A Programming Platform Design for Children to Create and Explore Hybrid Musical Instruments

ABSTRACT Engaging young learners in coding activities is increasingly important to prepare them to participate in a contemporary computationally centred society. Engagement comes from finding appropriate motivation and the use of materials and methods that are suitable to the educational stage and learning opportunities. In this article, we present our experiences of designing and developing a Python‐based platform for children to use in our Music Making with Music and Making (MMMM) workshops, enabling school students to engage with hybrid digital music instrument design through programming synthesisers and undertaking LEGO construction. We document our understanding of the design and operation of the BrickPi3 and Raspberry Pi Build Hat systems and discuss our approach to using these as part of a simple software platform for schoolchildren to use. We present our design (and discuss alternatives considered) and the way it was successfully used by 61 11–13 year‐old children in workshop settings. We discuss the technical issues encountered and their resolution, and finally reflect on the positive feedback provided by teaching staff and potential for further development. The inherently integrated and inter‐disciplinary nature of our work aligns with and makes a positive contribution to the Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) movement.