I firmly believe that the best way for young children to learn music is through free, hands-on self-directed play. Formal music lessons can be wonderful for older children but for young children nothing beats exploration and free play.
I made this poster about music play and I think it explains my beliefs about young children and music very well. It got quite a few shares on Facebook and it seems to have struck a chord with people.
Let me expand a little on what I mean by “Music play is play!”:
Play is the fundamental way that children learn and make sense of their world, and music play is simply one of the many forms of play. But what is “play”?
Child's Play Music 