Introduction: Auditory – Kinesthetic Dance Revo
Auditory learners learn best by hearing or listening whereas kinesthetic learners need direct involvement and learn best through movement. But some children may need a combination of both. Thus, school materials and equipment should be adapted as to meet both needs. This Auditory-Kinesthetic Dance Revo is a simplified combination of the game Twister and Dance Revolution.
This material targets both the areas of auditory and kinesthetic. Specifically it addresses the child’s sound discrimination and awareness, as well as auditory memory. It as well targets the child’s balance, directionality and body awareness.
The dance pad is made out of a large plastic mat, with four rows of different colored shapes. Colors are yellow, green, red and blue and the shapes are circle, square, heart and triangle. Each shape is equipped with micro-controllers that enables the speaker to play the name of the color whenever it is touched. When this happens, a bulb in the front with the same color will also light up. The dance pad also comes with a CD of the different recorded instructions and songs. Each instruction will be followed by a song that will be played for 10 seconds, thus giving the child enough time to perform them.
Step 1: Planning
Things Used:
Main:
1x Arduino UNO
Audio Output:
1x DFPlayer Mini MP3 Player Module
2x 1K Resistor
USB Powered Speaker
Light Output:
4x 9v LED Bulbs
4x 5v Relay
4x 1K Resistor
4x BC547 Transistor
4x 1N4007
1x 9v Battery
1x Battery Clip
Misc
1x Perf Board
Stranded Wires
Dupont Connectors
Step 2: The Input: the Pads
The size of the dance pad is 3’ or 36” (that of a regular manila paper). The pad will be divided into four rows, and each box will be 9”. In the far end are four squares with different colored bulbs. The squares are 5x5” long. And a speaker is located there as well. The other end will be the starting area which is 10” long. The size, shapes and colors are modified as to make it easier and not complicated for the player. It can also be somehow challenging because following instructions can be critical.
For The Mat, They're initial plan was to use push buttons, but I opted for the more "flimsy" approach and used the concept of modern keyboards. The most flexible and conductive item (and also available in our area) I could think of is the Aluminum Tape, which I used for the paths.
Below is the code I used to test for the Keypad
Attachments
Step 3: The Output: Audio - MP3 Module
I also included my test sketch
Attachments
Step 4: The Output: Lights
For the visual output, we used 4 Different colored LED
The Schematic for our Relay Module Circuit is taken from: http://circuitdigest.com/electronic-circuits/autom...
Step 5: Combining Them All Together
Summary of Pins Used:
Arduino Pins: 0 and 1 for the MP3 Player Module
Arduino Pins: 2 to 9 for the Improvised Keypad
Arduino Pins: 10 to 13 for the Relay Modules
Included is our sketch for the basic operation (Step on a color-shape button, the corresponding Led lights up and it also plays the corresponding sound).
Attachments
Step 6: Stumbling Blocks, Side-Notes and Comments
The Keypad:
We couldn't get a stable connection from the Aluminum Tapes, I tested connectivity countless times and they're fine on the testing phase, but when we connected it to the Arduino Uno, 1 out of 5 times it works normally. I tried increasing the contact area of each pad, but to no avail. And since the soldering lead won't stick to the Aluminum Tape, our last minute solution (since the deadline would be the next day) we made spirals of copper coils and placed them on individual pads.
The MP3 Module:
Filenames must start with a four (4) digit number (No exceptions! We learned it the hard way) .
The files must be placed in a mp3 folder
The Lights
There was no available yellow light that we could find, so a quick fix was just cover all lights with colored cellophane.
Significance of the material to CSN
The auditory-kinesthetic dance revo is significant and helpful to children with special needs since it addresses both auditory and kinesthetic development. CSNs can enhance their listening and gross motor skills, which are the main purpose of the material.Another significance of this material is to provide areas for action-based activities that are most likely needed by kinesthetic learners as well as provide recorded instructions for children since it challenges CSNs to perform a dance step without falling over as well as listening to the instructions and performing them precisely.
Target age of children
Target age of children is from 6 years old to 10 years old. According to developmental milestones, a child with age 6 years and above is capable in balancing on one foot, can skip and jump and walk on heels. The child is also capable of identifying shapes and colors.
Online Sources: