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Immersion in a musical crib
Sometimes the little residents of the “Cap enfants” nurseries are immersed in the scents of Africa. Or Asian. Or… Scandinavian. They can also bathe in a Latin atmosphere, then change continent again and discover the folklore of Eastern Europe. Sacred carrier pigeons, these babies! And all this without ever leaving the beautiful premises of their nursery. In these structures, each month, a country or a region of the world serves as a common thread for activities and meals. For the month of June, we celebrate the Fête de la musique for several weeks. Because this is the other specificity of the company: musical awakening. Founding principle, music and cultural diversity should serve as a guiding thread for teaching.
It is still early, the children are arriving in small quantities. In the hall, discreet music escapes from the speakers built into the ceiling. This little musical airlock allows parents to unwind after a trip in the car which could have been a little stressful. Located in the middle of an industrial zone (that of Louvresses in Gennevilliers, in Hauts-de-Seine), like many inter-company crèches, this establishment, opened in 2012 by “Cap enfants”, indeed welcomes families who all come from by car. Loudspeakers are not reserved for the finish area, they are found in all rooms, always integrated into the ceiling. “When the sound comes from above, it encompasses people, young and old,” explains Estelle Salley, educational manager. We don’t have a CD player here, as the sound would travel horizontally and pass over the heads of the children. ” The entire construction of the building was designed according to the decibels and the propagation of sound, thanks to the collaboration of an acoustic engineer. Why this particular attention for the sound environment? “Because, recalls Estelle Salley, hearing is a very important sense in children from birth and even before, since they can hear in utero from five months of pregnancy.
Babies immersed in a “musical bubble”
Phonic ceilings, rubber floors, sound is permanently damped by every surface it encounters. The walls of the dormitories are made of double glazing and the density of silence in these spaces is impressive. The music played in the other rooms is programmed from a central mixer installed in the atrium.
The atrium… The room, huge, circular, serves the different sections, the dormitories and the terrace. Little ones frolic there, laughing. Some have invested in the motor unit with its slide and pretty bright colors. At the center of this space is the “Musical Bulle®”, considered to be the “village square”. This 12 m2 half-sphere, born from the imagination of the founder of Cap enfants, Claudia Kespy-Yahi, is an interactive cocoon, an igloo with warm colors, very specific acoustics and unexpected properties. Children access it through more or less large openings on the sides. Inside, the padded walls are equipped with touch sensors. When the little ones touch specific places, indicated by musical notes, they trigger sounds, voices, instruments, animal cries, but also images that are displayed on a screen arranged in height.
After running around the “bubble”, several children decided to enter it. They sit around Ruth, a musicologist. A little push on the wall, a few notes escape, an instrument appears on the screen. ” What is that ? Ruth asks. ” A guitar ! Martin shouts. “Yes, well done. How do you play the guitar? The children get up, wiggle in their diapers for a frenzied “Air guitar” part. A version more electric guitar than dry guitar, more Jimmy Hendricks than Alexandre Lagoya… A little girl bangs on the wall. Another sound spreads. ” Then ? Ruth asks. A child tries to answer: “A banana? “. No, an accordion instead. When the drums come, they all go wild and hit the ground with the flat of their hands. In the “bubble”, four different sounds can be superimposed. Demonstration. Ruth successively launches the rattlesnake, the New Zealand rugby players’ haka, the Aboriginal song and the koala.
The sound bank, made up of fifty tones, is renewed every month according to the country in the spotlight. “We ask the professionals of the team a lot when they go on vacation,” says Estelle Salley, “so that they come back with an instrument or a CD!” »The staff are constantly called upon to enrich the educational project. It is he who makes exist in the first place cultural diversity. In the Louvresses crèche, the employees come from Morocco, Brazil, Cameroon, Haiti and Portugal. A wealth initially desired by Claudia Kespy-Yahi, because the time has come for globalization and the “village-world”. These children will experience diversity throughout their lives, and this ability to adapt to other cultures can only be a real asset for them later on. From now on, this melting pot within the team maintains itself. It is in particular because they have heard about the specificity of the structure that these women, themselves from a dual culture or living in a mixed couple, come to apply. They are encouraged to sing in their mother tongue and the recordings of their voices are fed into the sound bank. In the nursery, everyone sings. “This aspect of our work is addressed in training,” explains Virginie Cornaglia, medical director of the structure. We discover that we are all musicians, that anyone can hit a beat, bounce off a tweet. Children don’t care if we sing right or wrong. When the team found out that Monica, who takes care of the premises, was playing the guitar, they were immediately inspired to use this talent with the children.
From silence to music: babies’ first steps in nursery
It’s 11:30 a.m. lunchtime. The auxiliaries clap their hands while humming: “At the table, adults and children, at the table, everyone will be served”. Then the meal is taken to the sound of the spoons which scrape the trays. And that’s it, no background noise. Music is very present but not omnipresent, it can only exist if beaches of silence are also provided. “You should not put on music all day, otherwise it would be noise, more sound, warns Patricia Hagendorf, the educational director. We don’t put it on for naps or meals. And depending on the tension of the group, we advise. For classic activities, like baking a cake, no music either, that is not justified. ”
« Meals require concentration for children so young who are learning to eat on their own, we must not pollute this moment with something else », Confirms Ruth. The team does not hesitate, however, to offer toddlers unusual flavors, in connection with the country explored, while obviously respecting the dietary recommendations. In the afternoon, after a nap, when everyone is in good shape, we can let go. At 14:30 p.m., it’s the boom. The children, all in bodysuits, stamp their feet, jump, move their buttocks. The employees, instruments in hands, children in their arms, sing in rhythm: “Léa is going to Brazil, she dances the samba, she goes from town to town to learn the step …”. The songs chosen allow each child to be called in turn, a way of making them exist in the group. Claude plays the aoko, an African instrument, Mame taps on her djembe, home-made using a flowerpot and papier-mâché. She plays, sings, catches a child about to fall, holds another by the waist. “A real African mama! One of her colleagues smiles. When the djembe is out, even babies in their deckchairs are beating their feet. Crazy atmosphere in the atrium where the children laugh out loud, jump from one leg to the other, even with both feet. A toddler, hilarious, crosses the room with his uncertain walk, his head and hands raised to the sky, a striking image. “When we have a party like that, there is always something going on, assures Virginie Cornaglia. The other day a child took his first steps this way. ” Once a month, parents are invited to share a meal representative of the star country and the team ensures that even dads in ties agree to dance the samba. Will they be as enthusiastic when the time comes for Auvergne and the bourrée? At the end of the afternoon, a mother comes to pick up her little girl whose last day is. After the summer vacation, she will return to kindergarten. “I wanted to thank you, really,” she said, on the verge of tears, to the team. You have been wonderful. She has thrived so much here. I have a pang in my heart. I keep your details if we ever do a little third! A fine tribute to these professionals, who we actually feel that they work with pleasure and respect. A little melody of happiness …