Country
Italy

Tale typology
Local traditions

Age Suitability
5

Tale summary
In this tale the main character is the children’s fantasy. The children’s fantasy is intertwined with the Boboli Garden’s sculptures.
The Boboli Garden is a park in Florence which is the home to a collection of sculptures.
Gigo is a very curious and impatient child. He lives a special adventure in the Boboli Garden.
Gigo gets lost in the garden and here he finds a guitar. When he sees the guitar, his grandfather’s words come into his mind : “with the help of good music, you are never alone”. He plays the guitar and he falls asleep. Immediately after the statues become alive: magical girls begin to dance, a fat and naked man is sitting on a turtle, a horse with its knight is riding out of the pool, Ocean and Neptune are vying for the sea sceptre; a flying horse takes the child away.
Gigo gets to know the world of dreams.

Educational potential / Learning Outcomes
We have chosen this story because it is set in a garden where a tangle of branches represents the meeting point of different cultures. Fantasy brings children to new knowledge, experiences, emotions and a fantastic trip.

Full Plot
The main character is Gigo. He is a curious and dynamic child.
Other main characters are the statues in the garden: some of them are mythological characters, others are ancient characters.

To make a book in 3D without pages;
Motor games to identify the characters in the story.
Gigo: he is a very curious child.
Statues at the entrance: they always laugh and they are silly;
Perseus: he is brave;
Pegaso: he is very susceptible
Ocean: he is sleepy and capricious. He is always fighting with Neptun;
Neptun: He is very nervous. Neptune strucks the ground with his trident in order to spring forth water from the land. He is always fighting with Ocean;
Braccio di Bartolo: he is likeable, he was a court jester of the Medici family.

One Lesson Plan
The story is set in the Boboli Garden, an historical park in Florence. In the park we can see grottos, fountains, garden temples, little ponds and a collection of sculptures dating back to old times (from the Ancient Romans to the 20th century)

Graphical activity on computer by using the programme Paint;
To make a book that describes the gardens in the different seasons.
To make a garden inside the box;
To make a boardgame “Snakes and Ladders.
This activity gives children a chance to get to know numbers.