Resilient Rhythms: Children’s Audio-Graphic Notations During Wartime

Initiated as a volunteer outreach effort in Israel following the October 7, 2023 war, a music education program served 178 evacuated, out-of-school children to support displaced children’s education. Participants ( N = 178) were divided into two age groups: preschoolers ( n = 80; mean age: 4.1 years) and schoolchildren ( n = 98; mean age: 8.0 years). The program featured rhythm-based activities, including playing percussion instruments and creating self-invented rhythmic notations. In this arts-based study, I examined children’s audio-graphic responses to rhythmic stimuli and age-related differences in expression. Data included children’s invented notations, verbal comments, and field observations collected over thirty 1-hr sessions and analyzed through qualitative content analysis and triangulation of visual, verbal, and external assessments. Audio-graphic responses were categorized into five genres: Instrumental Pictograms (depicting sound sources), Acousmatic Notations (representing sounds), Contextual Illustrations (non-musical content), Integrated Productions, and Enigmatic Drawings (depicting unclear content). Findings revealed distinct age-related patterns across categories, with a plateau in Pictogram responses. War-related themes were rare in Contextual Illustrations, though bipolar semantic differential scales indicated underlying crisis-related emotions. This study contributes to international research on children’s processing of conflict through art, providing insight into their musical perception and socio-emotional experiences amid evacuation and wartime conditions.