Pip

Ages: 5-11
Contributor:
Sam Collins

Pip is the story of a small dog with a big dream—to become a Southeastern Guide Dog. Does she have what it takes?

Watch this video with your children and then try some of our teaching and activity ideas below.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Make a list of the human behaviours that Pip shows. What effect does this have?
Listen to audio description version and then write your own. What do you need to include to make the story come alive?

Write a character description of Pip, or the trainer.
What does Pip’s behaviour tell you about her? Make a table showing the things that she does in one column and what that tells you about her personality in the other.
Stop the film at 0:54. How is Pip feeling? How do you know? Compare to 2:24. Write a description of Pip’s body language at both points.
Make a storyboard of the video.
Write the story from the point of view of the trainer.
Stop the film at 0:13. The construction equipment in the background will become very important later on. This technique is known as foreshadowing. Look at a range of fiction books and collect other examples of this technique.
Write up Pip’s experience as a newspaper report to be put on the entrance hall wall.
Discuss how the newspaper stories on the wall (for example at 0:33) are used to tell the story. Why have they been included? What do they add?
Write a report about the work of guide dogs. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association have some good resources to support this.

Make an obstacle course game in Scratch or a similar program.
Research and make a presentation about the work of guide dogs and other assistance animals.

Listen to how the changes in the music reflect Pip’s feelings. Describe how the composer does this.
Chose a short section of the film and write a new soundtrack for it.

Find out about the history of guide dogs.This webpage is a good starting point for older children.

Set out a simple obstacle course for the children to navigate in pairs, with one of them blindfolded.

This film has been made as part of a fundraising effort for a charity. Discuss ways in which your school or setting support charities.
Pip has to overcome difficulties to achieve her goal of being a guide dog. What is your goal?
Ace is Pip’s inspiration. Who inspires you and why?
Use the ROSPA materials to teach about building site safety.