In Thailand, some families face economic hardships and multiple deprivations. Understandably, parents who experience poverty and financial insecurity not only have struggles providing financially for their children, but they also may not have time or emotional resources to parent their children. To support these families, Dr. Prapassorn Puangsamlee (also known as Dr. Pom) designed and created a musical games package to reach out to and support such vulnerable families in Bangkok.
Through the MoU signed between the ECE Department and the National Institute for Child and Family Development (NICFD), Mahidol University (Thailand), we had the privilege to invite Dr. Pom to give an online guest lecture on February 17, 2025 to students in Dr. Eric Kong’s ECE4129 Musicianship for Early Childhood Educators course. In her lecture, Dr. Pom explained that vulnerable and high-risk parents often lack musical experience or training and may not know how to interact and play with their children.
Her musical package with five easy-to-implement games was designed to help vulnerable parents engage with their young children through musical games. Students tried out some of these musical games in the classroom, including one that required them to mimic the sounds of animals, and voted on which ones they thought would work well in Hong Kong. Interestingly, they were the same games the vulnerable families in Bangkok found most fun and engaging.
After the online lecture, Dr. Kong said, “I am so grateful that Dr. Pom could share with us about her truly meaningful project, which provides significant benefits to at-risk families who are most in need of care and support from society. Through her lecture, we learned how music can be used for the betterment of the community in Thailand! And I hope we can also implement Dr. Pom’s project in Hong Kong to benefit our vulnerable families!”