Three Local Schools, Three Dog Themes, One Community Art Project!

Sep 30

3 min read

We’re excited to share that Castledyke Primary, St Peter’s Primary and Bowmandale Primary have all confirmed they are happy to take part in The Doggy Paddle Club’s community art project!

After meeting with the schools, the next stage is now in the hands of their teachers and children. Each school has its own dog-themed topic to explore, with pupils creating artwork that will help bring the outside of our centre to life.

We can’t wait to see their ideas, their creativity and, of course, plenty of wonderful dogs!

More than a drawing project

This project is about giving children the chance to create something for their community while learning more about the dogs who share our lives.

Across the three schools, the themes are:

Working and Assistance Dogs — exploring the amazing jobs dogs do, from helping people with disabilities to supporting emergency services.
Healthy and Happy Dogs — discovering what dogs need to feel well, including exercise, rest, play, companionship and care.
Understanding Dog Communication — learning how dogs use their bodies and behaviour to show how they feel, and why respecting their space matters.

Each theme offers plenty of inspiration for artwork, alongside opportunities to talk about kindness, responsibility and the relationship between people and animals.

Will your child be involved?

If your child attends one of the three participating schools, they may soon come home talking about their dog-themed artwork!

Teachers will organise participation within their own schools, so look out for information from your child’s school about which classes or year groups will be involved.

You could start a conversation at home by asking:

“If you could draw a dog doing something amazing, what would it be?”

Perhaps they’ll imagine an assistance dog helping its owner, a happy dog enjoying a sniffing adventure, or a dog showing us it needs a little quiet time. There are so many ways to tell a story through a picture.

What could children learn?

Alongside developing their artistic skills, we hope the project will encourage children to:

Recognise that dogs have feelings and individual needs.
Understand that caring for an animal involves responsibility.
Appreciate the important roles dogs play in people’s lives.
Explore how to behave calmly and respectfully around dogs.
Feel proud of contributing to something their community can enjoy.

Children don’t need to own a dog to take part. Curiosity, imagination and a willingness to learn are what matter.

From the classroom to our centre

The plan is to bring the children’s artwork together into displays for the exterior boards at The Doggy Paddle Club, creating a colourful celebration of our local schools and their ideas.

We want children to be able to walk past with their families and say, “Our school helped make that!”

Once the artwork is ready, we’ll share updates on how the displays come together and plans for celebrating the finished project.

A thank you to our schools

A huge thank you to the heads and teachers at Castledyke Primary, St Peter’s Primary and Bowmandale Primary for welcoming the project and helping us get it started.

Building The Doggy Paddle Club has always been about more than creating a place for dogs to swim and play. We also want to build connections with local families, schools and the wider community.

This project is a lovely first step, and we’re looking forward to seeing what our young artists create.

Will your child be taking part? We’d love to hear what they’re looking forward to — and keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for project updates!