Using Musical Elements in Interior Design for Education of Children aged 3 to 7 Years

Music is an abstract art with specific quantitative and qualitative characteristics that can have positive effects on humans, including children. The effect of music as an enriching art on the child's sense of hearing has always attracted the attention of the field of music education to facilitate it by the different methods. On the other hand, the design of a child's educational space is an important problem for designers. Therefore, in the present article, these two fields: the considerations of learning music and the quality of educational space for children, form the main basis of the research and answer the question of "How to create a effective space in the interior design for children to learn musical concepts?". For this purpose, the research is based on a qualitative strategy and logical reasoning. First, the theoretical foundations of the child's cognitive development and effective theories in this field were examined, and by explaining the effect of music on the child, various methods of music education and their classification were proposed. The next step was to identify the theoretical foundations of educational space design for the child in terms of shape, color, proportions, materials, and light by examining the components affecting the child's spatial perception. Finally, according to the direct and indirect methods of teaching music to the children and determining the necessary environmental considerations, it was identified how to design a suitable place for teaching musical concepts. From a methodological point of view, theories of children's development in music education were used to clarify design issues, and at the end, design solutions were proposed to display some musical concepts in the form of interior architectural elements in order to create a musical environment for children. For this purpose, based on studies can be manifested in general aspects of architecture and music, and also according to the major division of music education for children (direct and indirect education). Children can learn music directly by experiencing different instruments which are designed to familiarize them with different sounds of instruments as well as the way the sounds are produced and transmitted. Natural elements such as plants and water also illustrate the fantasy aspect of music. Furthermore, according to studies on the tendency of children to symbolize and play to learn different concepts at the age of 3 to 7 years, one of the main solutions is through symbolizing and representing simple musical elements such as rhythm and repetition in the design of walls or openings. For instance, using dimensional and color proportions to evoke the rhythm of 2/4 and the texture of the music in the design of the wall pattern, which can be an acoustic tile or the floor pattern which allows the child physical activity during music education or symbolizing musical components such as notes. This article can be a prelude to a more detailed consideration of the fact that the components of interior architecture can be designed as an educational strategy and are compatible with the conventional methods of teaching music which can pave the way for further studies.