Kia is a modern and stylish brand of car. Established more than 75 years ago, Kia is now a brand well known for it's innovation and it is now championing the use of electric cars and providing sustainable mobility solutions.We are working on Kia's Drive Style Playlist Campaign to share our school run playlist with you.
This post is a collaboration with Kia, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
Kia has from it's origin promoted movement and mobility and been very aware of the human desire to connect with one another. This is reflected in their modern approach to the rapidly changing environmental landscape where car manufacture is concerned and their range of hybrid and electric vehicles. Kia's new slogan is "movement that inspires" and has prompted some recent in house research which found that:
"real-world driving [in] electric vehicles can be influenced by music playing in the cabin".
This is an interesting discovery - the experiment revealed that classical music could make drivers up to four times more efficient in an all-electric Kia EV6. That's pretty impressive!
As a family we use our car a lot - mainly for running the children backwards and forwards to school or their afternoon activities. Their schools are too far away to walk to so we really clock up the miles and make the most of the time that we spend in the car, listening to music and audiobooks and chatting about our day.
The Kia Drive Style Playlist Campaign has made me think about the music that we listen to on the school run and how we can create a playlist to help to make that journey interesting, enjoyable and more efficient.
In the mornings we tend to be in a rush, I sometimes have to drop 4 children to 3 different schools which can be a 2 hour round trip, leaving at 7.15am.
First thing in the morning I like to listen to relaxing music, I find that it is needed to calm down after the rush of getting out of the house! Something by Ed Sheeran, such as Photograph or Perfect hits the spot.
Once we have all relaxed into the journey a bit, we all take turns to play our favourite songs. With a 3 year old, 8 year old, 11 year old and a 15 year old this is often an interesting mix of music! My 3 year old will generally choose the same song, one that he has liked from his siblings choices previously such as the Pokemon theme tune! You will understand why I can't tolerate this first thing!
My 8 year old will always like something lively that he can jig along to! One of his favourites is Moves Like Jagger - although for a good couple of years he did think the words were "move like a dragon"!
We usually go back to gentle music when my 11 year old has a turn to choose. She will choose something by JJ Heller such as I Dream of You. I usually love her choices and appreciate the reprive!
My eldest daughter who is 15 always chooses something obscure - either because she has a great, eclectic music taste or because she wants me to feel old! I do recognise some of the artists, if not the songs - Bad Guy by Billie Eilish is often played.
Finally it is my turn and I love to put on a belter! Nothing cheers me up in the morning and gets me ready for the day like a good sing-along! Something from a musical like Defying Gravity from Wicked or a real heart and soul song like Hello by Adele.
When I am returning home after having dropped all of the children off I like to play something that helps me to focus. The car is finally quiet and as I head home to work for the day I like to get my mind into work mode and listen to some ballad music, again probably something I can sing along quietly to such as Ruelle.
Having thought about our school run playlist, I can see that the music we choose are songs that make us happy and relax us as well as inspiring us for the day ahead. I'm sure that being in a good mood and feeling relaxed really helps us to have a positive day. Also now I can think about how the music we play affects my driving style. Whilst classical music isn't my favourite, I can see why music like this makes you drive more efficiently - you are concentrating more on how you drive, you are alert and yet still relaxed. Maybe I will give it a go one morning!
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