Sound Play Tools / Instruments for Children's Play: Fostering Cooperation, Movement, and Imagination

Abstract

Playful Percussions is an initiative aimed at designing and crafting percussive sound play tools / instruments for playful engagements, as well as promoting playing with percussion instruments. The project focuses particularly on fostering cooperation, movement, imagination, and overall well-being, especially among children. In today's increasingly individualistic society, there is a significant need for initiatives promoting cooperation, as well as a risk of music becoming overly commodified, neglecting its potential as an immersive participatory experience. The project seeks to explore how percussive sound play tools / instruments can promote cooperation, imagination and movement while inspiring future music-making experiences. It aims to understand the impact of designing ambiguous percussive sound play tools/ instruments with diverse bodily interactions on fostering cooperation and imagination in children. Utilizing observations, co-design investigations, and interviews with children, the project draws inspiration from Reversal Theory to guide the intentional alteration of children's motivational states through percussive sound play interventions. Initial findings suggest that percussive sound play tools / instruments can enhance cooperation, imagination and movement among children, positively influencing their play behaviors and emotional experiences. Recommendations include further exploration of percussive sound play tools / Instruments in various contexts and ongoing collaboration with children to refine design principles, emphasizing the role of music and play in promoting social interaction for building resilient and inclusive communities.