Learning outside of school, developing a creative collaboration and the use of film in the project Adriatic fish and sailing ships

The author presents the project “Adriatic fish”, in which 220 children, aged between 11 and 14, from a primary school Jesenice Dugi Rat near Split took part. The aim of this project was to show that children can learn and creatively collaborate outside of school, in their surroundings, by finding natural forms (of stones) on the beach. Learning how to observe and recognize the shapes around them, they acquire the skills of research and creating by combining materials (stones and wire). Throughout this project students learned about the species of Adriatic fish. This project helped to develop children’s observation skills and also encouraged creative collaboration between students. A short animated film used in this project to show their work will be presented. The film is accompanied by music and the sounds of the sea, waves, seagulls and children’s voices. This research confirms that children’s creativity is boundless and that it can be further developed by the use of combined materials. Some children’s work was so successful that one cannot tell the difference between their work and the work of the teacher/artist who used the same technique.