Two engaging English activities which help educate pupils about the importance of socialisation and natural behaviour, in ensuring that dogs are happy, healthy and cared for by their owners.

Each activity helps pupils to design a moving dog, and provides alternative contexts for learning that will engage and motivate children as they explore technical systems and controls to make moving pictures, puppets and toys. Each unit covers the principle learning objectives and outcomes as stated in the relevant schemes of work and includes an exploration of dog types, responsible dog ownership and safe behaviour around dogs as part of the idea generation process. Links are included to all UK curricula.

In these activities, pupils will practice their adding, subtraction and multiplication of numbers, and analyse data to find the answers while exploring the costs involved in owning a dog. This is a maths-based activity, but can also be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about rights and responsibilities and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education Officers.

In these activities, pupils learn about the five senses in both humans and dogs. A simple worksheet can be used with younger pupils starting to learn about the five senses; there is a reading comprehension activity for more able or older pupils that also develops their understanding of how human and dog senses differ. Finally, a multiple choice quiz that can be used as a PSHE / Citizenship lesson or after a visit from one of our Education and Community Officers.

The Pre-School resource helps you to teach children about dog safety, including: Basic dog care, How to approach a dog safely and How to interact with a dog. Using a range of fun learning activities and materials, this resource will help you to deliver many aspects of the Early Learning Goals of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, including areas of: Personal, social and emotional development, Knowledge and understanding, Physical development, Languages and literacy and Creative development.

Designed for Key Stage 1&2 pupils, our new Dogs Trust activities are based around a 3-4 minute story that focuses on the arrival of a new dog to one of our Rehoming Centres. Use the story with pupils in either a class or assembly setting to find out which Canine Gang member is arriving at the Centre and why.

Educating pupils about dogs’ needs using fun dog themed maths activities linked to real life problem solving. These maths activities present various levels of difficulty and can be used as required across the whole age range, and include ‘Jimmy’s Challenges’ to extend and challenge pupils’ learning.

In these activities, pupils practise their data analysis and Venn diagram skills as they investigate what is safe for dogs to eat and how much different dogs should eat to be happy and healthy. This is a maths-based activity, but can also be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about health and wellbeing, and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education and Community Officers.

Getting a puppy is a big commitment, and it’s important that children and their families fully understand what is involved in owning a dog before getting one. Pupils read the story ‘ A New Puppy’, which explores Jenny and her mum’s experience of getting a puppy and then answer ten questions about the story. The activity practices pupils’ reading comprehension skills with a focus on retrieving information, as well as developing their awareness and understanding of what is involved in owning a dog.

The dog themed alphabet has been specifically designed with clear, printed, lower case text to develop children’s pre-reading letter recognition. Each letter is presented on its own as well as in the context of a word written underneath for children to trace. This resource has been designed to prompt discussion and support pre-reading and early writing skills.We have provided some ideas of how you could use the Alphabet resource in your playgroup or nursery setting.

Two engaging drama based activities, helping pupils to understand life from a dog’s perspective in order to make them aware of the dangers of inappropriate behaviour around dogs and with dogs.

Learning how to be responsible is part of growing up. Many families get a dog without fully understanding and appreciating the responsibility that comes with it. Pupils are encouraged to test their knowledge, explore, discuss and form opinions, as they develop an understanding of what it means to be a responsible dog owner, and an awareness of the commitment involved in owning a dog. This is a quiz-based activity to test and expand pupils’ existing knowledge. It can be used as part of a PSHE or Citizenship topic about rights and responsibilities and as a follow-up activity after a visit from one of our Education and Community Officers.

Be Dog Smart is our primary school programme that focusses on two key themes – safe behaviour around dogs, and responsible dog ownership. The Spot the Danger story is designed to encourage children to consider and adapt how they behave around dogs to keep both themselves and dogs safe.

This activity can be used as part of a Science topic about selective breeding within ‘animals’ and ‘evolution’. It could also be linked to a PSHE/Citizenship activity exploring rights and responsibilities. It explores the differences between four dog breeds in the past and the same breeds as we know them today and encourages pupils to consider whether selective breeding is always a good thing.

This resource comprises a range of activities to explore the role of dogs in the military and encourages pupils to develop their historical enquiry skills. Part 1 – Military dogs and their jobs in World War I and World War II In the first task, pupils explore four different jobs dogs had during the world wars, why they were chosen for these jobs, and whether we should have expected them to do these jobs. In the second task, pupils are asked to respond to the government’s war office request to lend their family dog to the British Army, by writing a letter to Dog World magazine. Part 2 – How do the military meet a dog’s welfare needs? In this activity, pupils explore the five welfare needs and how the military make sure that military dogs’ needs are met. In the first task, pupils sort statements into their correct welfare need, and in the second task use source information to identify how the military look after their dogs in a training facility in Jordan. The third task gives pupils the opportunity to discuss how the military meets the needs of its dogs, whether things could be improved and how the welfare needs relate to pet dogs. Part 3 – ‘Working Dogs’ post-workshop activities The activities in this section are for use after your class has participated in a Working Dogs workshop with one of our Education and Community Officers. You can book your workshop at www.learnwithdogstrust.org.uk