Imagine a park that stops being just a green space and becomes a classroom without walls. Imagine the sound of hands clapping turning into music, feet marking the rhythm on the ground, and the city transforming into a map to be explored through play.

This is the vision behind The City Is a Game (of Sounds), a project developed by Heimat Academy and selected as part of La Bella Stagione 2026 — the summer programme promoted by the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, which brings together schools, institutions and local organisations to offer children and young people an inclusive and socially engaging summer experience.

The idea is simple yet powerful: using rhythm as a compass to explore urban space.

Beyond the Traditional Summer Camp: The Body as an Instrument

The first participants to experience this approach were children from the Natale del Signore Parish Youth Centre, who spent a morning exploring the pathways of Valentino Park. There are no desks and no traditional lessons. Instead, the project revolves around body percussion, where the body itself becomes the first musical instrument available to everyone. Through movement games, pulse exercises and listening activities, children aged 6 to 13 learn to connect with one another and with the environment around them.

But the project is about much more than making music.

A significant part of the work focuses on rediscovering the territory itself. Long before the activities began, Heimat Academy educators carried out extensive site visits throughout Valentino Park, identifying hidden passages, unexpected viewpoints and small details capable of sparking curiosity and imagination. Walking, orienting oneself, listening to both silence and urban sounds: urban exploration is not merely the setting for the activities, but one of the project’s core learning tools.

The Wonder of Small Discoveries

The first sessions have already produced memorable moments for participants: close encounters with the horses that inhabit the park, watching boats slowly glide along the River Po, and discovering green corners that many adults pass by every day without noticing. These experiences confirm a simple idea: some of the most meaningful forms of education emerge when we learn to look at familiar places with fresh eyes. The project, which is entirely free of charge, will continue throughout the summer, welcoming groups from summer camps, associations and parish organisations across Turin. Thanks to the collaboration with the Museum Pass Association (Associazione Abbonamento Musei), every participant will also receive a Junior Museum Pass, encouraging further cultural exploration beyond the boundaries of the park itself.

At a time when public spaces are often experienced passively, The City Is a Game (of Sounds) demonstrates how a shift in perspective — combined with a good rhythm — can transform an ordinary summer morning into an experience of active citizenship, creativity and shared discovery.