Daytime Kids Art Retreat Project in Pervomaiskyi

The educational and rehabilitation camp Kids Art Retreat Project took place in Pervomaiskyi from June 19 to 24, 2023, at the Pervomaiskyi Lyceum No. 2, a municipal institution under the Pervomaiskyi City Council of the Kharkiv region. The camp hosted 30 children with interests in various forms of creative activities and sports.

The project aimed to:

Create a safe and supportive environment for children and adolescents to recover and cope with traumatic experiences;
Stimulate self-awareness, self-worth, and healing through engagement in art therapy activities;
Teach children and adolescents self-help and self-regulation techniques to manage anxiety and other challenging emotional states;
Support social integration and improve the overall psycho-emotional well-being of camp participants.

The project’s core principles emphasize voluntary participation, a relaxed and non-competitive environment, psychological safety, and fostering equal, partnership-based communication

Program Overview

The Kids Art Retreat Project program was carefully designed to provide children with opportunities to explore various forms of creative expression, while also fostering recovery and healing through artistic activities. Utilizing eco-friendly art therapy techniques in rehabilitation work with stress, crisis, trauma, and anxiety, the camp’s program included the following activities:

Acting workshops helped participants release excess emotional tension, process difficult emotions, develop empathy, and improve group communication.
Music therapy stabilized participants’ internal states by synchronizing with rhythm and tempo, enhanced their ability to listen to themselves and others, fostered a sense of belonging to something greater, and improved teamwork through participation in a noise orchestra.
Dance therapy and bodywork provided a means for expressing internal states through movement and improvisation, releasing muscle tension, freeing emotions and experiences, and reducing feelings of stress.
Applied arts activities with elements of art therapy (such as drawing, collage-making, creating art books, and crafting jewelry) offered participants a way to “tell” their stories, reflect on their feelings and experiences, and restore a sense of inner stability.
The program also featured educational sessions on the sport of pétanque, an introduction to contemporary Ukrainian music, and an eco-friendly project called “Zero Waste,” along with practical lessons on designing board games.

The program included activities aimed at creating a friendly, relaxed, and comfortable atmosphere. These included group circles for communication and reflection, the “Spider Web” game, and the “Secret Friend” game, where participants exchanged secret wishes in an advent calendar format.

The program was tailored to the participants’ age-specific needs, emphasizing both the development of team communication and a sense of belonging to a social group, as well as fostering individual self-awareness. Participants had the freedom to move around the camp, openly share their thoughts and emotions, and engage in various activities.

Through collage-making, the teenagers were able to visually express their passions. During art therapy painting sessions, they created trees imbued with the strength they felt they lacked, and shared this strength with others. Additionally, participants demonstrated creativity by giving a second life to items that were otherwise destined for the trash.

According to survey results, 100% of the children expressed positive impressions of the project and indicated a strong desire to participate in similar initiatives in the future. Both children and their parents reported improvements in overall well-being, including better sleep, appetite, and physical condition.

During each Kids Art Retreat Project, we carefully assess the impact of the project on participants’ emotional and psychological well-being at every stage. This is achieved through pre- and post-project surveys of the children, the team of mentors and coordinators, as well as the parents/guardians of our participants.

You can find the analysis of the project in Pervomaiskyi at the following link.

Our Team

The project’s Program Director, Viktor Ruban (Kyiv), is a director, curator, choreographer, researcher, performer, dancer, and somatic therapy expert. He teaches in the educational program of the advanced training course “Theory and Practice of Art Therapy: a variety of approaches” by the “All-Ukrainian Art Therapy Association” (dance movement therapy and somatically-oriented approach).

He is a program and artistic director of the #KyivDanceResidency space — an international platform for art and research working with movement, as well as the study of bodily, dance, and performative practices. Viktor has been working with dance and movement for about twenty years. He has executed hundreds of projects in Belarus, Bulgaria, the UK, Georgia, Spain, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, France, and Croatia. He organizes and conducts workshops, workshops, trainings, and educational programs.

The project’s Psychologist, Maryna Zadorozhna (Pervomaiskyi), is a practical psychologist at Lyceum No. 2 in the city of Pervomaiskyi.

She holds a specialist qualification and works with children and teenagers in crisis situations using art therapy methods and the therapeutic toy method Hibuki. Marina also leads support groups for children and teenagers in Pervomaiskyi.

The project’s Acting Mentor, Anastasiia Solomko (Kharkiv), is an actress, puppeteer, and performer. Anastasiia received her education in theatrical animation and has been conducting masterclasses for children and adults since then. Since 2014, she has been developing and conducting original masterclasses and creative programs in applied arts and acting.

Anastasiia is also a teacher of acting at the Boyko School and the director of the Exemplary Artistic Ensemble of the puppet theater “Zhyly-Buly.” Previously, she worked at the non-state Kharkiv theater “P.S” as an actress and performer.

The project’s Board Game Mentor, Yaroslav Bondarenko (Kyiv), is a video blogger, and organizer of board games. Host and author of video blogs TheDrotUA, Igromag, GRA, Igames. Cooperates with board game publishers and film video reviews of board games, thus popularizing the board game industry of Ukraine.

He regularly conducts game centers in Kyiv, where he gathers both players and beginners. He also participates in projects as a board master and volunteer, working with children of different ages.

The project is implemented by the NGO “ART DOT” (Kharkiv, Ukraine) with financial support from the Terre des Hommes foundation.

Feedback from parents

Yuriy Dmytrenko

I want to express my gratitude for the week of joy for our children. Only you know the efforts it took to organize this camp during these challenging times for us and our country. Thank you for being there!

Natalia Brovko

At first, my daughter was bothered by the large number of people, but she got used to it. Every day she would tell us about all the activities, events, and impressions of the day. She misses such enriching experiences. She’s saddened that the camp was only for a week. Overall, my child’s state has improved: positive emotions and memories after each day, joy from interacting with peers and creative individuals. My daughter has become better at understanding herself and learned how to present herself. Thank you for finding the time and opportunity to hold the camp in our city! These incredible experiences and memories will stay with the children for a long time. Keep up the great work! Strength! Inspiration! Peaceful skies!

Olena Storozhenko

I’m glad that my child was able to immerse herself in an atmosphere of activity and self-realization. Unfortunately, during the war, there was very little of this, and my daughter started to feel sad more often and worry about the future… Thank you for giving her the opportunity to look at life from a positive perspective! She constantly reminisces about the camp. She really enjoyed the activities and tasks. She says there were amazing mentors and a great atmosphere), lots of different interesting things, and enjoyable coffee breaks ❤️

Tetiana Tusheva

The warm atmosphere, experienced professionals, variety of activities, interaction with peers, and the opportunity to discover and develop their abilities – everything was at a high level. My daughter and I have a very close relationship, so she shares everything with me. She talked about the activities, new acquaintances, shared impressions of the mentors, and was happy that they were on the same wavelength… She remembers it every day and dreams of going to a camp in the Carpathians. Such events are very necessary for our children today. I would like teenagers to continue participating in similar projects in the future. Sincere thanks to everyone involved in organizing our children’s leisure time. Peace and harmony!!!

Yulia Plotnikova

The child has become more positive and cheerful. She says it was fun and easy to communicate with the teachers. She often remembers it because she received lovely gifts from new friends. Thank you very much for such a light atmosphere and an interesting program! I wish you inspiration and further development.

Natalia Yeliseyeva

She often reminisces about the camp and speaks positively about it, missing those days at the camp. She has found a few people with whom she continues to communicate. She really liked the idea. We would be happy if a similar opportunity to organize a camp would be available in Pervomaiskyi in the future.