KidBeats

The project

KidBeats is a project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union that was created to deepen the understanding of music through research, experimentation and development.

From an early age, music plays an important role in our culture and is involved in many aspects of our lives. Dedicated research in the field of behavioural psychology has, in fact, demonstrated the role of listening to and practising music as factors influencing our brain development.
The KidBeats project has been conceived considering music as an important factor in a child’s growth, to be associated with a technology in step with the 21st century: the aim is to develop an innovative methodology that manages to create a bridge between musicians and the younger generation.
KidBeats involves musicians involved in children’s music and focuses on three pillars: research, experimentation and the production of a musical instrument that allows children to play with sound, considering ecological materials and innovative solutions.

Goals

To achieve the project goals, the KidBeats project brings together an international partnership with Explora:

• music production (GRYLLUS -HU)
• psychology, Behavioral Science (ELTE Babylab – HU)
• environment protection (Hungarian Ornithological Association- HU)
• children centred design (Explora, the Children’s Museum – IT)
• open design and production with 21st century’s digital solutions (HOWEST – BE)
• children’s book publisher – (MÓRA, HU)

Specific aims of the project:

It is already well known that music has a positive impact on a child’s academic performance, helps develop social skills and provides an outlet for creativity, which is crucial for a child’s development. But this is not the only point: music strengthens school skills, including intellectual, social-emotional, motor, language and general literacy skills. In order to preserve the positive effects of music perception, it is essential to ensure that children listen to quality music. For this reason, the project not only defines the methodology for creating children’s music players, but also develops a product designed for children’s music listening with a quality design.