Props can be highly attractive to little children, and when chosen and used with well-thought-out techniques, children can be highly musical with props. Effective props in an early childhood music classroom can include common toys like toddler hammers, which will then stimulate music babble at home with the toy; toys like hoops or pom pons, which little children do not necessarily own, which now can become musical instruments more than toys;  household items that children have very little experience with, which are now introduced as musical instruments (Fly Swatters to swat the resting tone); items like a puppet or fire hat that can encourage make-believe in the context of meter or tonality.

Props to avoid include those that are so well defined outside of the music class that expectations take over, and those that require manipulation skills. Balls fit into both of these categories. Also to be avoided are props that are not exciting to play with, and those that you want used in a particular way that doesn’t appeal to little children.  Bean bags can fit into these categories, as a bean bag, like a ball, is more for tossing, and it takes manipulative skill.  Tapping on bean bags is not exciting for a little child, nor is tapping a bean bag on different parts of the body.  You can get far more mileage out of more imaginative props that capture the imagination as well as the musical imagination.