Music and language skills get a boost with Toot
Toot is an interactive and sound-active toy designed for children aged between 3 and 6 years old that wants to enhance their auditory, music and language skills. It was developed by Federico Lameri as his thesis project of Master of Interaction Design at Supsi and prototyped using Arduino Leonardo.
The toy is composed by eight little cubical speaker boxes:
On each speaker children are able to record a sound. In order to listen back to the recorded sound the speaker must be shaken as if the sound was physically trapped into a box. After having recorded sounds on them, the speakers can be placed in a sequence after Mr.toot, and by tapping on his head it is possible to trigger the playback of the speakers in a sequence. toot is also matched with a mobile application that offers different kind of interactions and experiences. it allows to play some exercise that will teach children to listen, understand and catalog sound and melodies.
The app expands the possibilities of interaction, offering different exercises created with the help of musicians and educators from different areas of expertise, some of them are also inspired by a Montessori sensorial activity.
Take a look at the video interview with Montessori educator Fanny Bissa:
[original story: Arduino Blog]