Parent-child music making in an in-patient youth welfare facility

The charity wege e.V. was founded in 1995 and represents the interests of mentally ill and disabled people as well as their relatives in the spheres of work, housing and social life. In addition to counselling and advocacy, wege e.V. offers special support services for families in Leipzig. the project “Living Spaces for Coping with Mental Crises” was created in close cooperation among relatives, people having experienced psychiatric interventions and experts. The family shelter is an institution in line with section 19 of the German Social Security Statute, Book VIII. Parents who are affected or threatened by a mental illness live here with their children. The family shelter works at the interface between psychiatry and youth welfare and is just as committed to adults as it is to the well-being of children. Together with the parents, measures are developed for a safe and secure upbringing of their children.

The instruments donated by the Hans Thomann Foundation have been very well received at the wege e.V. shelter. Our music programme is aimed at all parents who want to make music with their children and at all children who enjoy discovering instruments and their sounds. In the lessons, which take place once a month, they sing together or rehearse parent-child movement songs. In this way, parents receive an impulse to make music with their children in private. Above all, the children have great fun discovering and finding out more about the instruments. They explore together on sound building blocks, train motor skills by learning how to hold the mallet, play fortissimo and pianissimo, but also fast and slow. The frame drums also hold great interest, especially because even very young children can create many different sounds on them. In this way, sound stories can be developed with the children, which tell of the weather, from rainstorms to small drops. The children have great fun experiencing their environment musically.

On behalf of the families, the shelter would like to thank the Hans Thomann Foundation for the donated instruments. We will continue to make music with great joy and interest, in the spirit of your foundation!

Author:
Rebecca Reinecke
07 August 2023