20 minutes of audio samples carefully chosen from classical music masterpieces. The creators added delightful illustrations, as well as an interactive piano keyboard. Children can use it to play their own tunes.

Tongo Music is also suitable for learning music signs, such as bass clef, treble clef, note values, etc. You can purchase the app for $2.99 and get the complete content available.

Spotify Kids

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Designed for kids from babyhood and older, Spotify Kids offers curated content, including music and audiobooks, handpicked for little ones, suitable to take your child through their day, from morning to bedtime.

The platform is a great way for kids to discover a wide range of musical genres and allows parents to control what their children can access. A handy bonus is that, as a parent, you can easily switch between tracks and playlists created for younger or older children.

A Spotify Premium Family account is required to access the Spotify Kids app. Currently, the platform offers a one-month free trial, after which it costs $15.99 a month. The Premium Family plan gives you up to six individual accounts, which is perfect for households with multiple users.

YouTube Kids

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Looking for the best music app for kids that’s suitable for four-year-olds? YouTube Kids could be a great option. This app allows younger children to explore the world of YouTube—including music videos and other content—in a safer, more contained environment. The platform uses a variety of filters, as well as human review and parental feedback, to help ensure children can only access appropriate videos.

The app features lots of tools to help you customize the platform to your kids’ ages and needs, as well as those to limit screen time and block videos as necessary. You’ll also find plenty of resources with advice on how to help your children develop healthy, long-term digital habits.

iHeart Radio Family

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With a roster of over eighty family-friendly digital radio stations on its books, this ad-free platform is a great way for you to enjoy music, sing-alongs, and stories together, either at home, in the car, or on the go. It’s free, parent-approved, and easy to use, ticking all the boxes for an accessible and safe app designed for kids.

The music collections and stations your kids can explore on the iHeart Radio Family app include Disney Resorts Radio, Lullapop, the Winnie the Pooh official playlist, Halloween Radio, and Music Club Kids.

ABC Kids Listen

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This app offers all kinds of listening experiences, from lullabies, bedtime stories, music to move to, and tunes from popular kids’ shows such as The Wiggles, Sesame Street, Playschool, and Giggle and Hoot. You can choose to play live music or enjoy one of the platform’s huge library of programs.

Want a sample of the sort of music your child can discover on ABC Kids Listen? Well, there’s the Bassoon Concerto performed by the Vienna Mozart Academy, Morning Reverie (chilled-out piano music), Lullaby for Nick, from the My First Lullaby album, and the main theme from Cinema Paradiso—and that’s just for starters!

Kinderling Kids Radio

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Kinderling Kids Radio is a music, stories, and educational programs app for kids that has received multiple awards and been created specifically as a way for parents and their children to enjoy music and other content together. Programming is cleverly designed around kids’ days, taking them through from wake-up time to settling down to sleep at night—and everything in between!

For the makers of the Kinderling Kids Radio app, the aim is to give parents a screen-free alternative for their kids that will support getting active in the daytime, relaxing when needed, and winding down at bedtime.

Google Kid Space

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Aimed at children from babyhood up to about the age of nine, Google Kid Space is a vast resource that offers a plethora of high-quality content, including music and music-making features and tools, that is safe and has been designed with children’s curiosity in mind. Whether you’re looking for an app offering music-themed single-player games or for music content that will support your older child’s school learning, you’ll find it on this platform for Android devices.

Beat Bugs: Singalong

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Beat Bugs: Singalong is an interactive music app based on the popular, Emmy Award-winning Beat Bugs kids’ TV show. Each program showcases a much-loved Beatles song, and kids can join in with the app to sing along, move with the music, and engage with their favorite characters from the series.

There are lots of fun features, too: your child can record their voice and play it back, explore over one hundred interactive elements and sounds, and trigger a range of vibrant animated sequences.

Baby Mozart

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Designed to soothe, relax, and inspire babies—and their parents!—the Baby Mozart app is a well-known platform that could even help your little one’s developing brain. As well as chilled-out classical music, you’ll also find children’s songs and white noise (that may help babies and toddlers settle to sleep), as well as features such as listen mode, repeat, and timers.

The app can help calm a baby’s nervous system and promote feelings of calmness and safety, preparing your little one to nap peacefully. Some parents have found that Baby Mozart has even helped with frequent night wakings, therefore ensuring happier mornings all around!

Gabb Music

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If your kids love listening to music, but you’re fed up with having to dash to hit ‘pause’ to skip an expletive, the Gabb Music app could become your new best friend! This app is a safe, clean music streaming service for kids, featuring music from every genre and era as well as all the latest hits.

The creators of the Gabb Music app work with major record labels to create a constantly-updated library of tracks, both old classics and music that’s fresh off the press. The platform currently offers a thirty-day free trial, after which it’s $4.00 a month. It makes Gabb Music an excellent value for money.

Ready to unlock a world of fun and educational content for your kids? Download Kids360 today and give them a safe and engaging digital experience. Don’t miss out on this amazing app—get started now!

Best Music-Making Apps for Kids

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How Parents and Kids Can Connect with Music

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Parents and kids can connect with music in several ways:

1. Firstly, they can listen to music together and explore different genres and artists. This can spark discussions about the lyrics, melodies, and emotions evoked by the songs.
2. Parents can also introduce their favorite music from their own childhood and share stories and memories associated with those songs.
3. Another way to connect with music is through singing and dancing. Families can sing along to their favorite songs, whether it’s in the car, during family gatherings, or at home. Dancing to music together can be a fun and energizing activity that allows parents and kids to express themselves and bond through movement.
4. Additionally, parents can encourage their children to learn to play a musical instrument or take singing lessons if they show interest. This shared pursuit of music can create opportunities for joint practice sessions, performances, and even family jam sessions.
5. Attending concerts, music festivals, or local performances as a family is another way to connect with music. Experiencing live music together can be a memorable and enriching experience, exposing kids to different styles and performers.

Overall, engaging with music as a family can strengthen the parent-child bond, create lasting memories, and foster a shared appreciation for the power and joy of music.

Safety Tips for Using Music Apps

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It’s important to exercise caution regarding any app you allow your child to download and use. To this end, check the age suitability carefully to ensure that any app or software your child will be using is age-appropriate—while also bearing in mind your kid’s unique personality: after all, you know best what they’re ready for and the content that’s most likely to appeal to them.

Regularly review the music playlists or stations created by your child. Ensure that the songs and artists align with your family’s values and that there are no explicit or inappropriate content included. Make adjustments as necessary to maintain a safe and positive music experience.

It’s especially important to be careful regarding any apps or platforms that’ll allow your child to interact with other users online. It’s a good idea to use any parental controls that are present to best keep your child safe and ensure they enjoy a healthy, happy online experience.

The Kids360 app is a great option: it features a range of parental controls and is packed with features and tools to help manage your child’s online activity. If you’re thinking of installing a kids music app for your little one (or bigger one!), you can use Kids360 to monitor their online use, including how long they’re spending on specific apps.

Music Apps for Kids: The Takeaway

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Music can be extremely beneficial for kids and adults alike. Whether it’s creating basic sounds with household objects, learning to play an instrument, or simply listening to music and discovering new genres, music offers endless ways for your child to relax, express themselves, explore, or take on a challenge.

Use our guide above to find the music app that’s a perfect fit for your family, such as Gabb Music, and discover how to ensure your child stays safe while enjoying it.

FAQs

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Is there a kid-safe music app?

If you’re looking for a music app for kids, making sure it’s as safe as possible for your child to use is vital. There are plenty of options available, and you can find our pick above.

Is there a clean music app?

Yes! Some music apps are designed specifically to provide age-appropriate content for children. For example, Gabb Music is a kid-safe music platform that uses advanced filtering technology to screen out songs with explicit lyrics or mature themes. It curates playlists and tracks that are both fun and appropriate, so kids can explore music safely and independently.

Other options like Spotify Kids and YouTube Kids (Music section) also offer carefully selected content tailored for young listeners. These apps typically give parents control over what their children can access and provide peace of mind while fostering a love of music.

What is the best app for kids to listen to music?

The best music app for kids depends on your child’s age and your family’s preferences. For many, Spotify Kids stands out thanks to its curated content and strong parental controls, offering a safe and engaging way for children to explore music. Apps like YouTube Kids and Amazon Kids+ also provide age-appropriate music in a controlled environment, while options such as Gabb Music are ideal for families looking for extra filtering to block explicit content. Ultimately, the best choice balances fun, safety, and ease of use.

What is the best music app for eleven-year-olds?

Street Music Academy is a great app for eleven-year-olds, who will like the contemporary style of the platform and the opportunity to make music using everyday objects.

Is there an app like Spotify for kids?

Spotify Kids is an arm of Spotify that caters specifically to babies, preschoolers, and young children. The platform boasts a huge and ever-changing library of music to stream, as well as audiobooks and more.

Is there a kids’ version of Apple Music?

There is no specific version of Apple Music designed for kids, but there is a family and kids section on the platform where you can find family-friendly music, games, and other content.

How can kids play music without a phone?

If you’re looking to reduce your child’s screen time or simply prefer they don’t use a smartphone, there are several great alternatives for listening to music:

• Dedicated music players. Devices like the Yoto Player or Jooki are designed specifically for kids. They allow children to play music, audiobooks, and even educational content without a screen. These players often use physical cards or tokens to select content, making them fun and tactile for little ones.
• Smart speakers. Devices like the Amazon Echo (with parental controls enabled) can stream playlists from platforms like Spotify Kids or Apple Music. Kids can ask Alexa to play songs using simple voice commands, and parents can set up limits or filters to keep content safe.
• Computers and smart TVs. If your child is supervised, you can play music from streaming apps directly on a desktop, laptop, or smart TV. These options work well during playtime, chores, or wind-down routines.
• CD players or MP3 players. While a bit old-school, portable CD players or MP3 devices can still be a practical, screen-free option for kids, especially for those who enjoy creating their own mixes or listening to audiobooks offline.

These options offer flexible, kid-friendly ways to enjoy music without needing a phone, perfect for fostering independence while keeping tech use intentional.

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