The brief
V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum, runs hands-on activities for families in its Robertson Studio through the school holidays. For summer 2026 the museum wanted BeatBlocks Live in the studio for the whole holiday run: an open-ended, all-ages activity families could drop into any day, hosted by the museum’s own team.
Why a hire suited it
A summer programme doesn’t need a permanent installation. V&A Dundee hired BeatBlocks Live for the season: we delivered it, set it up, supported it through the run, and collected it at the end. It runs from a single plug with no network, and there is nothing for staff to operate, so a host can look after the room while families play on their own.
What happened
The studio was open every day from 11 July to 9 August. In the first ten days alone it took more than 800 visits, and by the end of the run more than 3,500 visitors had played. The museum’s team told us families were staying, coming back, and getting genuinely curious about how it works, with children asking about pitch, rhythm, instruments and “the code being like a language.” Many recorded their own family tune to take home, and the low, open structure meant visitors using wheelchairs and mobility aids could join in alongside everyone else.
BeatBlocks Live has been a wonderful way to gently introduce visitors of all ages to sound design and an understanding of how music can be prototyped live using a digital language.
V&A Dundee’s learning team shared this account of the summer:
Across the summer our learning studio has been transformed by the arrival of BeatBlocks Live, introducing colour, music and playful drop-in activities.
Our Learning programme provides opportunities for families to discover design together, spark curiosity from an early age and to build creative skills and confidence through hands-on exploration. BeatBlocks Live has been a wonderful way to gently introduce visitors of all ages to sound design and an understanding of how music can be prototyped live using a digital language.
The familiarity of the simple and recognisable building blocks has immediately motivated kids to experiment through their own intuition and child-led play.
Over the summer we’ve seen many families (3,500+ visitors) amazed and excited by BeatBlocks Live, jumping straight in to jam and build songs together. Many have also recorded their unique family tune on their own devices to take home.
As well as supporting unguided independent play, BeatBlocks Live can also be differentiated to be made more simple or complex for different learners. Some visitors have enjoyed simply testing out block patterns through play, others have been curious to understand specifically how the coding language works and then created their own simple design challenges.
The physical structure has been accessible to a broad range of ages and inclusive of visitors using wheelchairs and mobility aids. There could also be potential to further explore how younger children could engage with the structure more independently.
We are thrilled to work in partnership with Playable Technology this year and share their research and work with our public audience. Our aim is to bring design from all over the world to Scotland and also to create a new platform for the best in Scottish design. It has been incredible to work with the team from Playable Technology over the years, bringing audiences into the process of creating new designs as well as enjoying successful design outcomes.
Tracey Smith, Learning Programme Producer (Families), V&A Dundee