# B-AIR Art Infinity Radio. Creating sound art for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia

Sunčica Milosavljević, Jelena Stojanović, Saška Rakef, Nicolas Rémy, Nicolas Tixier, Jul Mcoisans, Cédric Pichat, Evangelia Paxinou, Sébastien de Pertat, Théo Marchal, et al.

► To cite this version:

Sunčica Milosavljević, Jelena Stojanović, Saška Rakef, Nicolas Rémy, Nicolas Tixier, et al. B-AIR Art Infinity Radio. Creating sound art for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia. Radio and Television of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia; AAU_CRESSON, Centre de recherche sur l'espace sonore et l'environnement urbain, ENSA de Grenoble, Universite Grenoble Alpes; BAZAART ResPRESENTative Association in Culture, Belgrade, Serbia; Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia; International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Public media institution Radio and Television of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia; RadioTeatar Bajsic and Friends, Zagreb, Croatia; TWIXTlab AMKE, Athens, Greece; University of Eastern Finland / UEF. 2023, pp.440. hal-04809626

HAL Id: hal-04809626

https://hal.science/hal-04809626v1

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B-AIR Art Infinity Radio

Creating sound art for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups

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Co-funded by the
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
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# B-AIR Art Infinity Radio

## Creating sound art for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Finland | France | Greece | Serbia | Slovenia

Belgrade, Serbia, 2023
B-AIR Partnership:

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RADIO
TELEVIZIJA
SLOVENIJA

Radiotelevizija Slovenija / RTV SLO
Radio and Television of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia

E
NS/
AG
ECOLE
NATIONALE SUPÉRIÉURIE
D'ARCHITECTURE
DE GRENOBLE

AAU_CRESSON, Centre de recherche sur l'espace sonore et l'environnement urbain,
ENSA de Grenoble, Université Grenoble Alpes
AAU_CRESSON, Centre for soundspace and urban environment studies, School of Archi-
tecture of Grenoble, University Grenoble Alpes, France

5A3Art²

BAZAART Reprezentativno udruženje u kulturi
BAZAART Respresentative Association in Culture, Belgrade, Serbia

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Jožef Stefan
Institute
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Institut „Jožef Stefan“ / IJS
Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

IBU

International
Burch
University

Internacionalni Burch Univerzitet / IBU
International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

PTC

Javni medijski servis Radio Televizija Srbije / RTS
Public media institution Radio and Television of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia

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RadioTeatar Bajsic i prijatelji
RadioTeatar Bajsic and Friends, Zagreb, Croatia

twixt lab

TWIXTlab AMKE, Athens, Greece

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University of Eastern Finland / UEF
ITA-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO, Kuopio, Finland

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Illustration by Manca Kok

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# Contents

**About the project B-AIR** .................................................................................... 9
Sunčica Milosavljević

**About the eBook** .................................................................................................... 11
Jelena Stojanović, Sunčica Milosavljević

## Chapter I:

### ART OF SOUND AND THE CHILDHOOD

**The sound and musical landscapes of humanity: Radio, musical and everyday sonority as we enter life** .................................................................................................................. 14
Rajko Muršič

### RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SLOVENIA

#### Creating radio plays for babies and toddlers

**Shall we listen – can we hear? Reflection on the B-AIR radio plays for babies, toddlers, and vulnerable groups** ........................................ 23
Ana Obreza

**The art of building a relationship: Creating radio plays for babies and toddlers** ... 29
Lia Katarina Kompan Erzar

**“Musical Kitchen” – Libretto** .................................................................................. 37
Tajda Lipicer, Alenja Pivko Knežević

**“Musical Kitchen” – Graphical score** ................................................................. 40
Tajda Lipicer, Alenja Pivko Knežević

**Interpretative and didactic potentials of the radio play “Musical Kitchen”** ................................. 44
Katarina Zadnik

**Radiophonic plays as a sound environment to stimulate infants’ and toddlers’ psychological flow** .................................................................................. 47
Katarina Habe

**“Chitter-Chatter” – Libretto** .................................................................................. 52
Irena Pivka, Brane Zorman

**“Chitter-Chatter” – Description for adults** ................................................................. 55
Irena Pivka, Brane Zorman

**Interpretative and didactic potentials of the radio play “Chitter-Chatter”** ................................. 58
Katarina Zadnik

**Allow yourself to wonder and (re)connect: Some thoughts while listening to radio plays “Sea”, “Chitter-Chatter”, “Musical Kitchen” and the concert “So Quiet”** .................................................................................. 60
Zalka Drglin

**“Sea” – Libretto** .................................................................................................................. 65
Saška Rakef

**Interpretative and didactic potentials of the radio play “Sea”** .................................................. 70
Katarina Zadnik

**The sea of emotions: Restoring the world in art and life** .................................................. 74
Lia Katarina Kompan Erzar

#### Composing music for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups

**Redefining music, space, and audiences: Creating new symphony orchestra pieces for babies, toddlers, and vulnerable groups** ........................ 77
Primož Trdan

**What about the music? Musicological Notes on Symphonic Concerts for Babies and Toddlers** .................................................. 79
Urška Rihtaršič

**“So Quiet” – Symphony Orchestra composition for infants and babies** .................................................. 89
Larisa Vrhunc

### RADIOTEATAR, Croatia

**Radiophonic theatre plays for children** ................................................................. 95

**Children as soundmakers in radiophonic theatre plays** ................................................................. 96

**“The Tree that Sang” and “Wars of the Worlds” – pedagogical approach** ................................. 101

**Children as explorers in a sound adventure** ................................................................. 111
Ana Čorić

**“Eco Hooligan and Petrica Puh”** .................................................................................. 118
Pavlica Bajsić Brazzoduro

**“Earlet the Gnome and the Mysterious Door” – pedagogical approach** ................................. 119
Ana Čorić

**“Earlet the Gnome and the Mysterious Doors” – Riddles** ................................................................. 124
Biserka Vučković

### BAZAART, Serbia

**Creating art for young audiences in synergy of pedagogues and artists** ................................. 127

**“Welcome of the World”** .................................................................................. 129
Sunčica Milosavljević

**What exactly do we do when we make theatre for children? Involvement of a pedagogue in artistic creation** .................................................................................. 133
Nevena Mitranić Marinković

**Learning Dispositions at the age of 3 to 5 years** ................................................................. 140
Nevena Mitranić Marinković

**“Welcome of the World”: An open script for artists and a collection of interactive stories for children** .................................................. 143
Bogdan Španjević

**How I got to know my inner child while talking to the Wind** ................................................................. 145
Irena Popović

**About the child and the world: Theatre production “WOW!”** ................................................................. 149
Sunčica Milosavljević

**WOW!** ................................................................................................................................. 150
Miha Golob

**Learning from a feather: Drama workshop scenario** ................................................................. 152
Nataša Milojević, Sunčica Milosavljević

**Creative drama and dance pedagogy in the social-emotional learning of children** ................................. 158
Sunčica Milosavljević

**Translating pedagogical inputs into a creative text: Writing a radio play for young audiences** ................................................................. 163
Bogdan Španjević

**Process drama and creative movement in preschool children education** .................................................. 164
Nataša Milojević

### RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SERBIA

**Creating radio dramas for babies, toddlers and vulnerable children** ................................. 170
Nikoleta Dojčinović

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**Sound territories of childhood:**
Radio Drama Department production of radio shows for the B-AIR project .................................... 171
Vesna Perić

**Lyrical possibilities of two pianos –**
Bathing in sound.................................................................................................................. 176
Nikoleta Dojčinović

**WORD... AND... – Development of language**
in babies and children .................................................................................................... 178
Vesna Ćorović Butrić

## Chapter II: AUDIBILITY – APPROACHING DEAF EXPERIENCE(S) WITH SOUND ART

**TWIXTlab AMKE, Greece**
**To Audibility and beyond** .................................................................................................... 185
Yorgos Samantas

**Audibility: Cross-disciplinary approaches on scientific research, education & pedagogy, and social intervention, through artistic creation...** 186
Yorgos Samantas, Dana Papachristou

**Sound art beyond hearing: participatory art in schools for deaf and hard of hearing**

**Pedagogical approaches on deaf (sound) art education** .................................................................................. 191
Dana Papachristou

**UNICORN, sound installation** .................................................................................................... 195
Tatiana Remoundou

**IMMATERIAL BODIES, sound installation**.................................................................................. 197
Lambros Pigounis

**Vibro-tactility 'on Air'**
**Tangible Radio – Class on Air** ........................................................................................ 200
Yorgos Samantas, Dana Papachristou

**FLYING WITH RADIO, radiophonic workshops...** 202
Kalliopi Takaki

**CRAFTING THE TANGIBLE RADIO**.................................................................................... 204
prototype design by Petros Flambouris

**Performing diversity**
**Performing diversity: Audibility in the Greek National Opera**................................................................................ 208
Yorgos Samantas

**Paradoxes of normalities** .................................................................................................... 210
Dana Papachristou

**Residency Program** .................................................................................................................. 211

**Credits and acknowledgements**.................................................................................................. 213

## Chapter III: SONIC REMEMBERING

**UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND | INTERNATIONAL BURCH UNIVERSITY, Bosnia and Herzegovina | B-AIR TEAMS**

**Sonic remembering: Recreation of life** .................................................................................. 215
Helmi Järviluoma

**European Evening of Sounds**

**European Evening of Sounds** .................................................................................................... 218
Heikki Uimonen

**FINLAND: European Evening of Sounds** .................................................................................. 220
Jukka Mikkola

**SERBIA: European Evening of Sounds** .................................................................................. 223
Nikoleta Dojčinović

**SLOVENIA: Evenings of Sounds** .................................................................................................... 225
Saška Rakef

**How did your childhood sound?** .................................................................................................... 226
Mojca Delač

**Sound memories of childhood**.................................................................................................... 227
Blaž Mihelič

**Evenings of sounds – to hear your life again** ................................................................................ 228
Lia Katarina Kompan Erzar

**Soundscape of war**

**Sound Lifeline** ........................................................................................................................ 233
Lejla Odobašić Novo

## Chapter IV: SOUNDART AND MEDICINE

**RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SLOVENIA | B-AIR TEAMS**

**Music as contributing factor to better healthcare in Slovenia:**
**Experiences from the B-AIR project** ................................................................................ 241
Manca Kok, Ana Kuder, Saška Rakef, Igor M. Ravnik

**Music in work with children with autism**

**Innovative approaches to teaching music to children with autism spectrum disorders** .................................... 251
Manca Kok, Katarina Kurtjak

**Reflection on the artwork “Faces of Autism”: Creating and teaching music to children with ASD** .................................................................................................... 260
Katarina Kurtjak

**Reflection on the research and artistic process**.................................................................................................... 263
Manca Kok

**Music and Parkinson's disease**

**Musical interventions for patients with Parkinson's disease: a pilot project with a survey and a music-based improvisation workshop** .................................................................................................... 265
Ana Kuder, Jaka Škapin, Manca Kok

**Hospital Radio**

**Hospital Radio** ........................................................................................................................ 275
Saška Rakef Perko

**“Kaja must go to a hospital”, Excerpt from the radio drama** ................................................................................ 276
Janja-Hana Jamnikar, Andrej Adamek

**Testing radio play in children hospitals** .................................................................................... 278
Ana Čorić

**“Together”** ................................................................................................................................. 282
Yorgos Samantas, Dana Papachristou

## Chapter V: AMBIANCE: SOUND AMBIANCES

**AAU_CRESSON, France | B-AIR TEAMS**

**How does the world sound** .................................................................................................... 286
Nicolas Tixier, Nicolas Rémy

**Walter Benjamin, the radio and the childhood**

**How can we make the world sound** .................................................................................................... 289

**Walter Benjamin, the Radio and the Childhood – Walking, Listening, Talking** .................................... 290
Nicolas Tixier

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## Vulnerability and listening

Winter Schools 293

Winter School 2021: Vulnerabilities and sounds, the experience of listening 294
Sebastien De Pertat, Théo Marchal, Evangélia Paxinou, Nicolas Rémy

Winter School 2022: Sound Spaces in waiting 296
Théo Marchal, Evangelia Paxinou, Nicolas Rémy

Winter School 2023: Density, intensity, diversity: how does the living sound? 299
Giuseppe Gavazza, Nicolas Tixier

## How does the world sound?
Composing the sound / with the sounds

B-AIR DAYS 301

B-AIR Days 2022: How does the world sound?
Composing the sound / with the sounds 302

B-AIR Days 2023: How does the world sound to our ears and how it might sound tomorrow? 304
Giuseppe Gavazza

## Sympathy Radio

FM95,2 Sympathy Radio 307

Sympathy Radio in Action 309
Evangelia Paxinou, Nicolas Rémy

## Radio Utopia: News from the world

B-AIR project at the 18th Venice International Architecture Biennale 2023 313

Radio Utopia, le bal des sonorités 314

Radio Utopia, 150 News from the World, "City of Architecture", Paris 319

How does the world sound? Sound experiments and public compositions 320
Nicolas Tixier

"Radio Wega" 321
Giuseppe Gavazza

"Losonnante" 322
Sebastien De Pertat

"Tarots" 327
Giuseppe Gavazza

In between Kids Words 329
Jul McOisans

## Public creations and interventions at the 18th Venice International Architecture Biennale 2023

"Sound Volumes" 331
Julien Clauss

"The Sirens of Drac River" 333
AAU_Cresson Quintet: Sebastien Depertat, Marc Higgin, Théo Marchal, juL McOisans, Cédric Pichat

"No One Can Get Used to It" 336
Perrine Poupin

"The Sound that Remains" 337
Ona Balló Pedragosa

Recording "The Sound that Remains" 339
Tim Ingold, Interview by Peter Loovers, adapted by Marc Higgin

"Etoiles" 341
Nicolas Frize

"By Heart, the Sound that Stays" 342
Monica Fantini

"Where the Clams Sing" 343
Didier Tallagrand

"Hearing of Cities – Story of a Public Listener" 344
Nicolas Frize

## Soundwalks – Experiencing Sound Spaces and Narratives

Soundwalk composition: Narratives, soundscapes and maps in 'augmented aurality' applications 346
Dana Papachristou

"The End of an Era" – Audiowalk composition 349
Yorgos Samantas, Dana Papachristou

RadioWalks 350

Radiowalk for Benjamin 351

Soundwalks with students 353
Pavlica Bajsić Brazzoduro

# Chapter VI: DOCUMENTARIES STEP AHEAD

## RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SLOVENIA

"Journey at the edge of the night" 355

Complicity of the blind and the radio 356
Evgen Bavčar

Journey at the edge of the night that has changed my day(s) 359
Mojca Delač

For more radio journeys at the edge of the night! 361
Luka Hvalc

"The Whisper of Memories" 363

Soundscapes and sonic sensibilities in Loška Valley 364
Katarina Juvančič

Library of sounds: Towards deep listening with and within the community 383
Ana Čorić

# Chapter VII: EVALUATING AUDIO WORKS FOR THE YOUNG AND THE VULNERABLE

## B-AIR TEAMS

Evaluating audio works 390

Development and testing of a qualitative methodology for the evaluation of artistic audio works for infants and toddlers 391
Katarina Habe, Katarina Zadnik and
Lia Katarina Kompan Erzar

Audibility: evaluation of an artwork as an assemblage of materials, concepts, and relations 411
Dana Papachristou, Yorgos Samantas

Arts-based and game-based evaluation 415
Ana Čorić

# Chapter VIII: AIR CHANNEL

## "JOŽEF STEFAN" INSTITUTE, Slovenia | RADIO AND TELEVISION OF SLOVENIA

Abstract Infinity Radio (AIR) 425
Jona Jan Javoršek, Miha Valenčič,
Joh Dokler, Gregor Pirš

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<figure><img src="image_16.png" /><figcaption>Symphonic concert for babies
and toddlers, RTV Slovenia
Symphony Orchestra,
conductor Steven Loy
Photo by Adrian Pregelj</figcaption></figure>

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# About the project B-AIR

In the world dominated by fast visual overstimulation, the contemporary expressiveness in the medium of sound, equally in terms of radio and sound art creativity, faces serious challenges, especially when embracing modern technologies and obtaining new audiences.

The B-AIR project started as an initiative to revive sound-based creativity and communication with young and many other audiences through new knowledge, artistic content and technological formats.

In order to encourage innovative production, the project established a partnership forming a collaborative platform for experimental artistic, scientific and technological research, production and outreach to new audiences. The partner network includes national radio broadcasters, universities, research institutes, creative artists' associations, also collaborating with children's hospitals and nursing homes, cultural institutions and schools, thus connecting artists, experts, researchers, radio workers and other professionals from across the disciplines with beneficiaries and audiences.

Through the network, new models of research and production were created for babies, small children, the elderly, vulnerable groups as well as for general audiences, followed by innovative instruments

for assessing the real importance of scientific and artistic work in regard to social integration and inclusion, empowerment and education, support to families and individuals in the course of lifelong development.

## Radio and beyond

From first programs for children produced by Walter Benjamin in late 1920s, radio became a place par excellence for artistic creation, but also social cohesion and integration and global connecting, meetings, exchange and cooperation of people from many different places around the world.

The B-AIR project can be seen as an epitome of the same basic idea of connection and co-creation.

We did this in different ways. By removing geographical boundaries and barriers between aesthetic philosophies of different spaces; by connecting intriguing sound-based artistic and research practices; by abolishing the fence between 'artistic' and 'ordinary' practices; by moving high-quality sound art from concert venues to communities and implementing it in everyday life experience (from participatory sound artworks, created together with children or people in the community to narrative art stories); by involving often neglected groups of

listeners such as children and the elderly in the creation and mediation processes; by popularizing contemporary sound and introducing those who are not aware of these possibilities to the fact that they can all contribute; by focusing on the effects that sound-based artistic content has on cognitive, emotional and personal development of a person from an early age; by directing the process of musical education in the direction of creative freedom and socialization that the art of sound can offer to everyone, not only those who possess certain cultural capital, or are recognized as 'artists'.

## From research to creation and beyond

The project combined two main principles: Research-to-create and Create-to-research.

Departing from the first principle, researchers examined various aspects of the effects that the sound can make on human life and its eco systems. Scientific findings inspired creation across art fields, appearing in the myriad of single-media and multimedia artworks and events.

Along the second, complementary principle, intuitive artistic creation generated the material for researchers to explore processes, some of them insufficiently observed, such as

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cultural formation, social integration and inclusion, healing, learning and numerous other phenomena enabled by the reception and creation of sound (and) art in a wide range of project target groups.

This interrelation of the research and creation principles resulted in the intensive dialogue of artists and scientists, often conducted in interdisciplinary tandems or groups embedded in most partners' project frameworks. Many new insights were born from this dynamic relationship, immensely raising the capacities of all who were involved in it, and opening the gates for art and science of tomorrow, which will undoubtedly be evolving in the endless area of cross-disciplinarity.

Another innovative and important step was to establish new ways of evaluating artistic creation, specifically through the prism of audiences. Based on the works produced within the project, researchers-consultants invented participatory, arts-based and game-based procedures for assessing the real impact of artistic experiences on personal and social development of audiences of all ages involved in project activities. Tested in relevant settings, the new evaluation method cultural, academic, research and practitioners' institutions, associations and platforms, as well as to the general public, on radio waves, in magazines, conferences, symposia, festivals, exhibitions... The newly created knowledge and experiences were thus passed on to the communities of creators, practitioners and researchers, as well as to the citizens of Europe, as part of the process of raising awareness about the power of sound to support human wellbeing.

## The change and beyond

One of the main theoretical and empirical findings of the project relates to the potential of sound to act as a social and cultural agent in societies. Connections through sound in human and more-than-human communication, and co-creation of meanings through dialogue, delineate the field for further research and artistic activism in projects to follow.

To assist families. To develop empathy. To facilitate humanistic education. To enhance care and openness. To build communities. To consolidate societies. To protect the world.

By speaking, singing, playing... and above all – by listening.

Because the ear – the hearing organ – is the first of our senses to develop; and the last one to cease when we die.

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Dear Reader,

In this eBook we are proudly presenting the summarised experiences of nine partner organisations from across Europe, working together for three exciting years on developing the project „B-AIR Art Infinity Radio: Creating sound art for babies, toddlers and vulnerable groups”.

The purpose of the book is to convey the learning from the project, relevant for researchers, artists and practitioners wishing to explore and apply sound art in its many intersections with life and society.

Striving to meet many readers, the contributions in the book follow two main lines – ‘Research-to-Create’ and ‘Create-to-Research’ – which were the guiding principles in our project work. The content of the book is hence also twofold, comprising the theoretical and artistic reflections and creations.

The book is divided in eight sections corresponding to wider themes treated by one or more partners. Within the chapters, further distinctions have been made by specific topics.

From exploring sound art for/with children and vulnerable groups, to reimagining the radio of 21st century, numerous professionals from various scientific and artistic fields gave their contribution to the project and this publication in the following chapters:

I **Art of Sound and the Childhood:** This large section features presentations and examples of radiophonic, music and performative artworks dedicated to children of early age and their caregivers. Four partners, each from a specific angle, explored the significance of sound, music and radio art in the development of the youngest: Radio and Television of Slovenia, RadioTeatar from Croatia, the BAZAART Association from Serbia and Radio and Television of Serbia.

II **Audibility: Approaching Deaf Experience(s) with Sound Art:** Through scientific and self-reflexive perspective, the TWIXTlab researchers and creators from Greece outline the processes of fostering creative participation of Deaf and Hard-of-hearing persons in music and sound art.

III **Sonic Remembering:** Exploring the nature and the power of sonic memories through radio and sound art, four partners worked on interlocking past and present, aiming at attaining wellbeing of vulnerable groups – seniors and war victims – and wide audiences and building European heritage through sounds: the University of Eastern Finland, Radio and Television of Slovenia, Radio and Television of Serbia, and the International Burch University from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IV **Sound Art and Medicine:** This section collects experiences of the work dedicated to studying therapeutic potentials of sound art, music and radio with hospitalised children, children with ASD and persons coping with Parkinson disease, carried out by the Radio and Television of Slovenia and the RadioTeatar from Croatia.

V **Sound Ambiances:** Researchers affiliated to the CRESSON research centre of the ENSAG, University Grenoble Alpes, France, explored the urban ambiances through sounds, using the concept of sonic effect both for description and creation. Activities ranging from seminars to artistic experimentation, also in exclusive contexts such as the French Pavilion at the 18th Venice International Architecture Biennale 2023, are presented. A segment about Soundwalks is contributed by the TWIXTlab and RadioTeatar.

VI **Documentaries Step Ahead:** Experimental documentary works joining scientists and artists with communities and subliming many project areas of interest, carried out by the Radio and Television of Slovenia teams, are introduced in this section.

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**VII Evaluating Audio Works for the Young and the Vulnerable:** In this chapter we present the interactive approaches and practices developed by the Radio and Television of Slovenia, TWIXTlab from Greece and the RadioTeatar from Croatia, with an aim of establishing scientific and practical methodologies for evaluating artistic outcomes, specifically in sound art.

**VIII AIR Channel:** One of the initial elements of the B-AIR project – devising the radio of the 21st century – is thoroughly described by the Institute “Jožef Stefan” and the Radio and Television of Slovenia. This chapter closes the book, as a long-lasting statement of this project and a reminder of the significance of sound art.

Many papers on research and creative processes, methods, practices, and evaluations, artistic statements, illustrations as well as entire artworks and productions are included in this publication for you to explore.

For any further inquiries and interests you might develop through the course of reading, contact information, references, and external links to more detailed sources are provided.

<figure><img src="image_21.png" /><figcaption>"The Tree that Sang", RadioTeatar, Zagreb, Croatia. Photo by Mia Cvitković</figcaption></figure>

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ART OF SOUND AND
THE CHILDHOOD

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# HUMANITY AND ITS SOUNDS AND MUSICAL LANDSCAPES: RADIO FOR THE LITTLE ONES

*"We live in a world of waves. Our ears perceive waves of compression and expansion in the air: we call it 'hearing'."* (Stewart, 2012, p. 131)

Radio is a sound medium. After millennia of domination of the visual medium (with written text and images; cf. Berendt, 1988), it was radio that, more than a century ago in the Western world, revitalized and restored the experience of oral communication to the forefront of the common human experience of the world. The first mass electronic medium of modern times, radio has shaped completely new spatial and social contexts of the formation of human communities (see, e. g., Ong, 2012).

Television as a medium has created a completely new collective experience of communication, in which images, sounds and text intertwine. Yet, these types of media communication can never merge completely into one. This is also evident in modern online media, which, despite certain forms of crossing media practices (for example, when sending short messages and composing messages from images and text, and here and there from audio recordings as well), actually promote the separation between image and audio communication, while the text inscription works outside both.

Despite conflicting expectations and feelings, the media have so far not merged into some new communication medium. This also applies to digitality. Digital media are also accompanied by the same problem as analogue media. In fact, digital is only

a form of encoding information when it is transmitted and stored (on digital, see Manovich, 2002; Miller, 2020), while for users the way of receiving and transmitting information in any kind of media communication is still primarily sensual, if not entirely so.

As sentient beings, we perceive only (analogue) images, sounds and other objects of perception. That is why the sound is completely or at least sufficiently autonomous in online media to conjure up different community feelings from those dictated by print or image. As a purely sound medium, radio acts in the same registry as voice and music: in the physical-affective and cognitive, but at the same time each sound communication at the moment of happening directly connects the listeners. These connections are established by the medium synchronously, but also asynchronously, thus forming communities and social ties.

Radio is a medium that establishes specific forms of community. Its meaning is much deeper than we usually attribute it to it. It is not only an omnipresent and self-evident companion of modern everyday life (in the form of mobile phones), but remains a fundamental tool for the creation of any kind of modern community. Today's radio no longer works only synchronously, as it was until recently, but also asynchronously, with podcasts. There is

no need for fear that in the 21st century, radio as the first electronic mass medium will die due to the extreme prevalence of online media: every device connected to a wireless network is a radio. Today, radio is actually omnipresent. Therefore, the question of how to welcome and greet the little ones in this medium is somewhat late.

The radio of the present addresses all segments of listeners, except those who are just entering life, who are forgotten time and time again. Well, not entirely, of course. It depends on the age of the children. Parts of the radio program have always been intended for them as well. In Radio Slovenia, the famous radio theme music for the bedtime fairy-tale has been with us for several generations and it doesn't seem like anyone wants to update it. But among the youngest, however, there is an age group which is overlooked, which cannot yet listen to an evening fairy-tale because they have not yet entered the magical world of words. We are talking about babies and toddlers who are very receptive to sound and play, but we simply do not know how to address them in a purely sonorous medium.

Here are some thoughts and ideas for designing radio programmes and music-sound events specifically for babies and toddlers.

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## The omnipresence of sound and the omniabsence of its serious treatment

From its very creation, human life happens among sounds and with sounds. The sound is physical and touches our body, partly infiltrating us. From the very birth, and already before it, sounds touch the babies' bodies. The sounds of music, marked by the very intention of becoming music (see Muršič, 1993), enter bodies and open them to meaning. Anthropologically speaking, and also biologically, sounds are an experiential constant. And so is the noise and silence while taking care of the babies in common rituals: noise drives away dangers, silence obtains tranquillity. Mastering the world of sound defines us as a species.

Adults can no longer put themselves in the shoes of babies – in fact, even toddlers can no longer do this once they speak, because the key step for joining human culture is marked by entering the symbolic field by speaking. But this step, which then extends to the whole learning life of each of us, is preceded by a relatively long period of different, non-symbolic communion between parents, other people and the youngest children. Parents work hard to identify their babies' needs (“Why is she crying? Is he hungry? Does something hurt her? Is he bored?”), babies are slowly learning the rhythmic routine of everyday life, because there is “no rhythm without repetition in time and space, without reprises, without returns, in short without ‘measure’ [*mesure*]” (Lefebvre, 2013, p. 16).

From very birth, with each newborn individually we learn to recognize their gestures and actions. This is a period of intense mutual learning that takes place through clearly routined and repetitive actions (bathing, eating, sleeping...), but also

through the unpredictable surprises of everyday life (accepting a new toy, visits, walks in previously completely unfamiliar places...). By the time the child verbalizes their experience, mutual learning happens through improvisation and play and situational recognition.

The most important rhythm that a child learns with others is the change of day and night, the rhythm of being awake and asleep, which at first completely deviates from this rhythm of adults. Everyday rhythms are diverse and they connect together the whole of our lives: not only the steps when we walk, or heartbeats (that always make us sleepy), but also the rhythms of resting, eating and excretion. Together we co-create the rhythm of the entire living.

From the very beginning of our existence, sound directs us to experience space and time, and by moving through both, it inevitably confronts us with others who move in the space-time. Sound and light are just two among the multitude of communication media of the human being with the world, but they mark us more than air and its components, water and its features, objects we touch, and the space we move through.

Unlike light, the absence of which can be experienced, if we can hear, we cannot experience the absence of sound, no matter how deafening the silence at some moment may appear. Darkness can be a source of anxiety and fear in our daily experience, especially at an early age; while silence can be experienced as true bliss. We experience darkness in artificial, created, built spaces; it occurs every time we turn off the light. Silence is sought elsewhere and can be understood primarily or simply as the absence of disturbing sounds. Silence is natural, darkness is artificial. The night

in nature is never completely dark because of the stars, even when it is pitch black. A deaf night endows us with silence.

This is the environment in which we live, the space-time into which the youngest enter. What seems self-evident and natural to adults is new to the youngest, worth testing and curiosity – not-yet-shaped and not-yet-finalized. It is a shared space of communication that needs to be clearly distinguished from other spaces and environments. We do not know with certainty when and in what way human sound perception develops, but we do know that it begins already in the womb. At first a mechanical door of perception opens, affecting the whole being in the making. After the birth, we can observe in a newborn how spontaneously connections between distinct segments of perception are formed and how organically their synchronisation occurs in the entire system of perception, i.e. appearance. This does not just happen biologically and idiosyncratically.

From the first physical contacts during and after birth, a new form of communication begins for the newborn: with the first touches, looks and sounds, social communication begins and with it the inter-personal coordination of perception. First, a child aligns itself with the closest others, who are in this aspect the truly significant others, then with the rest of the others, and finally with the generalised others. With their later entry into symbolic communication, toddlers also begin to learn the experiences of those with whom they have not been and will never be in direct contact: with their ancestors and with everyone else who has ever been involved in human symbolic communication in any way, regardless of social, temporal and spatial distance from the newborn.

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Once people speak, there is no turning back: the preverbal, pre-symbolic life closes forever. Symbolic communication, that is, verbal storytelling, with which a meaningful narrative can be conveyed to the child, never ends in life. And it is this part of the human experience, before the moment the little ones speak, that remains an almost completely unknown land for speakers, of which we no longer have any direct memory.

## Between lullabies and fairy tales

It is the stereotypical notion that we perform music for toddlers and babies only (or above all) to put them to sleep. Yes, of course, sound has an effect on the human body, its repetition even more. Lullabies are an extremely important part of the earliest encounter of newborns with songs and music, but they are far from the only type of music that accompanies toddlers and children into the social world. The social world is also the sound world. Whatever is social – other people we meet and face – makes noise. It touches us, even if we do not hear it.

Lullabies calm and put children to sleep, but not only that. Lullabies socialise them, along with any other thing other people do, from the very beginning of life. They integrate them into the entire sound environment of others, even if, at the first effect of falling asleep, they in fact exclude them from actual reality into the world of sleep. But even in sleep there is no silence: in sleep, everyday sounds and noise touch us. Lullabies unfold another important dimension: they introduce toddlers into the specific human sound environment of voice and omnipresent and targeted speech (see, for example, Clayton, 2008). The human environment is, above all, the environment of the human voice and the environment of the immediate household and its surroundings.

Nowadays, these sounds are joined by artificial sounds: from beeping devices in the maternity hospital to devices in everyday use, clocks and audio accessories in traffic. Today's newborns have also been accompanied from the very beginning by the sounds of media: radio, television and digital devices. Also in these media, the main ways of entering the human world remain speaking, singing and playing music. It is in this period of life that music is much more important than it seems.

For a baby, all sounds are important. Making meaning of them is neither a mandate of adults, nor of children, but everyone's doing. That is why it makes sense to prepare sound compositions for the youngest children. In the same way that we include them in our world by playing and performing a wide variety of music, by speaking which does not address them directly, and by activities in which they only passively participate (driving in a stroller or wearing clothes), we must also invite them into society through art. Since the infants openly accept any natural and environmental sounds, it is all the more challenging to put these natural, artificial and musical sounds into some meaningful form that will attract both their parents and the little ones. Making meaning of sounds leads us either to music or to words.

## Music and musical socialization

Music is much more than just another human practice among the diverse social practices in which we humans engage. Namely, music touches us (literally) on different levels of our very being. First, it touches us physically. We see this most clearly in toddlers, who spontaneously respond to repetition, rhythm and sound with their bodies: by moving, by dancing, with a very special enthusiasm, with which they show how they want to break out of their self-evident here and now.

But music also touches us experientially: emotionally and mentally. In short, we accept music both emotionally and rationally, affectively and cognitively.

On the third level, music reveals to us the dimensions of existence that are beyond our current apperception, i.e. the perception of sounds and monitoring their sequence. Music can lock and unlock the doors of perception and place us in spirituality: it introduces us to the greatest depths of the spiritual. We cannot exist without these dimensions.

We have no reason not to think the same way about the importance of music for babies and toddlers. Music touches them physically, affectively, cognitively and spiritually. But since their perception of sounds is still completely open, we can play with any sounds and any musical elements when preparing music and sound artworks for them: all possible musical expressions are acceptable for them. Music for the youngest can therefore include any type and form of musical expression to date: from folk to artificial music, from popular to the most experimental avant-garde music of any historical moment. What's more: their ears are completely open to any meaningfully composed pile of sounds: they are also completely open to sound art of any kind. This means that their ears are open to all possible combinations of sounds, speech, music playing and soundscape design. All sonority is open to them.

Musical creativity for babies and toddlers is limited to a certain extent only by the fundamental element of social experience of music – that of mother and child. Logically speaking, we should of course also talk about the element of father and child

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and of the triad which includes, according to our understanding, the fundamental cell of society – mother, father and child. But anthropological facts speak differently. Already millions of years ago, in the time of our species' ancestors, women or females have manifested joint care for offspring (which was one of the key evolutionary advantages of our species), so that the earliest life of our distant relatives was significantly more social than that of other primates. In the birth of mammals, we see a common pattern: new-born children need a lot of help from the mother (see Hrdy, 2009). Humans, like other primates, and especially our related apes, are born with large brains, but for a much longer period of life we depend on mothers and other group members to provide for our physical and social needs.

Babies cannot move or feed themselves or communicate effectively: “To survive their first decade, humans are even more dependent on mothers and others than any other species” (Fuentes, 2022, p. 32). Women, even after their period of fertility, hence remain a fundamental factor in the development of human society, especially in the development of culture (Knight, 1991).

The second reason for emphasizing the unit of mother and child is structural and social, since this is the fundamental unit that enables the understanding of those initial interpersonal relationships that are formed as coexistence in a joint household, regardless of whether the household is composed in a simple way (mothers with children or nuclear families living in it) or a complex way (in extended and joint families and complex households of the polygynous type we also find relatively autonomous households of mothers and children connected with other units).

Among general human empirical and logical possibilities, the fundamental unit of human existence therefore appears to be the unit of mother and child (Fox, 1998), even if it never acts as the only one. Humans are social animals. Caring for offspring is common. Newborns therefore soon after birth pass from hand to hand (literally), thus becoming an integral part of society through touch and verbal and non-verbal communication. Talking, singing and rhythmic movement are such elementary ways of social integration of babies into the community that today we hardly treat them as special. But it is precisely this aspect of the disappearance of direct contact and community embrace that needs to be specifically addressed at this point.

We live in a time in which these direct community contacts are relatively few, and even those that were taken for granted a few decades ago, especially in the circles of relatives, neighbours and friends, are increasingly disappearing. In the economically and administratively developed part of humanity, we enter into direct, touch-based contacts less and less, which will undoubtedly bring many negative social consequences in the not-so-distant future of increasingly aging societies. That's why audio contacts are so much more important.

The ways of direct exposure to sounds and social contact with sounds have also changed. In addition to the direct encounter with everyday sounds and the minority of human voices and work, today's babies and toddlers encounter artificially created and recorded sounds right after birth: by listening to the radio, television, modern information and communication technology devices and with a wide variety of sound phenomena coming through a range of everyday devices.

Parents today, with the habit of spontaneous singing becoming less common, increasingly play musical recordings of lullabies or music that we believe,

or thereby test, will put the little ones to sleep. In this way, among others, children are introduced to the reception of mass electronic media.

## Music for toddlers and babies on the radio, in music venues and in any environment

The radio medium still shapes our everyday environment, which is why the radio plays have since the very beginnings of radio broadcasting been a self-evident part of the program of any public radio station which addresses the widest spectrum of listeners.

Random sounds that we encounter from day to day can be taken as a permanent sound background with its own rules and characteristics, i.e. compositional. Such repetitive spontaneous and only partially random sound environments that change through daily, seasonal and annual rhythms are a fundamental sound environment, but we neglect it because we take it for granted.

For babies, however, this is not the case. For them, each new sound is an integral part of the world, which they listen to carefully so that they can get involved in it and be in it together with other people. Otherwise, it doesn't matter when we confront them with music in the strict sense of the word, but the natural sounds that attract them, such as the sounds of birds, the murmur of wind or waves, the sound of various work tasks, play and social environments, will in some new, artificial context, attract their attention. For various reasons, their entire perceptual apparatus will pay more attention to compositionally arranged sound products than to the spontaneous sound of everyday life. Therefore, sound compositions, that is, a very special form of musical creativity, are even more appropriate in the earliest phase of life.

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Sonic ambiences accompany babies, toddlers and children throughout their entry into the world, so it is amazing how little attention the creators of sound compositions have so far paid to those ears, for which this type of composition is practically written on their skin.

But this does not mean that to infants (and mothers and other caregivers of the youngest) music should not also be offered in all its variety. Parents and other guardians listen to their music anyway, this is, the music they like. This is an important early way of introducing the youngest to music, especially when parents (and other caregivers) are not even aware that the youngest are also listening to music with them.

However, since at that time the ears are literally open to all possible sounds, music and their variations, there are absolutely no rules or commandments about what and which music to offer to the youngest. With schooling and music education, things change completely in just a few years, and for a while, children mainly follow music intended for them. But in the earliest stage it is possible – and necessary – to act in accordance with John Cage's principle: everything is possible, everything is right, everything goes.

Italian composer Sergio Liberovici wrote several radio plays and operas for children. He also used recorded sounds [musique concrète] in his music for the radio. It is the use of recorded sounds that indicates a key approach in the preparation of radiophonic works for the youngest, as in their artificial environment listening to the radio receiver places them in the real world of sounds and in this way arouses curiosity and directs their attention.

In short, composing for babies and toddlers allows much greater creative freedom than composing for other target groups, as the sound spectrum of their listening is much wider and more open.

## Composing music for babies and toddlers

Open ears call for creation of open music. It can be music as a composer would anyway make; music that invites active sound participation and playing; or it may be composing that is designed entirely experimentally.

What is central: the youngest listeners, i.e. babies and toddlers should not be underestimated, but treated as full-blooded beings who are open to artistic experience (Juvanc, 2023). As an audience, of course, they will not respond in the same way as an educated audience. They will respond spontaneously, humanly, with wonder and stare, with great concentration and bodily response and instant participation, but also with complete ignorance in following their own momentary impulse.

In children's opera, it has been proven several times that the use of modern compositional approaches, i.e. also row and noises, is completely acceptable. The most effective are those productions in which children also actively participate. This is also a condition for the inclusion of the audience of parents and other caregivers and hence the success with the audience in general. Adults will be delighted when toddlers are delighted, and toddlers will show satisfaction when they see happy faces of their parents and others around them. Could it be that simple? Yes, it's probably true. This is precisely the charm: if the adult audience is ready for literally any sound in a chosen context, the little ones will follow them generously. And vice versa: precisely because they will experience

something new and completely different, because they will open their souls to obvious curiosity and wonder, even if this concentration dries up after a few minutes, openness of mind is the key element of such behaviour.

The only limitation in creating music for youngest children is its length, if its purpose is to attract the attention of toddlers. Short sound interventions that attract attention work best, while longer exposures probably lead to relaxation or even sleep (with repetitive lullabies).

Above all, when composing for toddlers, it is necessary to test the effects in concrete environments, together with them. The experience showed that a thoughtful rearrangement of the performance space is crucial for the performance.

## Open sonority...

Thanks to the attentive and sensitive ears of the youngest, which are completely open and not yet attuned to existing soundscapes, all and any kind of music can appear or act as music for toddlers and babies: from popular to avant-garde art music, from electronic music to sound compositions. Their ears are completely and equally open voice, soundings, musical instruments, animal calls, noises, all the way to artificial and constant and occasional sounds in the environment. Therefore, sound composition with recorded sounds from nature and the human everyday environment, and of course with electronic sounds and noises, and finally with all possible sounds that can be elicited from existing musical instruments, is more than an adequate approach when composing music for toddlers and babies. Words and music as we know it can only exceptionally be placed in this sound variety.

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Until the period when the addressees can understand the words, it probably makes sense to use them in the same way as in everyday life or to use them as sound objects in a rich sound composition i.e. a created sound environment.

It's probably high time to put recorders in the hands of little ones and encourage them to record whatever they find interesting at that moment. From these sounds, we could then identify elementary sounds – by ourselves or in collaboration with the composer, and put them together as such into a composition which we then give back to the children. The little ones who would be invited to compose like this would probably have to be around two years old. But surely, with such sound playing, an extremely interesting musical production would develop.

## ... And openness of life

Sound identity defines us as people; it is our deepest essence from birth. Therefore, encountering through sounds is the most obvious, but also the most effective means of transcending one's own experience in harmonizing with others. It is the foundation of the social and the society.

Similar to the concerts for babies and toddlers, it will be necessary to consider special performances for vulnerable groups and how to provide an equal experience for different people with disabilities in the common event. In regard to music events, there is no reason to exclude the hearing impaired (Sacks, 1990). The same applies to various other groups of people excluded from society, not only mothers and fathers with babies, but also the homeless, refugees and in any other way discriminated, scattered vulnerable groups of the population.

The inclusion of vulnerable groups is therefore not a gesture of charity, but a moral duty of those who shape the image of future communities through the organization of public events and artistic creation.

And when we finally come back to the youngest, we must emphasize that the infants, children and especially young people, perhaps even more, create and encourage the creation of new community, i.e. new social relations, which, precisely by testing the limits of existing experiences, expand new social landscapes.

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Sources and literature

Barthes, R. (1990). The Grain of Voice. In S. Frith, & A. Goodman (Eds.), *On Record* (pp. 293–300). Routledge. (Original work published 1977).

Berendt, J. E. (1988). *The Third Ear: On Listening to the World*. Dorset: Element Books.

Clayton, M. (Ed.) (2008). *Music, Words and Voice: A Reader*. Manchester University Press.

Fox, R. (1998). *Kinship and Marriage: An Anthropological Perspective*. Cambridge University Press.

Fuentes, A. (2022). *Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature* (2nd edition). University of California Press.

Hrdy, S. B. (2009). *Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding*. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Juvanc, M. (2023, February 18). *Pot do empatične družbe kuje sodobna umetniška glasba*. Odzven. Koncerti. SIGIC. https://www.sigic.si/klasicna-glasba-sodobna-klasicna-glasba-glasba-za.html

Knight, C. (1991). *Blood Relations: Menstruation and the Origins of Culture*. Yale University Press.

Kokelj, N. (2022, December 4). *Interview with Yorgos Samantos: Če bi več poslušali, bi živeli v bolj razmišljujočem in razumevajočem svetu*. MMC RTV Slovenija. https://www.rtvsl.o.si/kultura/intervju/yorgos-samantos-ce-bi-vec-poslusali-bi-ziveli-v-bolj-razmisljujocem-in-razumevajocem-svetu/649825

Lefebvre, H. (2013). *Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time, and Everyday Life*. Bloomsbury Academic.

Manovich, L. (2002). *The Language of New Media*. MIT Press.

Miller, V. (2020). *Understanding Digital Culture* (2nd edition). SAGE Publications.

Muršič, R. (1993). *Neubesedljive zvočne igre: od filozofije k antropologiji glasbe*. Akademska založba Katedra.

Ong, W. J. (2012). *Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word*. Routledge.

Sacks, O. W. (1990). *Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf*. Harper Perennial.

Stewart, I. (2012). *In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations that Changed the World*. Basic Books.

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<figure><img src="image_32.png" /><figcaption>Radio Voćarska Festival of Radio Drama and Radio Theatre for Babies and Children, RadioTeatar, Zagreb, Croatia. Photo by Mia Cvitković</figcaption></figure>

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RADIO
TELEVIZIJA
SLOVENIJA

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# CREATING RADIO PLAYS FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS

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# SHALL WE LISTEN – CAN WE HEAR?
## Reflection on the B-AIR radio plays for babies, toddlers, and vulnerable groups

Speaking is preceded by listening. In the earliest period of human life, in infancy, hearing is the most developed of the senses. Artists – including music, sound, literature, and theatre ones – rarely think of babies and toddlers as potential recipients of their work. How do babies see, hear and feel the world? What do they even think about? And what dreams do they dream? Approaching these mysterious beings, who may still freely surrender to a time before speech (i.e. the time before they speak), is a challenging task that also requires adults to turn to their hearing, to revive and sharpen it. To listen. Listen deeply. And deeper, still. To process. To listen until they hear again. The complex then becomes simple, the ordinary miraculous, the casual meaningful. Isn't this the very alchemy that artists hope to reach?

The radio plays discussed below can be said to have arisen from the same source, the desire to nurture the child – whether it is the flesh and blood child living with us; or our inner child that has a permanent dwelling place within, no matter if we recognize it or not. The artists invited to the B-AIR project have accepted the call of freedom summoning them to travel with the wind, to peek beyond the forgetful horizon of adulthood – to listen to the needs and dreams of the most tender human beings. When the cheerful adults returned

with the current and gave the radio airwaves their story-song-play dedicated to the youngest ones, all manner of creations spilled out into the sphere. All committed to connecting and growing into the wholeness of a human being.

### Cousins

The plays “Chair”, “Ball” and “Door” share many commonalities with the “Musical Kitchen” and “Chitter-Chatter”, even if they might not seem alike at first glance. The former three paint objects with sound in a distinctly factual way, but in the “Musical Kitchen” cutlery is presented almost as beings with their own senses, whereas “Chitter-Chatter” leaves objects aside and fills the space with sounds from nature. And yet, all three radio plays (taking the short plays “Chair”, “Ball” and “Door” as a triptych) are rooted in the infant’s and toddler’s experience of reality, which they seek to deepen primarily through sound – each in its own way. None of the plays discover fantastic worlds or feature strange creatures full of miraculous powers; they rather dwell on the simple commonness of everyday life, where they discover inspiration for further play, humour and calm. “Chair”, “Ball” and “Door” with their brevity, the “Musical Kitchen” with its playfulness and “Chitter-Chatter” with its meditativeness address different areas of the growing toddler, but

all in turn are created in the desire to connect: the material and the ethereal, the real and the imaginative, objects and nature, the music-sound and the verbal – and last but not least – children and their parents.

### “Chair”, “Ball”, “Door”: the voices of things

Each some three and a half minutes long, “Chair”, “Ball” and “Door” are radiophonic audio picture-books for toddlers, babies and their parents. They present the respective object in its real appearance, its reality. The sound representations thus do not personify, or in any way imaginatively transform their subjects, but rather recreate and expand the (auditory) experience of everyday things, of which the child already has its own experience.

The listening child has already sat in a chair and watched its close relatives sitting in chairs; it has eaten, played, drawn, observed sitting in a chair; it has already watched a ball, its hops and bounces, played with it, rolled it, chased it, handled it; it has gone through a door, felt the difference between a closed and an open space. Short plays enriched with sound and music illustrations breathe awareness into the child's experiences and build a bridge

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to the world of words through simultaneous verbal
explanations with illustrative auditory images.

The radio plays offer a set of cues for the active
participation of adults in the listening, as each
sound image can be used to repeat the heard/
named action with an actual object in the child's
presence – rattling a chair, bouncing a ball, open-
ing or closing a door. The plays in this triptych do
not in themselves convey stories, though they do
evoke memories of the listener's own experienc-
es (and thus potential stories). They are first, fore-
most and simply representations of things, by no
means precluding further exploration of the objects
but rather implicitly inviting to test what a particular
object can tell us simply by being what it is.

Each of the plays is upgraded with sound and mu-
sic. Their author, Tomaž Rauch, has thoughtfully
chosen a small selection of instruments for each
object to echo the soul of the item. The stability of
the chair is recognised in the warm wooden sound
of the xylophone and the wood scraper, the flexi-
bility of the ball in the undulation of the strings and
the vibrations of the Jew's harp, the transience of
the door with the bells, triangle and the gong.

The sound environment of the plays animates the
basic characteristics of the objects, but at the same
time reminds us that things only ‘come alive’ in the
relationship with the one who uses them. The sound
representations are thus based on the interaction
of a single object with a human being. The chair
stands – silent and motionless. When someone is
about to use it, the chair moves and groans;, then
turns still again. Now someone is sitting in it. The
importance of the chair increases if someone needs
it to help them in their activity. The ball is also still,
waiting for someone to set it in motion. It is much
more flexible than a chair and can do many things

with a little added energy; it's harder to control than
a chair and gives the impression that it contains its
own impulses to move in addition to our intentions
– we can easily overlook the person playing with
the ball and enjoy just watching its up-and-down
flights, bounces, twists and rolls. The door is open
or closed; it is the passage from space to space,
from outside to inside and vice versa.

In the "Chair", the "Ball" and the "Door", we can trace
an interesting twist of emphasis moving from objec-
tivity to subjectivity. The listening focus of "Chair"
and "Ball" is solely on the facts related to their ma-
terial use, whether the attention is on our activity
(as in the "Chair") or on the activity of things (as in
the "Ball"). The "Door", on the other hand, literally
opens the way for the listener into spaces of senso-
ry concepts (e.g. warmth, width) and more abstract
ideas (e.g. safety, freedom, liberty). Through music
in combination with real sounds, the plays commu-
nicate to the children's intuition the sonic reflection
of harder-to-grasp and intangible concepts. The
expanse of the outdoor world is thus linked to the
notions of freedom and boundlessness, which mur-
mur in the rising sounds of nature; and the security
of the indoors warmly rings with the cat's purring.

A trio of plays highlighting the different uses of sim-
ple everyday things helps babies and toddlers build
a relationship between experience and speech, and
reminds parents and elders to forego the self-evi-
dent, prodding them closer to the world of wonder
in which their little ones are constantly, spontanea-
ously immersing themselves, eager to discover.

"Musical Kitchen": a pot-full of puns

For a child and its exploratory wonder, which is
not yet encapsulated in commonly accepted be-
haviour, every scene can be a playground, and in

every new activity it sees the germ of play – not
necessarily one that the toddler’s parents are able
to recognise and use (even if to their own advan-
tage). In this sense, the “Musical Kitchen” is a
handy listening tool for introducing a baby’s new
eating habits when moving to solid foods.

This radio play for little ones is designed to be
highly interactive and encourages playing while
listening. The authors of the work, the librettist and
directress Tajda Lipicer and the composer Alenja
Pivko Knežević, have also prepared a visual score
to accompany the play, which allows parents to
become the conductors of the game played with
their little ones. Listening can thus take place with-
out the actual meal, with cutlery as play props to
reinforce what is heard in the play with mock ac-
tions; or can also be done during feeding. Riding
on the wave of inspiration that splashes from the
artistic soup, improvised actions can be enjoyed
combining play with the intention of eating.

The playful “Musical Kitchen” is a delicious sound
dish, a bubbling musical broth spiced with sound
effects, in which tasty-sounding words float beau-
tifully sliced into pieces. The musical base, stir-
ring with the linguistic interplay of words and their
meanings, is conceptually close to the music that
usually marks a children’s program – bright-toned,
lively, light, at times mysterious and telling a story
of its own. In the play it is mostly not used as a du-
plication or illustration of the verbal narrative, but
introduces it in its own way, creating or reinforcing
the atmosphere and heightening anticipation be-
fore often retreating to make way for the sound
and meaning of the words, emphasised here and
there by the selected sounds.

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The word template is based on the rhythmic power of speech, the repetition of individual words, elements or threads of words in different ways. By speeding up and slowing down, extending the vocals and consonants, syllabising, speaking less or more loudly (Maja Kunšič's text interpretation), the joyful unpredictability brought by the wordplay grows. Each word, syllable or sound thus becomes an auditory bite made savoury by interpretation, tempting us to loudly engage with its repetition.

Playing with the sonorities of language also leads to experimentation with words that may not yet be in the toddler's earliest vocabulary – e.g. wringing, pinching, tickling, poking – but are as welcome as any other new word. The text thus does not underestimate the child, but challenges it again and again with the captivating sound of untamed words, inviting it to explore the fascinating landscapes of language and naming.

The simple 'peek-a-boo' is the favourite game of the vast majority of toddlers at some point in their development, and the "Musical Kitchen" contains enough small but surprising twists to appeal to children in particular. Humans love humour and good-natured teasing – and the radio play awakens a relaxed disposition to enjoy small pleasures such as jocular wringing, pinching, tickling and poking. Who will trick whom first? The parent or the child?

For a young child, feeding is one of the rituals that build secure predictability into its daily routine. No wonder children often reject the innovations gradually introduced by the parents in feeding – and food flies everywhere! – or they paw at food playfully, exploring in their own way what they can do with it ... ("Perhaps this orange pumpkin soup is great for drawing, if not particularly tasty?") The jol-

ly "Musical Kitchen" can take away at least some of the seriousness and frustration from parents as it brings back memories of the fantastic possibilities of an eating adventure, too often accepted as a mere habit. It can free children from feelings of compulsion with its sonority, promising the light-hearted joy of unknown pleasures as they dig into each mouthful, confident it will reveal a delicious new secret about the world. All the same if they're curiously biting into food, sounds, or words.

## "Chitter-Chatter": from nature back to nature

The wealth of sounds carried by nature's wings is vast. The steady chirp of crickets, the lively croak of frogs, the gentle rustle of treetops and surprising songs of birds are deeply harmonious. Produced in sincere simplicity and absence of any volition, they also secretly urge man to let go of overstrained control and dive more trustingly into the flow of life.

The melodiousness of nature is generous, but in the modern world it is by no means self-evident. Although birds sing and trees rustle even in the cities, their discrete presence is drowned out by the rumbling noise of the river of traffic, the rush of people, the beeping of telephones and the thousand-and-one sounds of human activity. The multitude of unpleasant or even aggressive sounds leads many to close their ears to their surroundings – using headphones that allow the individual to traverse the city in a private sound bubble.

In the radio play "Chitter-Chatter", the author of the text Irena Pivka and the author of the musical composition Brane Zorman pursue the ancient idea of communication between young children and animals, and on this basis create a sound score woven from recordings of nature's voices. The radio play is intended to be played and listened to in

nature – e.g. in a park or in a home garden, although it can of course also be listened to indoors – and an important aspect of this listening is the strengthening of the bond between child and parent. (The question arises here, with an otherwise thoughtfully composed radio play: why listen to recorded sounds of nature in the open air, is it not an unnecessary duplication? Why not just listen to what actually surrounds us – especially when we are in nature and with our little ones – and use the radio play gratefully during those moments when the proximity of nature's sounds is unattainable, but at the same time much needed?)

Together with the softly weaving songs of crickets, frogs and birds, the rustling of leaves, grasses and water, the narration (voice by Nada Vodušek) flows calmly, guiding sooner the parent's attention than the baby's. The parent can further communicate to the toddler what they are hearing, using objects or physical interpretation. The narrator's voice initially sounds from a distance, carrying the listener off to another, parallel world, away from the noise of traffic and the clamour of thoughts. Even though the play is filled with recorded sounds from nature, the text directs audiences to also catch the sounds of the surroundings where they are currently situated; the narrator, with clear articulation and a sense of presence, compels the listener to slow down and quiet the worry-filled mind. "Chitter-Chatter" thus acts as a meditation, focusing the listener on the here and now, opening them to sounds that would otherwise quite possibly be overheard. In this respect, the radio play seems to address parents more so than babies – babies in their openness are attracted to new sounds in their own right – but the older we get, the more consciousness it requires of us to relinquish our rushing, shouting thoughts and seek out spaces of silence and listening.

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Using recordings of human voices, “Chitter-Chatter” illuminates the sonic horizon of the play with new colours. First, the subtly arranged plurality of natural voices includes the babbling, chitter-chattering, chirping and laughing of little ones whose world is already filling up with words, but whose speech has not yet been shaped into the human language of their surroundings. Peer encouragement being an important factor for further exploration of the new at all stages of childhood and adolescence – even adulthood –, could anything encourage an infant to babble more than the sounds of its peers? The recorded voices of babies and toddlers spontaneously trying out their own speech provide an additional mild stimulus for the youngest listeners to respond to what they hear with their own voices and engage in a dialogue of sorts with the recorded voices, and the voices of their parents’ possible chattering.

The journey through the sounds of nature is curiously deepened by a song. The repetitive syllables with no particular meaning are embodied by a young female voice (Naomi Uma Zorman), merging with rippling water and the chirping of crickets. Backed by a drone line, the voice is further layered by the simultaneous reverberation echoing five melodic patterns. The sonic content thickens and ebbs, and for a few minutes calls us to eavesdrop on our inner flows rather than to the babbling – until the voice of the song fades, leaving us to its echoes as we return to the soundscapes of nature.

This radio play is rich in vocabulary. The verbs describing nature and animal sounds are charged with meaning in their sonority – rustling, chirping, cackling, squeaking, growling – the very words create sounds similar to those heard. Thus, little by little, pieces of the mysterious language of the mother tongue are being put together in the

child. A child endowed with the gifts of the mother tongue receives many intuitive insights, because naming things and their properties secretly brings us closer to their essence – as recognised by our ancestors and passed down to us through a long chain of generations.

“Chitter-Chatter” invites us to dive into the world of hearing, potentially the first step to reopening other, unfortunately often numbed senses. It offers an exercise in listening, which leads to hearing along two paths: the path of free openness, diving into a sound bath without filters and letting the sounds fill us up (absorption), or the path of deeply immersed listening and focusing on a particular sound line (awareness). The two paths are easily traversable and well complementary, re-grounding listeners in the wonder of reality and challenging them to approach life creatively.

## Brother and sister

The radio plays “Sea” and “Hearing the Sea” are siblings, children of the same parents, and the similarity of their genetic material is obvious – the verbal and musical material even shows some identical traits. And yet the two plays are worlds unto themselves. “Hearing the Sea”, a play primarily aimed at children over the age of three, is the older brother of baby “Sea”, a play aimed at the very youngest (and their caregivers).

The mother’s body is a mysterious universe of sounds that remain unfamiliar even to her, while the baby in the womb listens to the symphony of heartbeat, rustling, sloshing and rumbling. The interplay of music and sound lulls the little girl “Sea” into the familiarity of the period before her decisive departure into the world, and she is still able to accept the beauty of what she hears without analyti-

cal judgements, emerging questions and her own need to affect. The play unfolds for the listener to surrender to it. Her older brother “Hearing the Sea” has forgotten the song of the sea in a few years of exploring the world and accumulating new knowledge. His growing independence drives him to an exciting exploration of a thousand creative possibilities, and the song of the sea, whose resonance secretly yet resides within, calls him back from his preoccupation with singularities to the embrace of complex interconnectedness. In keeping with its evolutionary emergence, the poem now also addresses him through the paths of reason. In attentive participation and a keen following of the unfolding story, he unwittingly ventures into the wonder of empowerment.

## “Hearing the Sea”: Joining the marine community

Children are looking for their place in family and in society. They instinctively feel it belongs to them, because they are here, alive and ready to live. With open senses they absorb what the world has to offer: sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches, unconsciously weaving it all into a dense web of experience that gives them guidance for their next steps. When they speak, they conquer the world; they create their own order out of chaos, choosing specifics out of the multitude, opening themselves to a new way of connecting with their close ones.

The radio play “Hearing the Sea” (written and directed by Saška Rakef) addresses toddlers from around three years old. After a musical and poetic introduction, the story begins to unfold in the narrator’s speech, which gradually and patiently pulls back the curtain on the unfamiliar world of the sea. It turns out that not everything in the sea is as it should be,

<figure><img src="image_40.png" /></figure>
and that someone is being sought who is able to connect the disconnected, someone able to accept and appreciate the mystery of the sea. "Is that you?"

At the outset already, the narrator addresses the listener directly, inviting them to join the adventure. Each little one (or each listener) thus becomes a key link, the one who will listen to the songs of the sea and hear the whole, the one who discovers the mystery and fulfils the task ahead, the one without whom the outcome of the story will not be the same. The sonic layering of the sea shimmers invitingly with the richness of what is heard, making the listener long to delve into its mysteries, to get away from the noise, to listen to it and sing with it.

Gradually, a community of sea creatures is presented, diverse but living in harmony. First we meet the garfish, then the morays and a trio of seahorses – the dynamics of their dialogues pave the way for the listener to approach the responsibility of the Guardian of the Sea, announced by its inhabitants from the very beginning. They observe the listener from a distance, commenting but also addressing directly, until the awareness of being able to face the task is instilled, entrusted. At times the rhythmic pronunciation of phrases creates echoes and the short, repetitive musical patterns invite the toddler to sing along and reproduce what it hears – or to respond to the music in its own way, with idiosyncratic vocal invention.

Playfulness in the voices of the actors (Lena Hribar, Anja Novak, Jožica Avbelj, Primož Pernat, etc.) brings out unexpected nuances, alongside words flipped and transformed, sometimes even shed of their meaning, breaking the self-evident single-meaningness of language. With humour and laughter, the sea inhabitants accompany the

toddler on a journey to overcome the noise, a journey to the depths. In the far layers of the sea, the adventurous listener encounters a solitary crab, a jellyfish, an octopus, thus taking the place of the single rational interlocutor who can preserve the marine landscape and its community by adding their own voice to the song of the sea.

"Hearing the Sea" reveals the unique movements and voices of the colourful marine milieu living beneath the surface. For the little one on the journey, the importance of the connection between different members of the same world, and the meaning of community is revealed on a level more subtle than the narrative – through sound and music. Each member of the underwater community is accompanied by a sound or musical motif, which slowly build up, merge, fuse, overlap and intertwine until, at the end of the eavesdropping journey, they are united in one and the same, inseparable song of the sea, woven from many threads of sound.

This rich sound composition is not hermetically sealed, on the contrary – both with literal addresses of sea creatures and repetitive address of musical motives, it invites the listener to participate. The play, aimed at preschool children but also at children in the first trimester of primary school, thus conveys an important message: every voice is needed and important, everyone can contribute to the wellbeing of the community with their unique input. Young listeners learn to accept their share of responsibility, to trust in their own abilities, to contribute to solving difficult situations. In the safe environment of "Hearing the Sea", the child can expand the spheres of its own sovereignty, which in turn yearns for further confirmation. Within "Hearing the Sea" it is received in the gloriously simple calming and attunement of the reconnected world. Children's heartfelt responsiveness to the big and

small trials of life's adventure beyond play will grow with the support of sentient adults, who can hear children and the complex interplay of their songs – and subtly add their own voice to it.

## "Sea": the fragile-powerful song of the sea

Existence is undulation, an endless series of highs and lows, of peaking and sliding into the depths. Life is the force that drives these waves – now exciting, now calming. The interplay of waves is a familiar state to man, the calm surface of the emotional sea a mere moment of equilibrium achieved, but soon to be stirred up by a new unexpected breath, fresh wind or storm from who knows where.

The author of the text and directress Saška Rakef, and the author of the original music Bojana Šaljić Podešva open the door to the cathedral of sound with a precise rhythmic fusion of words and music. The two dominant voices, the voice of the song (whose leading force is soprano Rebeka Pregelj, alongside the voices of Zala Ana Štiglic and Asja Kahrimanović Babić) and the voice of the narrative (embodied by Vesna Jevnikar), blend into one a rich array of murmuring, rippling, sloshing, dripping, bubbling. The brightness of the singer's voice and its resonance, alongside the gentle lapping of the sea, build a harmonious soundscape full of beauty from the very beginning, radiating peace and the promise of home.

The radio play "Sea" was created with babies and their loved ones in mind – mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, caregivers and guardians. Every newborn is a mystery. Who is she, he? What do they think, feel, how do they emote? How do they perceive the outside world that seeps in and what colours and shapes are their

<figure><img src="image_41.png" /></figure>
dreams? The presence of the primordial human
mystery in the infant knocks on the door of the
mystery of being in the adult, and a vast sea of
unconscious memories rolls in. Whoever wishes
to truly connect with the tiny being cannot remain
alone behind a firmly closed door, but must open
up to it, take it in the arms, cradle it – and be cra-
dled by it in turn. The mysterious, unknown world
of the baby can only be approached by gazing rev-
erently into the mystery. The play “Se”a, with its
sumptuous soundscapes, beckons us to do just
that.

Time flows, in, out, by. The repetitive patterns in
both the poem and the narrative lull us into time-
lessness and invite us to deeper reflection, to think
without thinking, to meditate. Small changes in
the patterns, trying out different accents, illum-
nate each spoken thought from different angles
and make it multidimensional. Each repetition is a
swing into the depths, a widening of the tunnel and
a growing beam of light penetrating into the depths
of our intimate experiences.

The rocking and rolling of the Sea can act as a
lullaby and a wake-up call at the same time, calm-
ing the restless, unwinding the anxious, and awak-
ening a sentient sensitivity to a self (and the little
 creature in our arms). In surrendering to the power
of the sound tide, an instinctive knowledge of the
value of each life is strengthened. The awakened
instinct confirms that the moment is right to de-
scend into the depths, to ascend into the heights.
With the “Sea” we can detach ourselves from the
everyday, break free from the grip of worries and
fears, distance ourselves from pain and uncertain-
ty – we are comforted, consoled, loved. When our
worries turn silent, we listen. And when we listen,
we intuitively let go of the overstretched reins of
control. The masks begin to dissolve.

A newly awakened sensitivity gives way to em-
pathy, feeling, admiration and wonder. How to
stay close in spite of distance, and know how
make room even when we are close? How to
remain whole in fusion and how to stay con-
nected in separation? How to know someone
to the core and yet be humble enough to admit
that they will be an eternal enigma to you? ...
Instead of answers, there is freedom: of saying,
crying, singing, dancing, swaying – in the safe em-
brace of the song of the sea.

The simplicity and grandeur of the sound cathedral
of the “Sea” makes us feel our own smallness and
greatness, the transience and eternity that meet
within us. The heart beats, without our conscious
input. Life is given. The heart beats, the end meets
the beginning, the story concludes, the song ech-
oes. Seeds of gratitude are sown within for the joy
of being part of the mysterious whole of life. And
the promise announces and rings: “All is connect-
ed. All is connected. All is connected.”

*

The chirping of birds, the sway of the sea, the rattle
of a chair, the bounce of a ball, the popping of bub-
bles, the sound of locusts, the slicing of oars through
water, the creak of a door – all this accompanied by
human voices speaking, caressing, testing, playing,
singing. Sounds and words complement each oth-
er, telling the same story. The narrative roots are
strengthened by the music; and the music also
grows its branches, reaching up to the sky. Music
is the juice that feeds the narrative, which would be
dry and withered without it, and the narrative gives
the music form, grounding it structurally.

The present range of radio plays for babies and
toddlers is as varied as possible. “Chair”, “Ball”
and “Door” sonically bring to life objects from the

baby's home environment, while the “Musical
Kitchen” focuses on their daily feeding ritual. “Chit-
ter-Chatter” leads listeners out of the house, into
the familiar embrace of nature. The “Sea” brings
the individual closer to their own feelings and
emotions, while “Hearing the Sea” calls them to
active participation, to inclusion in the communi-
ty of the world. Despite their diverse appearances
and themes, these works also share a common
foundation: building connections. Each in its own
way, they encourage the strengthening of bonds
between what is already experienced and what is
being heard, the word and its meaning, sound and
its response, music and its experience, play and
its revelation, the adult and the little being.

Radio plays for babies and toddlers, created under
the auspices of the B-AIR project, lead us directly,
playfully, exploratively and deeply on a journey of
beauty, opening us up to the harmony of life. The
more we are willing to listen, the more opportuni-
ties we have to hear, witness and reflect the needs
of the helpless newborn and our own. Listening
attentively, we both learn to identify and articulate
ever more clearly those longings whose fulfilment
requires the presence of another, or the recogni-
tion of the incomprehensible forces of Life.

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<figure><img src="image_44.png" /><figcaption>Illustration by Alojzij Gričnik</figcaption></figure>

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# THE ART OF BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP: ARTISTIC RADIO PLAYS FOR BABIES

Radio plays for babies and their caregivers are a novelty in the radiophonic world, opening up a whole new field of contemplating the listening activity – shared, mutual listening. They address the most tender bond at the foundation of human development, which is decisive for the formation of a healthy, rich, and emotionally diverse human inner world. This is why artistic creation intended for this first and most important relationship is a demanding and responsible task.

A child's development in the first year of life is particularly rapid and holistic. The main motor behind it is, naturally, the relationship between the child and their primary caregiver (for the sake of reading ease, the article refers to the mother as the most common primary caregiver). The experiences absorbed by the newborn in the first months and years profoundly shape the development of its brain structure, which continues to have a lifelong impact. The contact between the child and the mother is a two-way process that includes both the ability of the adult to perceive, accept and adapt to the child, and the ability of the child, who seeks contact with the mother, to communicate its needs, feelings and conditions. Stimuli, especially the sound stimuli surrounding them, are very im

portant in this context as they create the emotional backdrop of their relationship.

On the organic level, this means that the mother, with her reactions, mood and emoting, thinking and regulation of emotional states, as well as her behaviour towards the child, represents a developmental space in which the child will be able to learn and shape their actions in such a way as to best adapt and orient within the environment. This adaptation is observable in the frequency of crying, body movements, head turning, development of eye contact, in short on all levels of the child's behaviour.

In the micro-regulation of each other's reaction and perception, the foundation of the relationship between mother and child is shaped and the main response mechanisms of the child's brain are thus formed. In his works, A. Schore describes in detail the attunement between child and mother as a non-verbal, emotional and intuitive attunement between the D hemisphere of the child and the D hemisphere of the mother (Schore, 2019). With emotional attunement, the child develops with the mother, and the mother deepens her sensitivity to its needs and gains the quickness and depth of emotional processing and awareness.

A fundamental role in this process is played by the various emotional states that affect both mother and child, where the mother is of course the only one who can properly regulate these states and thereby enable the baby to gradually develop secure attachment, and with it also the self-regulation ability.

This is therefore the contact that shapes the foundation of the entire structure of the infant's response to the world. Every acquired pattern of this dialogue between mother and child opens up the child's access to ever-new experiences and developmental possibilities.

Developmental science (Lerner et al., 2015; Stern, 2004; Siegel, 2021) makes it possible to distinguish several fundamental periods, which are not only temporal but also specific in the sense that each emphasizes a certain spectrum of attunement between child and mother, to be further expanded and upgraded in the following ones. In the beginning, it is very important to recognize and also address the mother's sadness, caused by the feeling of helplessness and physical exhaustion or uncertainty in the new role. The next set of emotions is

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awakened by the development of the child's initiative and the establishment of rhythm and contact through the daily routine, and the third by the establishment of contact with the outside world, interest in the outside world and the search for captivating moments that satisfy the child's curiosity and the need of their brain to learn about the surrounding world.

When discussing what is useful for a child's holistic development, we must first look at what can be developed in a certain period of time, enabling later the acceptance and learning of new things. In general, we could say that the basis of development are first rhythmicity, then musicality, and finally emotional regulation and a strong and safe bond with caregivers.

## How rhythm develops:
From birth to two and a half months

During this period, the main events in the relationship between mother and baby are feeding, sleeping and comforting. The mother's task is to sense when the child is hungry, when tired, and when in pain or lonely. In other words – getting to know and regulating the rhythm of its life.

The mother's key decision here is related to whether she trusts herself or the clock to a greater extent when it comes to feeding decisions, and whether she trusts the baby to sleep when it is tired or rather the external day-night rhythm when deciding the baby's sleeping schedule, and by extension whether to let it sleep when tired or to wake it up in order to, as she believes, get it accustomed to the day-night circadian rhythm. The third major decision is whether to maintain lasting contact with the child by constantly holding it in her lap and watching, guarding and keeping it by her side, or whether

to believe she needs to accustom her child to the outside world as soon as possible so that it can manage being alone, in a stroller or in the crib. With these decisions, a system of emotional regulation begins to arise in the child and the mother, meaning the way how the mother and the child will be connected in response to the child's emotional and physical needs. This refers to whether the child is accepted with its specific needs or not, and how quickly and how appropriately the mother is able to respond to them. On the other hand, we see that during this period, the mother requires a great deal of emotional space and security, so that she may be sensitive to the current needs of the child, get to know it, and bond with it properly. The first months are thus dedicated exclusively to building a relationship with the newborn through rhythm, emotional tuning and micro-regulation, externally manifested through feeding/breastfeeding, regulation of sleep and wakefulness, and the development of an attachment relationship.

For the child during this period, the focus is on the development of the ability for social and emotional exchange, the parents' smile, and the 'speech' communication of the child (Stern, 2004). In this time interval, as stated, the relationship is established through the rhythm of feeding and sleeping, and the sympathy of the mother towards the child and vice versa. Stern emphasizes especially the mother's ability to tune into the child's need for food: whether she is attuned to its hunger or perhaps forcing it to eat, and whether she can distinguish between the child being sated or just taking a pause. The same occurs with sleep: does the mother know how to calm the baby before sleep, can she attain the right rhythm with it, is she able to calm herself down during these events, or is the process too overwhelming and she perhaps even reacts to the child with dissatisfaction, inadequate

emotion, or disapproving facial expressions? (Stern, 1985/1998, p. 300). Since the processes of feeding and sleeping are often interrupted and the baby cries, it takes many attempts to re-establish the routine. During this period, it is very important how the parents manage to comfort and calm the child, and how they react to its crying. Does it distress them, upset them, makes them feel apathetic, causes them to respond with excessive concern or to ignore the child, leaving it unattended to cry for hours for example; in short, whether they can respond to its needs sensitively, spontaneously, creatively and flexibly (Stern, 1985/1998).

Daniel Stern describes the sensation of hunger in the baby and emphasizes quite vividly its intensity as well as its rhythmic course:

> In this period, hunger is a very strong experience, motivation, drive for the infant. It travels through the child's nervous system like a storm, like a disorganization of everything that has been happening, it disorganizes behaviour and experiences. It brings chaos into their wellbeing. In the infant, hunger creates its own patterns of action and feelings, its own rhythm. The sensation of hunger starts weakly and grows rapidly. During this disorganized phase, as hunger increases, the child experiences the world as disjointed and fragmented.

Babies perceive the surrounding world momentarily. As hunger disturbs their condition, they scream, extending their arms and legs. The most disorganized change affects breathing, which is faster, stronger and more irregular. Soon the voice is activated – crying, but there is no integration between the individual elements at this time. The movements are not synchronized either, it is all just a confused mixed feeling with no real focus. However, as

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the hunger grows, things begin to localize. Gradually, a clear sensation of hunger emerges from the background of irritation. The cry is no longer disorganized, it becomes strong and organized, and this helps the baby cope with hunger. With this cry it can alert the parents to its stress so that they can respond. At the same time, this strong and clear cry helps it channel the intense feeling of hunger. Hunger thus forms two things in the infant: reaching out to the outside world, and dealing with the inner one. (1985/1998)

When the mother hears the child's cry, she gently picks it up, brings it to the breast/bottle, speaks softly to it; the child at first sucks voraciously then more gently, while looking at the mother's face. Before she has even prepared for breastfeeding, she has brought four new elements and a new position into the child's world. The first element is talking, which calms the child initially. Mothers usually talk to calm the baby while preparing to breastfeed, where the words are not important, only their melodiousness and sound. Mothers instinctively know that they need to calm the baby down first, or it will be too upset and unable to eat. The next element she brings into its world is touch when she takes the baby in her arms. The third is changing the position, when she lifts the child in her arms and puts it to her shoulder, face to face. This is one of the most powerful and effective ways to calm the infant. Even later in life, when a person is under stress, they might need such a hug as it promotes two powerful messages: there is a physiological calming component that is brought to the nervous system by face-to-face contact, a feeling of security and warmth, and also a mental calming component engaging the individual to be attentive to what they see and hear at the same time. In infants, the combination of physical contact and the upright position gives them opportunity to feel as if

everything is working out, so its inner world begins to settle down. The fourth element that surrounds the baby's world is movement. Walking while carrying the infant weakens the power of crying. Therefore, already in this first period, in stressful situations, the baby learns how to manage stress: by leaning on the person who will take care of them, attentively perceiving, finding a rhythm... All this builds a fundamental trust within the baby, so that when it is under stress it can rely on the mother to provide relief (Stern, 1985/1998). Only then can it begin to form more focused expectations. From repeated patterns of hunger and its mother's response to this stress, the infant learns that this stressful situation will end with feeding.

This anticipation of what will happen when a similar stress is felt again develops even more during the third month period. Sucking itself is a reflex. All babies have a similar sucking pattern. At first they suck faster, then slower, followed by a pause, then faster again when the mother moves them to the other side, then another pause... Each baby has its own version of this rhythm, unique to it just like the fingerprint. Initially they drink quickly to calm the pressing hunger, until the brain gets the message that food has arrived and so the second part of feeding has more ease, with less attention to the feeding process. In this second stage, the baby becomes aware of the world around it. Now it can drink, watch and listen. Earlier, in the first stage, it could only drink. Parents feel this part intuitively. They have to recognize how much they should encourage the child to eat so it will be sated before playing, or they might play in between if the child invites them to interact, but this way it might not finish its meal (Stern, 1985/98; Siegel, 2021).

During this period, children have different states of consciousness such as sleep, napping, inactivity, wakeful activity, crying or acute hunger. These states are separate and pass from one to another in jumps, not gradually. Each state is like a step on a ladder.

After it is fed, the baby is immediately back in its own world, looking at the mother whose face is just far enough to be clearly seen (20–30 cm). A human face has all the ideal elements encompassing everything a baby likes to look at.

The baby is in a state of harmony between its inner satisfaction and the presence of its mother's face. Its inner satisfaction depends on the mother's face, while its response to the mother's face at the same time has an animating effect on the mother, bringing even more life to her expression.

The connection between the cycle of satisfaction-comfort-reanimation and the mother's presence, face and actions takes place in the present, and at the same time, it is this present that builds the foundations for future expectations, longings and hopes in the child and mother. The baby already begins to form mental models or representations of its mother (Schore, 2019; Bell et al., 2007). The mother model later consists of many different pieces of their relationship, one of which is feeding. The model of contact and sympathy formed by the child with the mother during such basic functions as going to sleep, walking, caring, or feeding, later acts as a prototype for what to expect in relationships with other loved ones in life. In other words, it builds the fundamental characteristics of the attachment mechanism (Bowlby, 1988).

During this period, therefore, by regulating hunger and satiety, wakefulness and sleep, paying attention to the outside world and listening especially to the

<figure><img src="image_48.png" /></figure>
mother's voice, the baby tunes into the rhythm and melody of its environment and builds all other abilities on this. Babies are very open at birth. Despite the genetic record, the baby will only develop in the direction that is enabled by the adult environment around it. A baby thus cannot develop alone, but only in a relationship with adults (Bornstein & Lamb, 2015).

## Harmony in the play of faces: Between the second and the fourth month

A very important shift in this life period is the child's own vocalization. Stern (1985/1998) notes that between 8 and 12 weeks, the baby makes a dramatic leap in development. Namely, the capacity for social interaction flourishes: the social smile appears, the baby begins to form the first syllables and is able to seek eye contact. It becomes truly social almost overnight, although social skills are limited to face-to-face and here-and-now contact. The search for such contact thus remains present until the sixth month and stays the dominant way of establishing and maintaining a relationship with others, with vocalization and 'dialogue' becoming even more involved in this search. Later, throughout adult life, the recognition of social cues is based on this ability as well. To the baby, the human face is the most attractive phenomenon. It has its own special rules and a particular influence or power the baby learns and internalizes in the period up to six months. What it learns about faces and their expressions by then will be retained and recognized in adulthood as well. The feelings and intentions of an individual are namely easiest to determine through the face even as a grownup, and humans are real experts at this, having learned it from birth. Looking at a face satisfies infants more than looking at anything else (Stern, 1985/1998).

The mother's face is designed to attract the child's attention: for example, the child prefers curved rather than straight lines (eyebrows and cheeks), it likes light-dark contrasts (eye), it prefers sharp angles to obtuse ones (eye corners), it is fascinated by vertical symmetry (left and right side of the face). At this age, compared to at six weeks, it is also preoccupied with movement and listening (lips while speaking). What is more, the parent's face is not only alive, it also responds to what the baby is doing from moment to moment, so that it can feel a special connection between itself and someone else. In addition, the face gains a special power for the baby after the age of two or three months, acting as a trigger for social smiling and vocalization (Stern, 1985/1998). Gradually, the contact between a parent and a baby is also established through the voice.

Another major aspect that a baby can already use at this period is the gaze, which can be controlled to a great degree now. With this ability, it can start and end face-to-face interaction, as these interactions are built on the mutual gaze (Stern, 1985/1998). This can also be called gaze control, smile response, and vocalization. Schematically speaking, a child at this age already knows the range of facial expressions, their meaning, and adapts to these expressions with its behaviour. Therefore, during this period, the mechanism of regulating the affect is more deeply established and acquires more concrete characteristics (Bell et al., 2007). When regulating facial interaction, the child quickly takes the initiative in relation to the adult. It may invite adults to interact with a big smile, or it may reject them by decisively looking away (Stern, 1985/1998). Stern calls this way of communication the face game (Stern, 1985/1998, p. 57). The child and mother look at each other a lot during this period.

Sometimes the mother's gaze is absent, there is no life in it; the child feels lost, afraid, it looks for a point where there is life and where it might seek comfort, finding it in the eyes which are the softest and also the most solid point in the world. By staring there, life gradually returns to the mother's face. They might start playing with different facial expressions. The child then starts to make different faces and laugh when the mother mirrors this behaviour. It calls her, she answers. They call one another, guide and follow each other. The mother approaches the baby with her nose, it blinks and is delighted. But if the mother is not too enthusiastic about this activity, the child is confused between joy and apprehension, it begins to tremble and relbel. The mother usually notices this and stops the game. She can calm the baby down with a gentle smile (Stern, 1985/1998).

By the time a baby is three months old, it knows what to expect in face-to-face interaction with its mother.

## The start of the social world: Four months and a half – the social world

Babies experience the eyes as a window to the soul, something that is highly evident in the pekaboo game. A baby is only really happy with an adult when it sees their eyes. For it, this means that 'if you can't see my eyes, you can't see me'. If he can't see its mother's eyes, there is no mother. The reason babies love this game so much is because the mother keeps reappearing. To see means to look into the eyes of another. The eyes are the centre of contact for both the baby and the adult. As if it were absorbing its development and understanding of the world from eye contact.

<figure><img src="image_49.png" /></figure>
The only goal for the child during this period is to maintain the experience that its gaze can attract and direct the gaze of the mother. Later in life, this underlies the experiences of romantic love and the 'wordless understanding' celebrated in love poetry, and it stems from the earliest experience of shaping the world with one's gaze.

Not only is the baby very interested in the gaze, but it is actually limited to social events 'here and now, between us'. Even if it were interested in things outside of this relationship, it cannot do anything in that direction. Until the fifth or sixth month, it is literally trapped in a non-verbal interpersonal world, as it cannot yet move, even sit independently...

Only afterwards can babies find an object and become agents in the world. If they move their head, the scene changes; if they blink, the world is dark; if they move their arm, they feel a muscle and a new position in space. Through this, they realize that they are agents in the events, and they also realize that they are psychologically separated from their mother – they are no longer one with her. They understand that they have separate actions and feelings.

A baby can gradually capture more of the world if it has the opportunity to see how adults manage stress and discomfort. Slowly, it begins to recognize the most common gestures and stores them as images. It can be a mother smiling when she comes into the room as it is crying, or maybe her image shows a hostile and unpleasant face. The child begins to recognize whether the arrival of the mother brings comfort or pain. Early experiences develop mainly in two directions, either to push people away or to get them close. These images become permanent expectations about the emotional world in which the infant lives.

During the first six months, the child becomes a true master of correcting misunderstandings and inconsistencies between it and the adult. With its whole body, the child communicates to the world its inner state, its needs and how people can approach it, reach out into its world and invite it into theirs. In this way, connection and fundamental trust are built, as well as an understanding of what kind of world it was born into. In the first six months, we already teach the child about the world of relationships it was born into and about the feelings it will be allowed to bring into this world; to what extent it will be able to co-create the world. In this period, the baby is particularly enthusiastic about sounds and singing and already responds to the mother's incentives with its voice.

## The melody of the emotional world, a relationship is also built with the voice: From the fifth month and a half to the ninth month

At six months, the child already knows all the emotions that are 'allowed', understood and assuaged in its family. It can already express anger, sadness, fear, joy, excitement, disgust and anxiety very clearly. At the same time, expressing itself, the baby has already learned how the surroundings react to these feelings. Intense emotions are very tiring for the human body, especially for a child, and represent a high level of stress. Therefore, the way the father and mother help the child handle emotional states is crucial for the development of the child's ability to regulate stress, the ability to control its emotions.

During the first six months, the baby has learned the feelings as they were forming, and, based on the reactions of the parents, developed mechanisms for coping with stress, which will accompany it throughout its life. A child that was soothed by its parents as soon as it started crying, who was responded to as soon as it needed something, and who was watched and taken seriously in its needs, will already be very 'mature' at six months, able to show and express with its face a very wide range of experiences. It will also already show the first signs of 'patience': since it can trust its parents to take care of it, the baby will begin to express its needs with less 'urgent' signs. It will smile more, it will be able to show what it wants faster with gestures, it will start using yelps and calls and will cry less (Bell et al., 2007; Schore, 2019; Erdman & Caffery, 2003).

During the first six months, the child becomes a true master of correcting misunderstandings and inconsistencies between it and the adult. With its whole body, the child communicates to the world its inner state, its needs and how people can approach it, reach out into its world and invite it into theirs. In this way, connection and fundamental trust are built, as well as an understanding of what kind of world it was born into. In the first six months, we already teach the child about the world of relationships it was born into and about the feelings it will be allowed to bring into this world; to what extent it will be able to co-create the world. In this period, the baby is particularly enthusiastic about sounds and singing and already responds to the mother's incentives with its voice.

At this age, the child slowly learns to distinguish what comes from the outside and what comes from the inside, and it is this distinction that is the basis for the later development of a sense of responsibility, self-confidence and control. Through sensitive parenting, which helps the child recognize distress and comfort it, the child will soon be able to cope with the challenging task of simultaneously managing its feelings and maintaining contact with adults, as well as the ability to control objects in its environment (Bell et al., 2007).

All these skills are most easily developed in the play between a child and an adult. This period is therefore very much marked by the child playing with its parents. During play, adults can be creative and use their whole personality. This is important, because only in creativity can an individual explore themselves – their inner Self (Winnicott, 2017).

<figure><img src="image_50.png" /></figure>
Play:

* promotes growth and development,

* comes naturally,

* is characterized by a certain spontaneity, creativity, it is something pleasant, it brings satisfaction,

* leads to a social relationship.

In the mother-child relationship, the overlapping of the two spheres of play, the mother's and the child's, must be allowed and enjoyed (Winnicott, 2017).

Stern would add that particularly important is the regulation of the game, the interweaving of these two worlds. A mother playing with a child takes care to adopt to the child's play activities. Soon-er or later, she introduces her own gameplay into the game, as she realizes that the child's game-play is different from hers. The child may like this, or it may find the introduction of somebody else's ideas unnecessary, yet, in case the mother does not adapt, it accepts it regardless (has to accept) (Winnicott, 2017).

This age period is characterized by mutual play, when mother and child play with objects together. The child has already acquired sufficient coordination skills in terms of mastering eye-hand and hand-hand activities and begins to be visibly interested in the world around it. What matters is how parents and children tune into the direction, time, space, focus, execution, development, changes and interruption of play. All this brings to the fore the same themes that could be observed already months ago, namely in the period of feeding and face-to-face play (Stern, 1985/1998), but in a completely new quality and potential.

This period is also the one that is the biggest test for mothers, because the child expects from them spontaneity, relaxation and creativity when playing, which can be quite a challenge for an adult burdened with their own rhythm of responsibilities. Help in this creative game and co-creation of a colourful and open world is therefore very welcome, providing of course it includes those elements that actually strengthen the developmental changes. Musical art for babies – a game that includes the mother's face and her participation, rhythmic and melodic patterns and surprises that delight the baby, can bring to everyday life a support that strengthens the most tender and deepest bonds, reducing the distress and uncertainty of the adult.

The radio plays made specifically for babies: “Sea”, “Chitter-Chatter” and “Musical Kitchen”, open up the space of the relationship between mother and child by addressing these very deepest emotional states at different moments of the day. “Sea” opens up space for weariness, melancholy, calming, dreaminess and longing, breastfeeding, or simply resting together in a rich sound environment that provides the mother and the child with security and a flow that reflects the emotions they both know. “Chitter-Chatter” supports the contact between mother and child in activity, directing attention to the deeper meaning of nature, contact with it, bringing a relaxed and free rhythm for the time of walks, games and interesting activities that would feed the child’s curiosity. The “Musical Kitchen” gives a rhythm to the daily routine and provides a model of playful acceptance of the routine, which is the best form of learning for babies 6 months of age. Of course, this play is possible precisely on the basis of the already formed, positive and mutually established relationship between the child and the mother during feeding and interaction, and it can help them to expand this safe

relationship with a new playful dialogue. It is not that these radio plays are meant to be used only at certain times, but they are meant to be listened to together at any time, with the aim of expanding the mother's set of ideas for deepening the contact with the baby and providing the baby with a safe and interesting experience, one that internally nourishes and connects with the mother.

The music thus approaches the child through the mother's relaxed activity and from the background, as part of the ambience, and at the same time introduces into their everyday life the play and learning about objects that the child already has a good command of, and whose role in life it understands, enabling new learning in a structured and emotionally balanced way.

<figure><img src="image_51.png" /></figure>
Sources and literature

Bell, L., Goulet, C., Tribble, D. S.-C., Paul, D., Boisclair, A., & Tronick, E. (2007, May). Mothers' and fathers' views of the interdependence of their relationships with their infant: A Systems perspective on early family relationships. *Journal of Family Nursing*, 13(2), 179–200.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1074840707300774

Bornstein, M. H., & Lamb, M. E. (Eds.). (2015). *Develop-mental science: An advanced textbook* (7th edition). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203112373

Bowlby, J. (1988). Secure base. Basic books. https://www.increaseproject.eu/images/DOWNLOADS/IO2/HU/CURR_M4-A13_Bowlby_(EN-only)_20170920_HU_final.pdf

Erdman, P., & Caffery, T. (Eds.). (2003). Attachment and family systems: *Conceptual, empirical, and therapeutic relatedness*. Brunner-Routledge.

Lerner, R. M., Hershberg, R. M., Hillard, L. J., & Johnson, S. H. (2015). *Concepts and theories of human de-velopment*. In M. H. Bornstein, & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), *Developmental science: An advanced textbook* (7th edition, pp. 3–42). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203112373

Schore, A. (2019). *Right brain psychotherapy*. Norton.

Siegel, D. (2021). *The Developing mind*. Norton.

Stern, D. (1998). *The Interpersonal world of the infant: A View from psychoanalysis and developmental psychol-ogy*. Karnac Books. (Original work published 1985)

Stern, D. (2004). *The present moment*. Norton.

Winnicott, D. (2017). *Otrok, družina in svet zunaj*. Umco.

<figure><img src="image_52.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_53.png" /><figcaption>Čorić facilitating the "Musical Kitchen" at the Radio Voćarska Festival of Radio Drama and Radio Theatre for Babies and Children, RadioTeatar, Zagreb, Croatia. Photo by Mia Cvitković</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_54.png" /></figure>
MUSICAL KITCHEN
Libretto

(Musical theme - intro.)

1, 2, 3, (a sound of banging with a spoon),
1, 2, 3, (a sound of banging with a spoon),
1, (a sound of banging with a spoon),
1, (a sound of banging with a spoon),
1, 2, 3, (a sound of banging with a spoon).

sshhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
sssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh.

Cold,
(iiiiiiiii),
curvy,
smooth,
(sssshhh),
shiny.

Cold, curvy,
smooth, shiny.

Cooooooood,
cuuuuuuuurvy,
smoooooooth,
shiiiiiiiiiiiiny.

Cold,
curvy,
smooth,
shiny.

(3x, each time faster):
Cold, curvy,
smooth, shiny.

Spoon.

(4x):
sssshhh.

(5x):
Spoon.

Spoo—oon.
spoo-spoo-spoo-spoo-spoon.
Spoo-oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo,-nnnn.

One spoon,
another spoon,
one spoon,
another spoon.

One for you,
another for me.

One spoon,
another spoon,
one for me,
another for you.

(Blowing sound.)

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon gets in the soup.

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon swims in the soup.

Five crumbs swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

Five crumbs swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

(Faster and faster):

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon gets in the soup.

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon swims in the soup.

Five crumbs swimming
with the flow,
Eeny, meeny,
miniy, moe.

(Plonk.)

(A sound of surprise.)

O-o.

The spoon sinks.

O-o.
Oh, no.

The spoon is whining,
the soup is frightening.

The soup is fiery, flaming, burning,
fiery, fiery,
flaming, burning,

<figure><img src="image_55.png" /></figure>
writhing, pinching,
tickling, stinging.

Wriiiiithing,
pinch-ing,
tick-ling,
sting-ing.

Writhing, pinching,
tickling, stinging.

Burning,
burning-burn-ing-ing-ing-ing,
fiery, flaming,
writhing, pinching,
tickling, stinging.

Writhing, pinching,
tickling, stinging.
Writhing, pinching,
tickling, stinging.

(Blowing sound.)

(Slurping sound.)

Mmmm.
Hm!

Warm soup,
tasy soup,
good soup,
healthy soup.

(A song follows):

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon gets in the soup.

Whoosh, whoosh,
the little spoon swims in the soup.

Five crumbs are swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

Five crumbs are swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

Five crumbs are swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

Five crumbs are swimming
in the soup,
Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe.

Eeny, meeny,
for, for, for.
for, for, for, for,
for, for, for,
for, for, for, for,

for, for, for.

Fork.
On the table.
In the hand.

The fork is in the hand.
On the table.

Fiuuuuuuu — (a sound of a spoon falling on the
floor.)

(A sound of surprise.)
Ouucchhhh!

Slides off the table,
sliding, falling.
On the head.
On the legs.
On its sturdy tips.

(Knocking sound.)

Under the table?
Under the table.
At the table?
At the table.

Above the table?
Above the table.
Next to the table?
Next to the table.

(Faster and faster):

Under-the-table.
Next-to-the-table.
At-the-table.
Above-the-table.

Under-the-table.
Next-to-the-table.
Under-the-table.
At-the-table.

Above-the-table.
Under-the-table.
Next-to-the-table.
At-the-table!

<figure><img src="image_56.png" /></figure>
And now — give me a bite!
Another one.
another bite.
Another one.
another bite.
Come on.
And now give me another bite.
Come on.
Now.
Another bite.

A piece of banana — yum, yum, yum!
Some soup — yum, yum, yum!
A piece of cake — yum, yum, yum!
A piece of ... a sock — Eeeeuuuuwww!

Eeeuw, eeeuw,
eeeuw, eeeuw-eeeuw.

Yum, yum, yum,
yum, yum, yum.

Eeeuw, eeeuw,
eeeuw.

And — splash into the sink!

(Repeat musical theme from intro.)

<figure><img src="image_57.png" /><figcaption>Music pedagogue Olivera Milojević facilitating the "Musical Kitchen" at the Festival of Radio and Sound Art for Children and Youth, BAZAART and RTS, Belgrade, Serbia, June 2023.
Photo by Sunčica Milosavljević</figcaption></figure>

## Credits

**Author of the text and Director:**
Tajda Lipicer

**Composer and Author of original music:**
Alenja Pivko Kneževič

**Interpreter:**
Maja Kunšič

**Expert advisors:**
Saška Rakef,
Katarina Zadnik, Ph.D.
Katarina Habe, Ph.D.
Lia Katarina Kompan Erzar, Ph.D.

**Sound Engineer:**
Urban Gruden

**External Collaborator:**
Žiga Hren

**Production:**
Radio Slovenia 3rd Program – Program “ARS”

<figure><img src="image_58.png" /></figure>

To listen to “Musical Kitchen”:

<figure><img src="image_59.png" /></figure>
# MUSICAL KITCHEN
## Suggestions for your musical creations while listening to a radio play

Graphic notation is offering suggestions to assist one in the process of making one's own sound creations while listening to the radio play; it's open to imagination and allows one to research sound as well as improvised rhythmic and melodic structures. One can also follow it randomly; or, while listening, one can include other, random forms of inclusion.

Listing with the help of this graphic notation is based on parents', or any other adult's engagement, who's modeling to the child how to use different objects and how to interact with one's environment.

Prepare the following props and put them on the table:

- a spoon (one for you and one for the child)

- a bowl with a lid that fits and can be fixed to the bowl

- rice or dry beans

- a fork

We're sitting at a table. While listening, follow the icons, described in the list of symbols.

## THE LIST OF SYMBOLS

<figure><img src="image_60.png" /></figure>

- listening

<figure><img src="image_61.png" /></figure>

- sound signal - the bang of a spoon in the recording

<figure><img src="image_62.png" /></figure>

- a spoon banging on the edge of the bowl

<figure><img src="image_63.png" /></figure>

- a spoon banging on the edge of the table

<figure><img src="image_64.png" /></figure>

- your voice goes up and down (vocal glissandos); vocal intensity correlates with line's thickness (thicker - forte; thinner - piano)

<figure><img src="image_65.png" /></figure>

- the sound of a spoon mixing the rice in a bowl (when icons are closer together, mixing gets faster)

<figure><img src="image_66.png" /></figure>

- continue performing sound elements (motif repetition)

<figure><img src="image_67.png" /></figure>

- we reach into the bowl with our hand; we're making sounds with the help of scratching, mixing and scraping

Pi-i-ha-a

<figure><img src="image_68.png" /></figure>

- the position of dots implies how high the notes are

<figure><img src="image_69.png" /></figure>

- improvised playing using the rattle

<figure><img src="image_70.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_71.png" /></figure>

One, two, three,
One, two, three,
one,
one,
one, two, three

Voice:

One, two, three, One, two, three, one

one

One, two, three,

Participants
(an adult,
a child):

<figure><img src="image_72.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_73.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_74.png" /></figure>

Cold, curvy, smooth, **shiny**

<figure><img src="image_75.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_76.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_77.png" /></figure>

Spoon

<figure><img src="image_78.png" /></figure>

Spoo—oon.
spoospoospoospoospoospoos.
Spoo-oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo,
oo, oo, oo, oo, -nnnn.

<figure><img src="image_79.png" /></figure>

Voice:

One spoon,

<figure><img src="image_80.png" /></figure>

another spoon,

<figure><img src="image_81.png" /></figure>

one spoon,

<figure><img src="image_82.png" /></figure>

another spoon.

<figure><img src="image_83.png" /></figure>

spoon?

One for you,

<figure><img src="image_84.png" /></figure>

another for me.

<figure><img src="image_85.png" /></figure>

One spoon,

<figure><img src="image_86.png" /></figure>

another spoon,

<figure><img src="image_87.png" /></figure>

one for me,

<figure><img src="image_88.png" /></figure>

mmm.

<figure><img src="image_89.png" /></figure>

Participant:

<figure><img src="image_90.png" /></figure>

Voice:

Whoosh, whoosh, splush, splush, the little spoon gets in the soup. Whoosh, whoosh, splash, splash, the little spoon swims in the soup. Five crumbs swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Five crumbs swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Participant:

<figure><img src="image_91.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_92.png" /></figure>

We put some rice into the bowl.
We start mixing the rice with the spoon.

<figure><img src="image_93.png" /></figure>

Voice:

Whoosh, whoosh, splush, splush, the little spoon gets in the soup. Whoosh, whoosh, splash, splash, the little spoon swims in the soup. Five crumbs swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Five crumbs swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.. ČOF!

Participant:

<figure><img src="image_94.png" /></figure>

Put the spoon
in the rice.

O-o

<figure><img src="image_95.png" /></figure>

The spoon sinks.

O-o

Oh, no.

The spoon is whining,
it won't get in the soup.

Voice:

The soup is fiery, flaming, burning, fiery, fiery, flaming, burning, writhing, pinching, tickling, stinging. Wriiiiithing, pinch-ing, tick-ling, sting-ing. Writhing, pinching, tickling, stinging.

Participant:

<figure><img src="image_96.png" /></figure>

Put your hand in the rice.
Make sounds with the help
of scratching, mixing, scraping.

<figure><img src="image_97.png" /></figure>
**Voice:** Burning, burning-burn-ing-ing-ing-ing, fiery, flaming, writhing, pinching, tickling, stinging. Writhing, pinching, tickling, stinging. Writhing, pinching, tickling, stinging.

**Participant:**

<figure><img src="image_98.png" /></figure>

**Voice:** Mmmm. Hm! Warm soup, nice soup, tasty soup, healthy soup.

**Participant:** Take the spoon out of the soup. Put the lid on the bowl and close it. (use the bowl as a rattle)

<figure><img src="image_99.png" /></figure>

(Who-osh, who-osh, sp-lush, sp-lush, the li-ttle spo-on g-ets in the so-up.)

Pi-i-ha-a, pu-u-ha-a, štri-i-fi-i, štro-o-fi,

<figure><img src="image_100.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_101.png" /></figure>

Who-osh, who-osh, sp-lush, sp-lush, the li-ttle spo-on sw-ims in the so-up.)

Pi-i-ha-a, pu-u-ha-a, štri-i-fa-a, štra-a-fa,

<figure><img src="image_102.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_103.png" /></figure>

Shaking (with) the rattle.

<figure><img src="image_104.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_105.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_106.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_107.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_108.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_109.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_110.png" /></figure>

(Five crumbs are swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Five crumbs are swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.) (Five crumbs are swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Five crumbs are swimming in the soup, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.)

V ju- hi pla-va pet dro-btin,vi- ja va-ja, ven le-tim.

<figure><img src="image_111.png" /></figure>

V ju- hi pla-va pet dro-btin,vi- ja va-ja, ven le-tim.

<figure><img src="image_112.png" /></figure>

V ju- hi pla-va pet dro-btin,vi- ja va-ja, ven le-tim.

<figure><img src="image_113.png" /></figure>

V ju- hi pla-va pet dro-btin,vi- ja va-ja, ven le-tim.

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# INTERPRETATIVE AND DIDACTIC POTENTIALS OF THE RADIO PLAY FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS “MUSICAL KITCHEN”

*When a spoon becomes the first instrument. And home kitchen a concert stage.*

The radio play “Musical Kitchen” by Tajda Lipicer and Alenja Pivko Kneževič is intended for babies between 6 and 18 months of age, and toddlers. It is presented in the form of a soundtrack and in the form of a graphic score. The sound recording puts to the fore the activity of listening and auditory perception of speech, sound and music events, while the graphic score opens up the limitless possibilities of speech, voice and singing interpretations of the authorial text. We will hereby present the didactic aspects and approaches of listening to radio work and the possibilities of parental interpretation of the text or its individual parts to the child, in the form of an independent speech-music performance. The soundtrack of the radio play “Musical Kitchen” highlights the sound world of what is happening in the kitchen. The kitchen is presented as a place for preparing meals and eating with kitchen utensils. The principal audio event places the spoon, bowl and fork at the centre, as the main eating utensils for a baby and a toddler.

Radio play for babies and toddlers “Musical Kitchen” encourages independent listening to samples of sound, or listening to a musical art work in interconnection of a parent and a baby or toddler. Babies and toddlers obtain the artistic experience through a holistic approach of re-

corded speech, voice, sound and music parts. An integrated sound-musical experience, presenting events in the kitchen during mealtime, reminds the youngest of the already familiar sound environment from everyday life. Rich and charming sound associations that provide an aesthetic experience of an art work are appropriate for the development of auditory sensitivity and perception in the youngest. The attractive sound and musical elements, and the emotional and expressive verbal narration by a female voice with excellent speech articulation and intonation in the higher frequency range, will draw the attention of babies and toddlers. Although a baby cannot understand the text on the cognitive level, the “Musical Kitch-en” is creatively designed with sound and speech in such a way that the baby will recognize the sounds and intuitively connect them to the events and the meal in the kitchen. Little ones will deep-en their experience of speech, sound and musical elements precisely by grasping the content of the text, sonority and sounding of meaningless words. Playing with syllables and words interpreted in a female voice, well-complemented with sound and music, will arouse their attention, enthusiasm and the wish to imitate what they’ve heard.

From the point of view of didactic approaches, the radio play “Musical Kitchen” can be offered to babies and toddlers for independent listening, and the listening effect will be even greater in par-ent-baby or parent-toddler interaction. In this case, in the introduction, parents should motivate a baby to listen to the radio play, with an exciting message about what will be listened to. During the first listen-ing, it is recommended to observe the child and his reactions to speech, sound and musical elements, and at the end to remind the child of those parts he reacted to. Parents can repeat those parts imme-diately after listening, as a kind of game with the child, but this game can also occur before or after the meal, when props – utensils, bowls, spoons and forks, are also available. It is recommended to listen to the “Musical Kitchen” several times, as children love repetition which triggers deeper aesthet-ic experiences in them, and encourages the development of auditory sensitivity, attention and memorization. An introductory speech and prepa-ration for listening can be added to the repeated listening, as well as the comments from an adult during the listening.

In the course of listening, parents can also pause the recording, interpret the parts that have already been

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heard and encourage babies and toddlers to express themselves vocally. Listening to the radio play should be in a family environment during the child's play-time, when the child is ready and awake for it. The presence of one of the parents is recommended during listening. Joint listening can take place in close physical contact, when the baby and toddler are in parent's arms, which creates a safe space for them to express their imagination and creative impulses. Before listening to such works of art, it is necessary to prepare a physical space that should be comfortable for the child, and also an acoustic space free from external sound disturbances. For the listening, a sound-quality recording and a suitable sound player should be used. Sound recordings should be played at an appropriate volume, by no means too loud.

In addition to their radiophonic artwork intended for listening, authors Tajda Lipicer and Alenja Pivko Kneževič also created a graphic score which can serve to a listener as a template for creative sound improvisation while listening to a radio play. With the legend of symbols, the graphic score encourages the creation of sounds even independently from the radio play soundtrack. In this type of performance, the adult becomes the creator of the sound elements and sonority of what is happening in the kitchen and during the feeding. For sound exploration and improvisation of their own 'musical kitchen', the authors propose a group of kitchen objects (spoon, fork, bowl, kitchen table, rice or dry beans), a rumbling musical instrument and a human voice (vocal *glissandi* in upward and downward direction, blowing at different heights). The text, accompanied by symbolic language in the graphic score, encourages the search for their own creative approaches in making sound images and sound-musical elements, with which an adult will improvise and create the sound of kitchen events while preparing a meal and while feeding or eating.

An adult should try and explore the possibilities of creating different sounds and sound colours using the objects defined in the legend of the score, and can then upgrade the selected sounds by creating interesting rhythmic and/or melodic patterns and by performing them at different speeds (tempos) and dynamics. The use of the human voice should also be imaginative, using different vowels and pitches of phonemes or syllables and sounding words when uttering them. The human voice supports pronouncing syllables and words or singing in different registers (higher, lower), voice colours (bright, dark), whispering, in different dynamics (quiet, loud, rising, falling), tempos (slow, moderate, fast, acceleration, slowing down) and rhythmic and melodic patterns.

The graphic score precisely defines the selection of sounds and the method of performance in connection with the verbal content, permitting the

same time an open space for the imagination of the adult in search for new possibilities of including and improvising with kitchen objects and voice and speech-singing capabilities, in a unique and original way. Like this, the sound of what is happening in the kitchen will always be performed live by the parents in an innovative and unique way, which will encourage and hold the child's attention to sound and sound events, prolong his attention and concentration, and support him to test his own vocal capabilities, the sound of objects and his movements. Parents often feel reserved about finding their own expressive voice-singing abilities and improvisation. The artwork "Musical Kitchen" with its soundtrack exemplifies performance possibilities that parents can imitate, while the graphic score supports them to independently explore sounds and improvise with them in the home environment.

<figure><img src="image_117.png" /><figcaption>Multiinstrumentalist Andrej Fon facilitating the "Musical Kitchen" at the Audiofestival, RTV SLO, October 2022, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Photo by Adrian Pregelj</figcaption></figure>

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During the development period of the baby, the role of the parents as the main actors is crucial in the creation and improvisation of sound elements. Here, we advise that creation and improvisation, with or without a sound template, take place in the kitchen environment. The first option is for the baby to follow the parent's sound performance in the kitchen while eating in the parent's arms; the second option is for the baby to sit independently and watch the sound-music improvisation as a musical performance on the 'kitchen stage'. Another recommendation is to do the performing – with an emphasis on the pronunciation of the text – in such a way that the baby lies on the changing table, and the adult, leaning over the baby, talks to the baby creatively with expressive voice, speech and singing improvisation. Such an approach enables eye contact and direct proximity, which represents a safe environment, while at the same time, the baby observes the pronunciation of syllables and words, and the articulation of the mouth, and listens to the voice and speech-singing expression of the adult. At first, the baby will listen and observe the parent's activity, but soon they will start to respond, get involved and communicate, and imitate the parent in their own way, through vocalizations and babbling. The responses will be richer and more expressive when parents are creative in saying the text, when they articulate and pronounce it clearly and distinctly. The effects in the baby will be manifested in a gradual increase in movement and vocal responses, which will encourage movement, speech and singing development. On an emotional level, the experienced performances of the parents will bring the child great joy, enthusiasm and the desire for repetitions.

Even during the development period of the toddler, the parents' role in performing, creating and improvising on the graphic score template is crucial. At first, the toddler will observe the exploratory,

creative and performing approaches of the adult. The observation will be followed by imitating the activities of an adult and later independent exploration of sound-musical abilities using the props and speaking-singing voice. It is recommended that parents encourage and participate in the sound-musical activity of the child and observe their creative impulses, which should be adopted and used to support the creative activity of the toddler, especially when spontaneous creation of similar or different sound-musical elements occurs. These deviations from the original sound-musical template are extremely important and also completely natural in early childhood. Stimulation of exploration, improvisation and creation with new sound and musical elements is closely related to developmental characteristics, most often manifested in chattering or singing improvisations.

In order to avoid the stereotype of learning popular texts or songs already in infancy, the radio play is a very good lever for stimulating and fostering the typical child's need to explore the world of sound and music by creating sound-musical patterns using various props, objects and musical instruments, as well as speech-musical patterns with their own voice. Care must be taken when choosing props which will support the creative activity of exploring sound making and various colours of sound, that they are not sharp and dangerous to use and cause physical injuries. The interaction of the toddler with parents in designing the sound-musical landscape will be a space of safety and closeness that will support the limitless possibilities of creative approaches. It is recommended that at some point the adult steps away from direct stimuli during the time of research and creation, and just monitors the activity of the toddler. The observation should be aimed at identifying which props, sound and musical elements excite them.

In this way, during repetitions, we can offer a stimulating environment with only the exciting props, and later enrich it with additional props, or we can replace them with new ones.

The radio play "Musical Kitchen" by Tajda Lipicer and Alenje Pivko Knežević, intended for babies and toddlers, from the point of view of two conceptual proposals, encourages the development of auditory perceptions, sensitivity and attention to sound by actively listening to a piece of music as well as exploring, creating and improvising with the graphic score. Thus, the authors, with knowledge of the musical-developmental characteristics of an infant at the level of sensorimotor development and a toddler at the level of the pre-operative period, encourage their musical and holistic development with appropriate voice, sound and musical elements. The audio recording is a very good starting point for further creative approaches by parents as important adults, in acting out what is happening in the kitchen. The performative role of parents in offering an aesthetic artistic experience to the child is an important incentive for the exploration of sound and the children's own creation. The radio game "Musical Kitchen", which supports the developmental characteristics of babies and toddlers with sound and musical subtlety and sensitivity, is recommended for listening and creating in a family environment. Radio work for babies and toddlers significantly fills the gap in the field of missing radio and music works in the Slovenian space and beyond.

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# RADIOPHONIC PLAYS AS A SOUND ENVIRONMENT TO STIMULATE INFANTS' AND TODDLERS' PSYCHOLOGICAL FLOW:

## A motivational aspect of listening to radiophonic plays for young children

Many people might think that creating for young children is easy, but this is far from the truth. To engage the youngest, we need to enter their world, understand it, feel it and, departing from there, translate it into a work of art. Even more difficult than getting their attention is keeping it, because the attention span of babies and toddlers is very short and very open. Creators for the little ones need to have a lively inner child who is curious, playful, mischievous, spontaneous, genuine and open.

Creating a radiophonic work for the very young is particularly challenging. Today's world is highly visual, full of attractive colourful stimuli and attractive images, so the question arises how the world of sound can compete with this? How to create a sound world that is familiar to the child, which at the same time evokes feelings of security and a desire to explore new things, which appeals to the child, and stimulates them to listen?

Observing how babies and toddlers experience and react to the sound world shows that they are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. They react to it on all levels, physical, emotional and cognitive. Their primary response is physical, as they physiologically 'tune in' to the features of the sound

environment around them. The physical response towards activation or relaxation is reflected in the depth of their breathing, in their muscle tone, in their heart rate, in their hormone secretion. In the earliest years, the emotional response is mainly one of pleasure or discomfort; it is only later that responses develop in the form of a variety of emotions, first primary ones such as joy and sadness, and later more complex ones. Primary emotional responses are mainly linked to the intensity and quality of the sound, which can trigger feelings of fear if it is too loud, too forceful, too saturated. The sound environment can therefore evoke either feelings of fear or feelings of security in the child. Sound also opens young children up to the world of social relationships, to the world of belonging and love offered to them through musical communication by their primary caregivers, usually their mothers. Interesting sound stimuli attract the child's attention on a cognitive level and become imprinted in the youngest children's memories.

Poćwierz-Marciniak and Harciarek (2021) summarise the findings of a number of studies that state that a child is born into this world with a fully formed hearing apparatus. The new-born is already able to discriminate the melodic and rhythmic aspects of

auditory stimuli, and responds to them motorically and emotionally. Already in the prenatal period, musical memory develops, whereas the new-born can easily remember new musical fragments. Babies learn to experience music emotionally, especially through their relationship with their mother. Optimal musical stimulation is very important for the youngest babies, with the focus on satisfying the need for safety that the mother creates by singing to the baby.

Music can be considered as a tool that can be used to promote holistic well-being of the very young, which is reflected in the quality of their development. The sound-music environment therefore has an important influence on how babies and toddlers experience and respond to the world.

## Listening and the flow

One convincing reason for listening is the stimulation of 'flow' (a sensation of total involvement) – an optimal experience that inspires pleasure, curiosity and interest in the listener.

'Flow' is a holistic feeling that people experience when they are

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completely engaged and intrinsically motivated to perform an activity (Czikszentmihalyi, 1975). It is a feeling that emphasises the pleasure of performing an activity (Privette, 1983). In a state of flow, there is no fear of failure; the individual feels that he or she is in control of what he or she is doing and acts automatically and unmistakably (Musek, 2015). When immersed in what they do, i.e. in the state of flow, people experience deep joy, creativity and full engagement in life. This kind of experience is also called 'optimal experience' (Csiksczentmihalyi et al., 2004).

Being involved beyond self-consciousness – or being in a flow – is a natural state for children. Csikszentmihalyi (1993) states that children are in the flow most of the time. Being absorbed in an activity, usually a game, to the point of forgetting about space and time, is quite normal and spontaneous for children.

Few studies have been carried out on the connection between the feeling of flow and music listening. Lamont (2011) found that listening flow is associated with immersion in music and a loss of sense of what is going on around us. The respondents also reported that they experienced more listening flow when they were fully concentrated on the music. Diaz (2013) concluded that if we listen to music with too much cognitive engagement, this can lead to a decrease in the feeling of flow, which is more affectively coloured. Hence, the prerequisites for experiencing the sense of flow when listening to music are full attention and immersion in the music, with the analytical mind silenced and our holistic, intuitive mind addressed first and foremost. Of course, there are differences between musicians and non-musicians in this respect. Musicians are captivated by more complex musical material and their concentration is

at its optimum, so a slightly more complex piece of music, which may be more attention-grabbing, may evoke a greater emotional response in musicians (Ruth et al., 2016). Bernardi and colleagues (2018) found that flow in listening also depends on the type of music being listened to.

## Young children and the experience of flow

One of the first researchers to study flow in young children was Lori Custodero (1998). She identified nine emotional indicators in pre-school children that help us to identify their flow: happy/sad, moody/irritable, enthusiastic/unenthusiastic, awake/sleepy, active/passive, excited/bored, satisfied/frustrated, successful/failed, pleasant/unpleasant. Flow in young children should therefore be evident mainly from their mood, which is reflected in the child's alertness, activity, engagement, joy, good mood, enthusiasm, satisfaction, pleasant feelings, and is revealed in the success of the child's participation in a particular activity (Custodero, 1998). In her study, Custodero (1998) organised the indicators of flow into four groups: emotions (happiness, mood, enthusiasm); vigour ( animated, involved, active); self-image (success, satisfaction); and pleasure. The ninth indicator of flow relates to behavioural observation and includes mental engagement, which refers to the level of skill development, anticipation, scope and length of activity.

The experience of flow in young children can be linked to different theoretical models of developmental psychology. According to the theory of performance motivation, from the earliest years children are predisposed to engage in tasks that offer them just the right challenge (Barrett et al., 1993; McCall, 1995). Children draw on resources in their environment as they strive to maintain a balance between skills and challenges through mastery of

activities. The child's tendency to select activities that evoke feelings of competence is present from early childhood. In maintaining a balance between their own abilities/aptitudes/skills and the complexity of the activity, they help themselves by finding appropriate social and material assets in their environment.

Duckworth (1996) argues that children are always looking for activities that are personally meaningful to them, that engage their interest, provide immediate feedback and for which they are able to find solutions. The child's intrinsic need is to learn about the world by first observing a particular phenomenon in the environment and then adapting it to their own frame of mind. The child's thought process is constantly subject to a process of equilibration (Feldman, 1994).

The musical materials, movements and patterns that the child experiences during musical activities such as listening, singing, moving and playing, offer an invitation to the youngest child into a world of constant perceptual transformations.

Engagement and development are in an interactive relationship: developmental changes influence a child's engagement; while on the other hand, the social and cultural conditions in which engagement occurs can influence an individual's development (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).

## Fostering flow in young children through listening

A child's way of experiencing the world, and therefore art, is open, fluid, sparkling, playful – it is infused with flow. Children are curious, they wonder, they play, they experiment, they improvise, using all

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their senses. When the child is in flow, their attention is focused on the activity at hand, they are totally absorbed in listening for which they are intrinsically motivated and enjoy it.

If we want to 'infect' young children with flow, we need to create the right conditions for this. One of the key conditions for flow is a balance between abilities and challenges. To engage a child in listening, hence, needs us to first take into account their abilities (psychomotor, emotional, social, mental). This means that the audio material must be adequate to the child's listening abilities; emotionally appealing in terms of content derived from the child's immediate environment; stimulating for social interaction; and structured appropriately for the child's attention span and cognitive capacity. This needs to be balanced with challenges that arouse the child's curiosity and invite them into a new sound world. Csikszentmihalyi (2014) states that the following are important factors that influence children's experience of flow:

Children experience flow most easily in activities for which they are intrinsically motivated.

Children most often experience a sense of flow in activities that are personally meaningful to them and that they can relate to their real life and current experiences.

The reduced presence of distracting stimuli in the environment increases the likelihood of young children experiencing flow.

Social interaction is also important in the experience of flow (Pels, 2018). A child's listening to a radio play will become more engaged in the presence of a parent, especially a primary caregiver. Listening becomes a kind of social interaction

between parent and a child. It is by no means just passive listening, but a social play between a child and a parent with the help of sound stimuli.

It is good if active listening can be supported by touch and movement. For the child, music and movement are inextricably linked. When listening to music, the child starts to move spontaneously and it is good for parents to encourage and support this. Children intuitively match their physical movements to music, when they move expressively (Eerola et al., 2006). Even the youngest children have the ability to match their own movements to music according to the rhythm, character or emotional characteristics of the music (Nijs & Bremmer, 2019). This coordination is thought to take place in two ways (Leman, 2016). A child may coordinate the expressive course of their physical activities with the metre and the bar mode in the music, or they may coordinate their movement with important time markers in the music. A prerequisite for a child to be able to coordinate movement with the music is that they recognise key moments in the music, perform rhythmic patterns, and adapt the action of the rhythmic patterns to the overall time frame (Nijs & Bremmer, 2019). Clayton et al. (2004) state that the matching of the child's movement to the music is possible due to the process of 'entrainment', which allows them to adapt and stabilise the two rhythmic processes through their interaction, which in turn leads to the synchronisation of the child's motor response with the music. This results in the synchronisation of motor responses with sensory input (Ilari, 2015; Phillips-Silver, et al., 2010).

Therefore, if we want to stimulate flow in the child when listening, it is important to allow the child to respond spontaneously to the music with a motor response. They may simply sway while listening, move parts of the body, crawl or dance. What is

essential is not to restrict the child's movement, but to allow the child to respond spontaneously to the audio-musical material. If the adult deliberately stimulates certain movements in the child, such as clapping, stomping, playing on pots with spoons, the child's sense of flow is all the greater.

## Conclusion

From the insights about the young children's experience of flow when listening, we can summarise that it is extremely important to capture the child's attention with a variety of auditory stimuli. It is particularly interesting for children if these auditory stimuli contain content that comes from their immediate environment and is familiar and known to them. Children also like surprises, when a particular sound presents a puzzle for them, making them wonder what will happen, what the sound represents. The whole sound material should be an integrated acoustic game that the child experiences with all their senses and that makes them want to repeat certain sound elements just as they repeat them when they are learning a language. The sound material should actively invite children into an interaction in which the child enters together with the parent.

In conclusion, the creation of radiophonic plays for babies and toddlers represents, on the one hand, an imaginative, innovative approach to building future mindful listeners of the radio and, on the other hand, enriches the overall development of the youngest ones through sound stimuli.

Last, but not least – experiencing flow during the creative process of an artist who creates sound art for the youngest, is very likely to enable flow in young audiences, as flow is an emotional state that is highly 'contagious'.

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<figure><img src="image_124.png" /><figcaption>"Chitter-Chatter" at the Festival of Radio Plays for Babies and Toddlers, RTV SLO, March 2023, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Photo by Adrian Pregelj</figcaption></figure>

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Irena Pivka

artist, architect and scenographer

Brane Zorman

composer & sound and radio artist & sound man-i-pulator & producer

CONA institute for contemporary arts processing, Ljubljana, Slovenia

# CHITTER-CHATTER

Psycho-energetic radio play, a conversation between a child, a frog and a bird. Its theme is toddlers' vocal creativity, focused on pronouncing particular words and the 'music' created in this process, instead of actual definitions of words.

Its poetic vantage point is the assumption that children may be able to understand the language of animals, and that animals understand the language of toddlers. Children and animals communicate at a level inaccessible to adults. Practicing non-verbal, meaningless chatter children are able to enter this dialogue. Interpretation of syllables – chatter – is not about exchanging verbal information; it's more of an energetic sound exchange.

The adult who listens to this piece together with their child, needs to engage the toddler – repeating words and syllables as they appear in the piece, helps one to engage their child even more. The adult can also show the child various objects, explain different notions, distances.

Before listening to the piece, the adult also receives short instructions how to approach the child with the help of a sound piece.

## Introduction (3-4 min.)

*Forest ambiance*

**Person 1:** reads the sentences very slowly, rhythmically

Let's go on a hike.

Let's go on a hike. Let's go on a hike.

Walk carefully on this little path, walk slowly, walk slowly, walk quietly, be quiet like a little mouse, like a little mouse. Listen.

Forests are rustling. Listen.

A tree understands the language of animals, the language of animals a bird, a cricket, a frog, a grasshopper...

A tree understands the language of animals, the language of animals.

A tree knows the language of children. Small children. Children who chatter under treetops.

A tree knows the language of children.

Small children understand the language of animals, a melody of a bird, a melody of a frog, a grasshopper, a cricket.

Small children understand the language of animals.

The animals also understand the language of children. Small children. The chatter of small children.

Animals and small children can talk to each other, sing, together.

Stop when you see a tree. Find a comfortable place. The tree listens. The tree listens. One day.

In the grass, under a treetop, a small child is crawling.

The child listens.

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**1st part** (7-8 min.)

**Adult - child**

Sounds of nature - Wind – Chatter of a child

**Person 2:** reads the sentences slowly, pauses between the lines, rhythmically.

The adult encourages the child to repeat selected words, syllables – but the point is to listen, to observe the surroundings. The adult also observes the surroundings and explains it to the child.

A tree. T-ree.

A treetop. Tree-top.

A leaf, leaves rustle.

Lea-ves ru-stle.

A tree listens.

Sounds of birds – chatter of a child

A bird. A bird sings.

A bird jumps in the treetop.

Si-ngs. Si-ngs. Si-ngs

Chirrups, chi-rrups.

Chirrups, chi-rrups

Si-ngs, chi-rrups

A bird sings. A bird sings.

Sounds of birds – chatter of a child

A frog. F-rog.

A puddle.

Pud-dle.

Over there, far away, is a puddle.

In the puddle, a frog quacks.

F-rog. F-rog.

A frog quacks, a frog ribbits

F-rog. A frog qua-cks.

F-rog. A frog qua-cks. rib-bits.

F-rog. A frog qua-cks.

A frog sings. F-rog

A frog – frogs – child’s chatter

A child. A small child.

A meadow. Mea-dow

A child crawls is the meadow. Ch-ild.

A meadow

A child chatters in the grass.

A child chat-ters.

A child listens.

Individual words, syllables, deconstructing words into syllables is heard more clearly child's chatter

A birds listens,

a bird chirrups, chir-rups

A frog listens,

a frog quacks, qua-cks

A cricket chirps. A cricket ch-irps.

Sounds intertwine.

In-ter-twine. In-ter-twine. In-ter-twine

**2nd part** (5-7 min.)

**A dialogue between a child – animal**

**The dialogue is gradually turning into a musical composition**

**Person 2:** Deconstruction of words into syllables is more pronounced and gradually takes the lead. The composition of the dialogue between a frog and a child is slowly expanding until it's clearly articulated. A bird is singing in the background, maybe an impression of a dialogue between a bird / child and of course between bird/ frog.

The adult encourages the child to actively listen, by repeating syllables and observing the surroundings, just like in the previous segment.

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Ma - ta -la
Ma - ta -la
Ta ma to
Ta ma to
Ma ta la
Ma ta la
Ta ma to
Ta ta

Ma ma
Ma ta la
La ba to
Ba ba
Ta ma
Ma ma
Ta ta

To da
Da to to
Da to to
To da
Da to to
Toda
Toda

**Conclusion** (2 min.)

**Person 1:** reads (the same as introduction)

Our story ends here. Our song is finished.
But the song, the sound around us is never silenced. Listen.
Listen to birds, frogs, the rustling sound of leaves.Faraway traffic noise,
the humming sound of an airplane above the clouds.
Chatter. In a forest, in a forest with a bird. With a frog.

Children, small children, understand the language of animals, a melody of a bird, a melody of a frog.
The animals understand the language of children. Small children.
Animals and small children can talk to each other, sing together.
Animals and small children can talk to each other, sing, together.
A tree listens. A tree listens.

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Photo by Adrian Pregelj

<figure><img src="image_129.png" /></figure>
Irena Pivka

artist, architect and scenographer

Brane Zorman

composer & sound and radio artist & sound man-i-pulator & producer

CONA institute for contemporary arts processing, Ljubljana, Slovenia

lrena@cona.si

brane@cona.si

# CHITTER-CHATTER
An introduction for adults during a listening session with a child

Psycho-energetic radio play “Chitter-Chatter” is a musical tale, its theme is toddler’s vocal creativity – different ways to create sounds together with animals, trees and small children. When toddlers begin learning their first syllables, they usually enjoy it very much; but not because they want to communicate (like adults), they have other tools for that since they mostly communicate on an energetic level from the day they’re born; instead, while learning different syllables they actually enjoy the process of creating (with) their own voices and the music made in this process.

Poetic vantage point of the “Chitter-Chatter” radio play is its assumption that children may be able to understand the language of animals, and that animals understand the language of toddlers. Children and animals communicate at a level, inaccessible to adults. Practicing non-verbal, meaningless chatter children are able to enter this dialogue. Interpretation of syllables – chatter – is not about exchanging verbal information; it’s more of an energetic sound exchange.

## Instructions:

### Make it a shared experience

Radio play “Chitter-Chatter” is not meant for toddlers to listen to it by themselves; firstly, because they don’t have the concentration needed to be able to listen for that long. Instead, it can encourage and strengthen the bond between an adult and a child – as a shared experience of an artistic piece. The key role is given to the adult who listens together with a toddler. The adult plays the role of a mediator or rather an animator.

We’ll offer some suggestions but you can also include your own ideas.

You can listen to this radio play only once or multiple times, together with your toddler. In the latter case, you can use different ways to animate your child, for example, changing the way you listen to the play and how to create with your voice.

Get a quality mobile loudspeaker and a player (maybe a laptop with Bluetooth or something similar). You’re supposed to listen to this radio play while walking in a park or sitting in a garden at home. Of course you can also listen to it inside the house,

but be active and change locations, find a space where you can pretend there’s a tree or a meadow. Sounds of animals were recorded in early summer, but you can listen at any time. To animate your child more easily, prepare some objects which can represent a bird and a frog as well as the location of the tree.

### The radio play is divided in three parts.

**Introductory part** is there to guide you further into the story and help you prepare for the a-part of deconstructing the syllables, chattering. Listen attentively and observe the surroundings where you walk. The best way to do this is in a park or at home in a garden.

In the **second part** you’ll be invited to find a spot under a tree. Look at the tree, sit under its treetop, look at the tree together with your child, give your child a leaf to hold in their hand, or a piece of roots, bark... Try to repeat words and syllables as they appear in the play, and in doing so animate your child. The adult shows the child various objects, explains notions, distances.

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A tree. T-ree.

A treetop. Tree-top.

A leaf, leaves rustle.

Lea-ves ru-stle.

A tree listens.

Listen to the bird, continue deconstructing words into syllables. While doing so, you can use an object that represents a bird, like a feather for example, or something similar. Do the same when you come to the part about a frog and imagine a pond, maybe use a blanket and an object that can represent a frog. You can also communicate using gestures.

A bird. A bird sings.

A bird jumps in the treetop. Si-ngs. Si-ngs. Si-ngs

Chirrups, chi-rrups.

Chirrups, chi-rrups Si-ngs, chi-rrups

A bird sings. A bird sings.

From the spot under a tree you can move to a more open space, maybe close to a meadow, maybe you just move a few meters further. You do this when you come to the part in the text where it says "Let's go on a hike". Break words into syllables; motivate your child to engage in a dialogue so you chatter together, creating different sounds.

A child. A small child.

A meadow. Mea-dow

A child crawls is the meadow. Chi Id. A child chat-
ters in the grass.

A child chat-ters.

In the **third part** you can freely chatter together with your toddler, or just listen to the radio play in silence. The voice is singing syllables, which are the same syllables that were part of the words in the previous segments, but now they've become

musical elements. Singing intervals serve as the
basis for fine-tuning, and the significance of as-
sociating singing with child's repeating of individ-
ual syllables becomes that much more visible and
real. Encourage your child to sing along, but don't
expect them to sing a particular song or pronounce
a particular word. In this segment you're meant to
let your imagination run free and just enjoy listen-
ing to your own voice singing.

**Concluding part** is devoted to listening. Listen to the radio play and the sounds in your surroundings – be it the sound of a bird singing, rustling or the noise in the street and the humming of appliances in your home. Listen and when the story ends – try to name the sound(s) that you hear.

Background

Before the two of us, authors of this radio play, be-
gan conceiving and working on this piece, we've
read an extensive amount of research and listened
to several high-quality and inspiring interviews con-
ducted by Igor Mihael Ravnik for the B-AIR project.
We were intrigued by research showing that few
months old babies begin to chatter in distinct ways,
depending on the linguistic environment they're
growing up in. For example, the chatter of French
babies is different from Slovene or Chinese babies
– the sound of words, the rhythm, etc. reflect the
linguistic environment within which they develop.

As one can hear in interviews we mentioned, and
we've seen ourselves listening to our daughter
chatter, babies' chatter isn't primarily focused on
communicating. Children communicate very clear-
ly from the day they're born and they don't need
words for that. Instead, babies simply enjoy chatter
because they listen to their own voice; they create
using their voice...

Tackling this subject, this radio play offers a helpful
tool – a possibility of a shared musical creative pro-
cess with animals. A particular branch within the
research of musical creativity is studying musical
creations of animals and people, called zoo-mu-
sicology. There are several artists who engage
in these practices, with more and more scientist
following their lead. But experiencing it first hand
– the synchronicity of joint creation of animals and
humans – either coincidentally or when framed as
an artistic event, this connection becomes much
more evident.

What's also interesting is the mythological and
fairy tale-like background as part of the explana-
tion why small children are able to comprehend the
language of animals. In this view, human speech
– as one’s desire to communicate clearly – blends
heavily with the desire to create music(ally) and
the boundaries between the two become blurred.

The small boy we recorded for this play was a lit-
tle over one year old, growing up bilingually and
was just beginning to articulate his first word. His
parents who recorded the chatter, used the text of
this play (in Slovene) to stimulate him. The toddler
was repeating after them, at his own pace, while
enjoying his own creation. These parents are also
generally very encouraging when their toddler en-
gages in musical creativity.

The baby-girl recorded in the introductory chatter
and whose voice – here and there – intertwines
with the voice of the toddler, was a few months old
when she was recorded. However, the grown-up
singer we hear in this piece is this same baby-girl,
17 years later. Singing and musical creations are
very familiar to her.

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We recorded the frog in Cerknica lake in 2021, as well as sounds of the lake; the singing of a nightingale was recorded at Ljubljana Marshes in 2022; the rustling of the wind was recorded at Bukovniško Lake; and all other sounds come from the sound archive of the author of the musical composition.

## Credits

**Text and story:**

Irena Pivka

**Musical composition:**

Brane Zorman

**Interpreters:**

**Narrator's vocal** - Nada Vodušek,

**Toddler** - Kiran Benjamin Rosenbluth Orlić

**Toddler's vocal guides** - Nina R. Orlić,

Brandon Rosenbluth

**Baby-girl and grown-up singer** -

Naomi Uma Zorman

**Curator and producer:**

Saška Rakef

**Production:**

Radio Slovenia, B-AIR project

To listen to “Chitter-Chatter”:

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Photo by Adrian Pregelj

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# INTERPRETATIVE AND DIDACTIC POTENTIALS OF THE RADIO PLAY FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS “CHITTER-CHATTER”

*The leaves in the trees sing, and the forest clearing becomes a concert stage.*

The radio play “Chitter-Chatter” was co-authored by Irene Pivka who wrote the text, composer Brane Rozman and producer Saška Rakef. This radio play is also intended for babies, toddlers and their adult companions (parents or caregivers). The fundamental purpose and guiding principle of the creators is to encourage and support an important milestone in speech-singing development – bubbling – through sound pictures and musical narration of animals and trees and vocal expression of children in the earliest period of life. Bubbling or vocalization, which appears distinctly in the period from 6 to 18 months of age and is reflected in the rise of sequential repetition of spoken or sung individual syllables, words, later phrases, is fundamental in the development of speech and also singing. The radio play thus primarily encourages listening and creating, or imitating heard syllables. Departing from verbal, sound and musical building blocks, the youngest are encouraged to explore their own speech-singing expression, as children are enthusiastic about discovering and shaping their own voice. Such vocal games, inspired by the radio play, are based on a poetic starting point – the assumptions of the child’s intuitive knowledge of the language of trees and animals and the mutual communication of trees and animals with the child.

The colour of the sound of skunk chirping, the frogs croaking, the leaves rustling in the wind and the birds singing, invites us to wander through the forest clearing. The entry of the narrator’s voice leads us through nature, and a forest clearing turns into a pleasant sound and music concert stage. In the forest with lovely sound background, the narrator invites us for a walk. With a calm voice, she urges us to take a slow, calm and quiet step and simultaneously listen to the sound and beautiful music of the forest. Thus we arrive at the tree where the conversation between the tree and the bird, the cricket, the frog and the grasshopper is happening. The tree knows the language of children who happily chatter under the tree. Children know the language of animals and animals know the language of children. The narrator makes a short rest under the tree which listens to the child speaking and watches him. The child also listens to him, and after listening carefully for a long time, he starts humming happily in an atypical rhythm, with various vocal expressions. This is when the dialogue between the narrator and the child begins: the tree repeats the words (tree, canopy, leaves), imitating and learning these words from the child.

The action continues with the sound of a bird chirping as it flies into the canopy, and the narrator

announces the singing and whistling of the bird. By repeating and syllabifying the words about the bird singing, chirping, whistling, we recognize the child’s repetition of the narrator’s speech at the same pitches, we sense the child’s speaking and singing repetition of the spoken words, according to the pitch of the narrator’s voice. Then we hear the sound of splashing water and croaking of frogs, as the narrator leads a walk by describing nature and repeating words (frog, pond), imitating them with a child’s bubbling. The walk continues to the meadow, where the child crawls and bubbles and begins to listen to the singing of the human voice interwoven with the sound background of the forest and animals. The narrator continues repeating the syllables of a voice singing, which is joined by other singing voices until they completely prevail, changing the sound event into a musical one with simple melodic motifs on the syllables “ma-ta-la(lo), to-da-to” in the minor tonal mode. At the end, the narrator’s voice enters again, and so does the opening soundtrack with the rustling of the forest. The narrator encourages further listening in nature and the wider environment, as well as mutual communication between trees, animals and children.

<figure><img src="image_135.png" /></figure>
The radio game “Chitter-Chatter” invites children and adults to listen together; its building blocks encourage the shared experience of an artwork at an early age. Repetition of words and syllables encourages the educator, parent or caregiver to tell them again to the child during and after listening to the radio play and to improvise their own sayings in different tempos, rhythms and voice pitches. From a didactic point of view, the radio play represents a proposal for possible vocal, singing and speech communication between an adult and a child, and encourages the search for one's own creative approaches. In this way, learning new syllables and words, based on speaking and singing, becomes a vocal game in which the child will enjoy and participate with great joy and enthusiasm.

The content of the radio play is related to the natural environment, which represents the child's first classroom, in which he explores and learns immensely. Most of the sound elements in the radio play are of natural origin – the rustling of leaves, the sounding of a skunk, the call of frogs, the whisper of the wind, the splash of water, the hum of insects, the chirping of birds – which invite us to a real walk in the forest or elsewhere in nature. In an authentic environment, an adult can use this radio play as a base to focus his and the child's attention on listening to sounds in nature, imitating them with his own musical instruments and voice, and recognizing sounds by naming them with words or speaking and singing syllables. A walk in nature is also a cue to find and explore elements from the radio play in a real environment. For example, we find a tree and leaves under a tree, collect them, rustle them and try to imitate them with our voice, etc. With such approaches, the child memorizes the explored elements in nature by the sound, internalizes them and later also recognizes them by listening and names them accordingly.

Radio play for babies and toddlers “Chitter-Chatter” reflects calmness, dreaminess and mystery. The sounds from nature, the spoken part and the music-sound sections contribute to this atmosphere, opening up the space of a safe environment and the possibility of social and emotional interactions between adults and children. “Chitter-Chatter” offers many approaches to listening, which we have described mainly for periods when the child is awake and ready for dynamic activities. Due to its sound atmosphere, this radio play also encourages a joint listening with the aim of calming down before going to sleep, or viewing a children’s picture book with similar content to that of “Chitter-Chatter”.

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# ALLOW YOURSELF TO WONDER AND (RE)CONNECT
Some thoughts while listening to radio plays “Sea”, “Chitter-Chatter”, “Musical Kitchen” and the concert “So Quiet”

A valuable contribution to culture, based on a respectful attitude towards the child and the mother, father, and caregivers

Creating of artworks such as radio plays for babies “Sea”, “Chitter-Chatter” and “Musical Kitchen” and the concert “So quiet” was possible only with opening the concept of the child to in-depth understanding who the child is, and what its needs and capabilities are.

It also wouldn't be possible without opening the concept of parenting to understanding the challenges that men and women face in transition to a new life stage and the related experiences of themselves, a new being and all new relationships growing among them.

Questioning traditional and shifting to contemporary concepts marks the progress of many professional fields which regard the beginning of family life from specific perspectives, including paediatrics, midwifery, psychology, biology, physiology, neuroscience, pedagogy – to name but a few.

How very important: beyond any underestimation of the child, their abilities

Only when we dare to cross the boundaries of self-assurance and false sense of security can we delve into the inner worlds of babies, young children and adults. Thus, it is possible to react openly and create outside old, outdated codes or clichés about what the child, mother, father needs, and also take into account what mom, dad and caregiver have brought from the time when they were still in the mother's body, when they were babies and toddlers...

In the modern human world, in which the visual prevails, it is very important to revive awareness of the importance of numerous inner and outer senses that connect us with ourselves and others. We experience the world and ourselves also with the help of haptic, tactile, sound, balance, tasting, odorous, pain, proprioceptive perception. Our overall perception and complex experience enables holistic existence in the world and within ourselves. The beginnings of these abilities occur while the baby is still in the mother's body and are developed and realised through the child's growth before and after birth.

How do works of art contribute to the life of the child and to the realization of the child's potentials? We feel that the authors thought about the needs of children and parents or caregivers when creating them.

**First of all: Children are at the heart of what it is created for them** (in the centre of a radio play or a concert).

The key starting point for the full expansion of the artists' creativity is the understanding of the baby as a full-sentient and mindful being. It is about overcoming the traditionalist concept of the baby, their needs and development, which diminished parental care to hygiene and care for the physical needs, and which structured the child's time and activities from the outside. It was based on a disregard of what was fundamental and crucial: it underestimated the relationship and what is happening within it.

One of the child's fundamental needs is to explore their inner world and the world around them, a need for inter-action and involvement. But the child can explore only when they feel safe and accepted. Then they can dedicate themselves peacefully to

<figure><img src="image_137.png" /></figure>
their activities. Therefore, first of all, make sure that everything – surroundings, space, people – expresses recognition, welcome, acceptance. What all (can) happen when a child is confirmed, noticed, welcome! - this is evident in the recording from the concert "So Quiet".

**How important it is for parents/adults to be (even more) sensitised to the needs of the child; of all children and of each child individually; to take into account the diversity of children.**

**Next: the focus is also on adults and their needs** (in the art work "Sea" perhaps mainly on mothers).

**And last but not least: the relationship is at the centre.** The relationship in which contact is established, and sometimes interrupted... and restored; which oscillates and pulsates.

Today we know how important the basic settings of the particular attachment style between child and adult are; how crucial this matrix of relationships is and how it determines the experience of oneself and others, and the world, too.

The more synchronised the mother or father and each specific child are, the more likely the matrix is to be as aligned as possible with the bio-evolutionary needs of the child. Meeting them in turn allows for good growth and development.

For good parenting, openness to a relationship is important, but it also means uncertainty, wondering, coping with pain, with a full spectrum of experience. It renounces absolutism and does not strive for abstract perfection, but enters with sensitivity to oneself and others and in footsteps seeks the right measure and direction...

In the artists' creative processes, it is precisely this openness that is a prerequisite for the creation of an art work, which gives children and parents permission to become 'collaborators', 'co-creators', active participants in the listening process.

Such an art work is an invitation, example, cultural and unobtrusive model for parents to (once again) open up to the play, to relationships of play and playfulness and to co-experiencing the world together with the child.

Playfulness that is inherent in the child, and that wakes up again even in an adult when he feels accepted, non-condemned, non-judged... it evokes in them their own childhood enthusiasm for living. If little children can teach us anything, or rather, if they can remind us of something, it is that with playfulness and wonder we touch that essence of the world that again makes it bright and, in a sense, sacred...

In this, audio interactive radio games are real games in the fullest sense of the word; they involve the joy of learning and creating, surprises and non-sense, fun and seriousness...

It all happens through the play of musical instruments and the human voice in speaking and singing; through rhythmic, sound and word games, rhymes, repetitions, simple and compound sequences, and build-ups into more or less composed structures; through mini-rituals; organised and yet flexible and variable enough to allow participation.

This is very important for the child: it gives them safety and allows predictability, while at the same time unobtrusively contributing to a relaxed experience of sequences in everyday tasks, e.g. first meals, daily care, sleep, etc. So in the "Musical

Kitchen", the end of feeding is followed by the moment when the cup, spoon and fork jump into the sink to be washed: "Hop into the sink" 😊.

Also important is a wide range of feelings and micro-experiences: "yuck" (a sock), "om nom nom", which are in a pleasant counterpoint – also with the help of excellent interpretation ("Musical Kitchen").

The radio plays step into the world of children through different entrances. Switching to a mixed diet is an important life transition for a child, which is addressed in "Musical Kitchen". The sound walk "Chitter-Chatter", which unobtrusively invites you to eavesdrop on nature, is also a special recognition for children ("children, plants, animals understand each other"). The soundscape, which expands the boundaries of each individual experience (radio play "Sea"), subtly represents the fundamental human experience of harmony and chaos; it allows us to rely on an experience that becomes tradition and that has already been thought out and tested in the common human experience: for example, that the loss of connection also means the possibility of restoring it...

**Not only for the child, not only for parents or caregivers, but with the children, together with them.**

"Sea", "Chitter-Chatter" and "Musical Kitchen" are more than radio plays for children, because it is assumed that there will be an active cooperation between parents and a child/children, which means joint listening. They are an inspiration for parents, even 'permission' for parents and children to play, to 'be in the body', to respond and move, to sing and to explore. And also the message that they do not need to be perfect, that a relationship is

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