Too many kids never get the chance to actually hold a musical instrument, or to try to play one. To actually hold an instrument seems to me to be the first step to getting a child hooked on music, and playing music.
As part of the arts festival, I had with me a ukulele that has a very experimental bracing system of my own design. The instrument looks great, but the experiment did not work out, to say the least. It sounds like a $10 plastic ukulele. Still, I hung it low on the wall with a sign that said “Kids Only” and invited children that passed to come and play. (I did not care what they might do to the instrument). They were all quite gentle, my fears of rough treatment were unfounded, and they had (I think) a good time strumming away. (That is me in the hat giving a quick lesson.)
