Author(s)

Carrie Ekins¹, Peter R. Wright², Marianne Liebich³, Jacqueline Wright⁴, Henry Schulz⁵, Dean Owens⁶

¹Drums Alive^® UG, Kutzenhausen, Germany.
²Department of Sport, Health Sciences & Social Work, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
³Katholischer Kindergarten St. Theresia, Bochum, Germany.
⁴Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Chemnitz University, Chemnitz, Germany.
⁵Technische Universität, Chemnitz, Germany.
⁶Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, USA.

The objective of this original pilot study was to determine if the Drums Alive^® Kids Beats intervention could provide statistically significant improvements to physical and motor skill performance on participants with Developmental Delays (DD) using the Dusseldorf Motor-Proficiency-Test for children (MOT 4-6) model. The researchers selected the research-based Drums Alive Kids Beat intervention because of its multidisciplinary methodology that in previous studies demonstrated positive effects on physiological, psychological, neurological, educational, rhythmical, and socio-emotional literacy. Facilitators used standardized Drums Alive approved lesson plans and equipment to conduct the intervention through a battery of music, movement and drumming-centered exercises and activities. The 30 participants were German students between 4.9 and 10.2 years of age, without any inclusion or exclusion characteristics, who were divided into three groups consisting of two intervention groups: IG Kindergarten (IG Kinder), IG Elementary (IG Elem) with varied physical, social, and emotional DD that affected gross and fine motor skills, movement, coordination, and behavioral control; and, a Control Group (CG) that had normal physical and motor skill development (Table 1). The results of the study suggested that the Drums Alive Kids Beats intervention provided statistically significant improvements in physical and motor skill performance in children with DD, namely, 24% improvement (IG Kinder), 14% (IG Elem) vice a minor 4% improvement (CG). Of note, during this study to measure physical capability pre- and post-intervention, the facilitators noticed significant improvements in behavior in both IG groups; therefore, they chose to conduct a collateral study to measure six behavioral domains which will be documented in a future publication to demonstrate the exclusive relationship between the Drums Alive Kids Beats intervention and improvement in behavior.

Multidisciplinary, Music, Movement, Drumming, Developmental Delay, Behavior

Ekins, C. , Wright, P. , Liebich, M. , Wright, J. , Schulz, H. and Owens, D. (2021) The Effects of a Drums Alive^® Kids Beats Intervention on the Physical Performance and Motor Skills of Children with Developmental Delays. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 11, 832-839. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2021.114078.