At the Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) we respond to requests from parents, therapists and school teachers to invent new products to help children with brain conditions. Dr Ross Head from CIC explains more:
“We were aware of the amazing therapy enabled by both music, and hydrotherapy, and had a beautiful idea to bridge both disciplines. The headteacher of a local school mentioned that when parents have swimming pool time with their children, they sometimes need suitable toys or entertainment to engage with. Having seen an aquatic circus in the past, she suggested that music or rhythm might be a lovely feature for the pool. We were able to make this idea become a reality and the Floating Music Station was born.
The music station has a soothing Ibo drum, mystical chimes, musical bells, a magical tongue drum, and an atmospheric Ocean Drum. Children with complex conditions such as cerebral palsy might have hydrotherapy sessions to maximise the relaxing effect and support of warm water. The music station gives them something to play, something to reach for, or to grip, a reason to try to stand or swim, or quite simply a relaxing sound experience to enhance their pool time.
The floating music stations were made using brightly coloured closed cell foam and beautifully crafted instruments. The instruments were chosen for their simplicity and beautiful sounds that would enhance an aquatic environment.
We are grateful to Welsh Water and Anthem Wales for choosing to support this innovative project and have been able to supply special education schools across the country with a floating music station which will help many children each year and for years to come.”
The initial feedback from schools has been brilliant:
“It has been such a wonderful experience for them. In particular, our non or pre-verbal pupils have responded particularly well to this addition, and we have noticed that they are vocalising as they hear the sounds that the float can make. Our non-ambulant pupils have enjoyed the sensory experience of touching the chimes and ringing the bells. Often, they rely on adults to assist them with various aspects of their world, but they are able to float and independently make music with just their touch”.
“Our physios have been getting some great arm stretches from the students ringing the bells and we have been working in the pool this morning with a student who is blind, and he had a ball”.
“The kids were absolutely delighted with the instruments. I was so pleased with one of our children who struggles to plan and make accurate movements. She is very wiggly, which is often out of her control, but she was a lot easier to hold in the pool today as she was so focused on making music!
We have a lot of children working on standing and reaching in the water. We have a few children who have fluctuating tone and struggle to plan their movements and these give them a reason to slow down and take more control over their actions whilst being supported by staff in different positions. We also have a few children with visual impairments and having access to sound whilst in the water is amazing. The children with high tone who relax in the water also find it much easier to access these than they would with instruments on land”.
You can learn more about our Innovation Centre and their amazing designs here.