OT Students Design Musical Structure for Playground at TTU CDRC

This past fall, a team of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Allied Health Sciences second-year students in the Master of Occupational Therapy program designed and built an interactive musical structure under the supervision of Michelle Cohen, MA, OTR, TTUHSC assistant professor of occupational therapy, and Cindy Bruington, Texas Tech University CDRC Associate Director. The finished structure is now a permanent fixture used by children at the Texas Tech University Child Development Research Center (CDRC).

The project quickly grew from simply a class project into a meaningful cooperative effort between the two universities to create a structure that would improve the skills and play experience of the children who attend the CDRC.

“The students have to connect with a community organization and do a service-learning project for them,” Cohen said. “It has to be related in some way to occupational therapy and the daily occupations of the group with whom they are working.”

While the student group had several choices for which organization they would complete a project for, each team member believed the CDRC was the perfect place to make an impact.

“We started in August and there were a bunch of different sites we could choose from and we all chose to come here,” said Sharayah Baier, occupational therapy student. “We started with the idea that we would be working on an art easel.”

The team presented a series of ideas to Bruington, who had previously expressed the need at the CDRC for a creative natural play space.

“From a child development perspective, we know how important outdoor play is for children,” Bruington said. “Music and creative expression is not only great for inside, but equally great for outside.”

The team got to work creating plans for the easel and surprised Bruington with the addition of a musical component.

“I’ve always envisioned an art and music center outside on the playground,” Bruington said. “So, that’s where the idea of the art easel came from originally. I wasn’t even thinking that musical instruments would be in the realm of possibilities. When they showed me the pictures, I said that was exactly what I had been dreaming about for a long time.”

The art easel fell out of the plans for a new outdoor creative play area, because there were concerns regarding its durability. The musical instruments, however, soon became a permanent feature for children to play with at the CDRC. Additionally, the team re-installed a feature to the infant-toddler play area that had been lost.

“The sensory trail had been taken up when they were doing some reconstruction of the playground and that was something [Cindy] wanted put back in,” said Kristin Emerson, occupational therapy student. “She hadn’t had the time or the resources to do that yet. We drafted plans then to put the sensory trail back in. “

The sensory trail is a pathway consisting of varying colored stone and concrete. Crossing the trail requires children to engage with a variety of surface heights and textures.

“While children are developing and learning new things, sensory input helps the child organize the information,” said Lauren Vacendak, an occupational therapy student. “That is why the sensory trail was important.”

Experts in childhood development agree that presenting challenges to children as they explore the world increases confidence and the capacity to solve problems.

“The different textures and heights on the sensory trail, even though they are insignificant to us as adults, are huge to those kids who are just learning to walk,” Bruington said. “It’s incredibly important for them to have those challenges. It builds confidence and problem-solving skills when they can work through it on their own.”

Combined, the two newly constructed features at the CDRC create an inviting place for infants, toddlers and preschoolers to gain new sensory experiences. The CDRC is already noticing other ways in which the play structures are improving quality of play for kids.

“There’s one child who has difficulty in socialization with her peers in the classroom, but out on the musical playground, I’ve seen her initiate play with other kids,” Bruington said. “One day she played alongside other children for over twenty minutes. She was so involved in the confidence of what she was doing. That was great to see in her, because we don’t always see it in the classroom.”

Bruington believes that some children have a natural tendency to express themselves more confidently through music and many children lose creative inhibitions by going outside. That is why introducing music to the children on the playground at CDRC was such a huge benefit.

“Because of the open-endedness of outdoor play, you see children experiencing a whole new realm of creative thinking,” Bruington said. “Music, in general, draws children out and lets them naturally express what they are feeling, and builds confidence.”

The TTUHSC occupational therapy students are pleased that the children have embraced the new playground features. Because social abilities and confidence are closely related to development, the team knows its impact goes well beyond play.

“As occupational therapists, we are focused on broadening potential in whatever occupation it is,” said Kayla Landers, an occupational therapy student. “For children, play is their primary occupation. We were really wanting to give them different experience out there on the playground and give them an opportunity to engage with their peers in play, as well as experience the sensory information.”

Many of the students recognized that the structure was of particular help for children with developmental delays that prohibited them from speaking to their peers. The musical playground gave these children an opportunity to coordinate and communicate with other children, despite any speech or language barrier.

“Occupational therapists take the occupation, which is whatever someone needs to do and wants to do to have a meaningful life, and help them do that thing well,” Emerson said. “For children, they need to be able to socialize, and the music structure provided a means in which the child could do that.”

The occupational therapy team and the CDRC staff have all enjoyed seeing children interact with the new structure.

“On the day of the unveiling, the little boys immediately started playing ‘Fight, Raiders, Fight,’” Cohen said. “That was fun to see.”

Returning back provided the occupational therapy students an opportunity to see how much the structures had benefited the children at the CDRC.

“On the first day children were on the sensory trail, some of the little ones were stumbling,” said Kit Herrington, occupational therapy student. “Today, I saw one of the same little boys and he never fell.”

Since the musical playground and sensory trail have been so impactful, the CDRC has expanded its plan for the use of the structures. In the future, the classes may develop full lesson plans around the musical instruments.

“The teachers are even talking about planning some individualized experiences to go along with the music structure, such as having a marching band, taking musical instruments outside to go along with it or maybe having a sing-along,” Bruington said. “There are definitely some things that are in the works.”

Additional support and assistance for the CDRC playground construction were provided by Texas Tech University Building and Grounds, Tractor Supply Co. and O’Tool Industries.