Duration: 45 - 60 minutes

The interdisciplinary workshop "A Journey to Neverland" is intended for lower elementary school students. It is conceptually based on the beloved children's novel, also a reading title, about Peter Pan - the boy who didn't want to grow up. The workshop consists of several creative and interconnected activities that introduce children to the magical world of the fictional land of Neverland and encourage them to create their own musical and literary works together, inspired by the story. The goal of the workshop is to introduce children to the world of the story and encourage them to creative expression and collaborative learning through play, movement, rhythm and the creation of new content.

About the presenter:

Jelena Pervan is the author of a number of picture books and books for children, and the creator of literary and creative programs to encourage reading and story-telling. She regularly collaborates with kindergartens, schools, and libraries across Croatia, where she implements her educational programs.

In 2022, she was declared the ambassador of the national campaign to encourage reading, Read to me, and in 2023, she won the Pride of Croatia award for her long-term work on bringing literature closer to children and young people with developmental disabilities.

Her books are on all the lists of Good Books for Children, Young People and Parents, published by the Croatian Library Association. Jelena is an independent artist and lives and works in Split.

Curricular alignment:

The workshop is designed in accordance with the national curricula for Croatian language and Music in primary school. The corresponding educational goals and outcomes are listed below.

Croatian language

Objectives:

• development of listening and comprehension of text
• encouraging creative writing and linguistic creativity
• encouraging interest in literature and fairy tale characters
• encouraging oral expression and storytelling

Outcomes:

• The student actively listens and understands the speech of others.
• The student writes various short texts according to the given elements.
• the student creates their own words, phrases and short texts using their imagination

Musical culture

Objectives:

• developing musical creativity through expression with voice and body
• encouraging the experience of music through play and improvisation
• developing the ability to listen and repeat melodies
• learning collaborative music creation
• connecting music with other arts and storytelling

Outcomes:

• expresses musical ideas with voice and body
• improvises simple melodies and rhythms
• participates in musical games based on repetition and change
• participates in group musical activities
• connects music with movement and story