At Radcliffe Animal Centre, we work with schools and teachers to explore animal welfare through creative learning. Using poetry, drama and music, children can reflect on topics such as kindness, responsibility and the impact of cruelty — supporting the development of emotional skills that are important in cruelty prevention.
Drama and role play can be especially effective in building empathy and compassion. These activities encourage children to consider animals’ needs and feelings, while also providing a safe, supportive way to talk about their own thoughts and emotions.
Poetry allows children to explore language creatively, and introducing animal welfare can bring a new dimension to literacy lessons — encouraging pupils to consider words, their meaning, and the feelings they can evoke. For example, what does it mean to be “neglected” or “rejected”? What does fear feel like?
Developing empathy is a key skill in building a more compassionate society, and creative writing can be a powerful way to help children recognise, understand and talk about emotions — in themselves and in others.
Urban poetry and rap can also be set to music, and often connects more strongly with younger people. By offering modern, engaging workshops, we hope animal welfare education will continue to grow — showing how these themes can be explored across many different subjects and areas of learning.
We believe that discussions around animal welfare benefit children, animals, and the wider community, supporting learning and development on many levels.
Visits to our animal centre are actively encouraged, offering children a valuable opportunity to see animal welfare in action.
Encouraging literacy whilst learning to be gentle and respectful around animals.
Bedtime stories, fairy tales, and any other stories you can think of all offer wonderful opportunities to explore kindness, care and understanding.
Everyone loves a story, and we want to celebrate the power of storytelling — helping children develop literacy skills while learning the importance of empathy, compassion and respect for animals.
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