Increase in physical activities in kindergarten children with cerebral palsy by employing MaKey-MaKey-based task systems.
A $50 MaKey-MaKey kit can triple movement in minutes for preschoolers with CP.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two preschoolers with cerebral palsy played games with a MaKey-MaKey board. The board turns any touch into a computer key. Kids touched foil patches to make cartoons dance or drums play.
The team used an ABAB design. They counted how many times each child moved during free play. When the MaKey-MaKey was on, movement earned music or video. When it was off, nothing happened.
What they found
Both children moved far more when the MaKey-MaKey gave them instant fun. Movement dropped again when the toy was turned off. The pattern repeated in every phase.
Teachers saw smiles and heard laughs only during the tech phases.
How this fits with other research
Shih (2012) did the same ABAB trick with a plain keyboard. Kids pressed keys for videos. The idea is older, but MaKey-MaKey lets you turn any surface into a switch.
Meier et al. (2012) used shoe sensors instead of hand touch. Adults with multiple disabilities walked better when each step triggered music. Same rule: move first, fun second.
Stasolla et al. (2017) also used microswitches. Two girls took more forward steps when the switch gave them toys. All three studies show contingent stimulation boosts motor behavior.
Bassette et al. (2018) swapped the switch for an app. Adolescents with autism exercised more when an app plus prompts guided them. Tech form changes; the reward principle stays.
Why it matters
You can build a MaKey-MaKey station in ten minutes. Tape foil to a ball, a mat, or a walker. Wire it to the board. Pick a YouTube clip the child loves. Touch now equals cartoon.
Use this when classic toys fail. The instant feedback keeps kids moving while you work on strength or gait. One foil strip can turn therapy time into game time.
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Join Free →Tape foil to the child’s favorite ride-on toy, wire it to MaKey-MaKey, and let each push play a 3-s song.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In this study, we employed Flash- and Scratch-based multimedia by using a MaKey-MaKey-based task system to increase the motivation level of children with cerebral palsy to perform physical activities. MaKey MaKey is a circuit board that converts physical touch to a digital signal, which is interpreted by a computer as a keyboard message. In this study, we used conductive materials to control this interaction. This study followed single-case design using ABAB models in which A indicated the baseline and B indicated the intervention. The experiment period comprised 1 month and a half. The experimental results demonstrated that in the case of two kindergarten children with cerebral palsy, their scores were considerably increased during the intervention phrases. The developmental applications of the results are also discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.04.028