If you have ever wanted to encourage your child to play music but your child simply did not seem interested, there is a different approach you can take. Watch some of the popular video games they play sometime. There are several video game characters that play "magic" instruments that are modeled after very real instruments in this world. By opening a discussion with your child about these video game characters and the instruments the characters play, you may be able to jumpstart your child's curiosity with playing the real instruments. Here is a sampling of those characters and the instruments the characters play, which you can get kids to play by tying the instruments to their favorite video games.

A Certain Elf and an Ocarina

One very popular RPG adventure game features an elf as the main character. This character frequently plays a magical ocarina, but the ocarina itself is not an imaginary instrument. In fact, it is a centuries-old instrument that was often played in the courts of kings. Armed with these facts, and a real ocarina for your child to play, you may be able to encourage him or her to learn this simple, flute- and whistle-like instrument.

A Certain Plumber and a "Warp Whistle"

Playing a much older version of this platform game that involves everyone's favorite plumber character, you and your child may discover that he plays a "warp whistle" at the end of some of the levels. The warp whistle is actually modeled after an Irish tin whistle or recorder, both of which typically use similar musical scales and hole fingerings to product sound while the player blows on one end. If you really want to encourage your child to try playing his or her own "warp whistle," you can buy an Irish tin whistle (which many Irish children learn how to play while herding and keeping sheep). It is the only instrument that is the closest in appearance and sound to the one the plumber character plays, and since learning how to play a tin whistle helps pass the time, you could call it a warp whistle if you really wanted to.

A Certain Gentleman Scientist and a Pan Flute

In a dark and haunting game that engages its players in a world where both magic and science rule equally, a certain gentleman scientist leads your older game-playing children on an adventure for absolute survival. If you have not been able to get your child to play an instrument until now, take heart. This video game character often plays a magic pan flute to get out of trouble. Like the ocarina, a real-life pan flute is not magic, but your child can definitely learn how to play this haunting but simple instrument. 

To learn more about these instruments, visit a local shop that sells musical instruments, such as Wilmington Jewelry & Loan.