Cubs Secret Life of Pets Activity Pack

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Resource Type: Cubs Activity

Title: Secret Life of Pets Programme Plan

Description: A range of activities, themed around the film ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ – ideal for a themed-programme or camp.

Badge Criteria: Various

Other Notes: -

http://eborscouts.org.uk/district-library/

Thank you for using us. Please continue to upload your own resources and activities using the Google Form located on the District Resource Library homepage. IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 ACTIVITY PACK Find other resources at secretlifeofpets.damarismedia.com

Introduction 3

What’s the Story? 3

Get Ready 4

Meet and Greet 5

Part 1: It’s a Dog’s Life 6 Yip Yap Woof 6 The Owner’s Coming! 6 Teamwork Trail 7 Fur or Feathers, Paws or Claws 8 Bingo card template 9 Balloon Dog 10

Part 2: Take Care of Me 11 Marshmallow Bunny 11 Somebody Who Looks After Me 12 Thankyou card template 13 Pet Rescue 14 Friendship Fire-Building 15 What you’ll need 16 Part 3: Take-home pages 17-20

Event poster 21

Credits 23

2 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Introduction

These free resources from Damaris Media provide fun and engaging activities around new animated adventure The Secret Life of Pets (in UK cinemas 24th June 2016), which Cub Scouts can enjoy as part of this year’s Cubs100 celebrations. The resource pack is suitable for other groups of young people aged 8-11; some activities may also be suitable for younger children.

This pack is designed to be a complete programme for a Cub Scout meeting or other similar group meeting. As the group leader, you should feel free to select whichever activities ﬁt within your timeframe and are appropriate for your group.

The aim is to get active, get creative, strengthen friendships and have an adventure! The group will be exploring the value of difference and of being grateful for the people who take care of us.

What’s the Story?

Favourite dog Max has exactly the life he wants in his owner’s Manhattan apartment - so he’s not happy when she brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. But the two quarrelling pets must put their differences aside when they ﬁnd out that a bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned animals determined to take revenge on all well-loved pets and their owners.

Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-ﬁlm debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan and Albert Brooks. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the ﬁlm; it’s directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch.

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 3 Get Ready

Before the meeting, have a read through and decide which of the activities you’ll be doing with your group. Make sure you have everything you need (see page 16 for a complete checklist), and enough space for any games or outdoor activities. Buy prizes if you want to give them out for participation, teamwork or effort during the session.

You will need to do some advance preparation for some of these activities, especially Teamwork Trail (page 7). If you want to do the extension activity for Fur or Feathers, Paws or Claws (page 8), make sure you ask your group the week before to ﬁnd pictures for sharing. They could ask a parent or carer to email these to you or bring in a digital or printed copy.

You might want to decorate your meeting space to ﬁt with the theme! This could include cuddly toy animals, posters or pictures of pets, pet toys such as balls and wool, or pet-related items such as baskets and bowls.

Don’t forget to print copies of the take-home pages (pages 17-20), which are full of more fun ideas for the young people to do at home.

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4 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Meet and Greet

When the young people arrive, greet everybody and explain that your meeting today will be based around The Secret Life of Pets.

Play the trailer for The Secret Life of Pets, available at secretlifeofpets.damarismedia.com.

Ask the group what they thought of the trailer, and talk through these icebreaker questions together.

If you were going to be a pet, what kind of animal would you be and why? If you were a pet, who would you like your owner to be and why? (Maybe a celebrity, a ﬁctional character, or someone you know!) If you were a pet, what kind of home would you like to live in? What would you do all day while your owner was away?

If the group particularly enjoys this conversation, they could go on to write or draw their answers when they get home. (A template can be found on page 17.) Encourage them to be as imaginative and inventive in their answers as they want!

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 5 Part 1: It’s a Dog’s Life

What’s it really like to be Max the dog? It’s time to get inside the canine mind…

Play one or both of these games to get everybody warmed up and in the mood for pet-themed fun. Timing: 5-10 minutes each

Activity: Yip Yap Woof The group stands in a circle. The ﬁrst player looks in one direction and says ‘yip’; the person next to them repeats this action and the noise is passed around the circle. When somebody says ‘woof’, the direction changes and the ‘yip’ travels the other way. When somebody says ‘yap’, they point across the circle to show who the ‘yip’ is travelling to (the ‘yip’ should continue in the same direction).

As the circle gets smaller the speed of the game should increase! Continue playing for as long as you want to.

Activity: The Owner’s Coming! You’ll need: a large indoor space. One end of the room is designated the ‘basket’. Designate a volunteer from the group as the ‘owner’ - they have gone out for the day, leaving the rest of the group (the ‘pets’) to get up to mischief. Designate one remaining end of the room as the ‘bedroom’, one as the ‘kitchen’ and one as the ‘garden’. As the ‘owner’ shouts out these instructions at random to the group, the ‘pets’ do the corresponding actions: ‘Raid the fridge!’ - run to the kitchen and pretend to scoff imaginary food ‘Roll on the carpet!’ - run to the bedroom and roll around on the ﬂoor ‘Chase the birds!’ - run to the garden and jump up and down ‘Bark at the neighbour!’ - run to the garden and make loud barking noises ‘The owner is coming!’ - run to the basket and sit down. The last pet to sit down in the basket is out - continue playing until you have a winner!

6 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: Teamwork Trail In this outdoor or indoor teamwork activity, the young people will learn to team up with someone who’s using different skills. For Cub Scouts this activity could count as part of the Teamwork Challenge Award or the Navigator Staged Activity Badge.

You’ll need: A wide outdoor or indoor space; 3-6 cardboard boxes, each containing 3 labelled bags with a selection of sensory objects; a copy of your map for each team; pens; blindfolds; earplugs optional. Before the meeting, make up 3-6 boxes each containing: An object that can be identified through smell or noise (such as a piece of smelly cheese or some jingly keys), in a bag labelled ‘dog’. An object that can be identified through touch (such as a sponge or tennis ball), in a bag labelled ‘cat’. Food that can be identified through taste (such as pieces of apple or chocolate), in a bag labelled ‘rabbit’. Keep in mind the dietary requirements of your group.

Place the boxes containing these bagged objects in hidden locations around your meeting space or a nearby outdoor space such as a ﬁeld or playground, and mark their locations on a simple map. Number the boxes in a different sequence on each copy of the map so that the groups go around the trail in a different order.

Timing: 15-30 minutes The animals Max meets in The Secret Life of Pets come in all shapes and sizes, but they have to learn to work together.

Divide your group into teams of four. One is the ‘dog’, one the ‘cat’, one the ‘rabbit’ and one the ‘bird’. Give a copy of the map to each bird: their job is to guide the rest of their team around the trail to the boxes, in the numbered order. Nobody else in the team is allowed to look at the map.

When the team ﬁnd a box, the dog, cat and rabbit must be blindfolded. (The cat and rabbit could also be given earplugs.) The bird must then present them each with their object and write down their guess as to what it is.

The dog must use their ears and nose: they cannot touch or taste the object. The cat must use their hands: they cannot listen to, smell or taste the object. The rabbit must only taste: they cannot smell, touch or listen to the object.

The winning team is the ﬁrst to return to the group leader at a designated base, having guessed all the objects in all of the boxes correctly and written them on the map.

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 7 Activity: Fur or Feathers, Paws or Claws In this bingo game and discussion activity, the young people will be encouraged to think about valuing difference. Like the animals in the ﬁlm, whether we’ve got fur or feathers, paws or claws, we’ve all got something special to offer.

You’ll need: a copy of the bingo card on page 9 for everyone in the group; pens; phones or printed photographs if you’re doing the extension activity. Timing: 10 minutes, 20 minutes with extension activity.

Give everybody in the group a photocopy of the ‘bingo card’ overleaf. Tell them to write in their own answers to each question in the appropriate square. Their task is now to mingle with the rest of the group and ﬁnd a person for each square whose answer is different from their own: they can cross off the square when they have done so. Some of the young people may prefer to go around in pairs, especially if they need help with reading or writing.

The ﬁrst person to complete a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of four is the winner. If you have time, the group could continue until somebody has completed the whole grid.

Afterwards, sit the group down and ask how they found the game. Did they learn anything new about anybody? Why is it interesting and exciting to be part of a group where everybody has different strengths, experiences and skills?

You could also... Split into smaller groups or sixes for a further time of sharing. The week beforehand, ask the group to bring in or to have a parent or carer email you two pictures which are meaningful to them:

One of a pet which has made them laugh - either their own pet, a friend’s pet, or a pet they’ve seen online. Share a funny story about this animal with the group. One of a friend or a sibling who is different from them in some way. Share with the group why they love this person and how their differences can be a good thing.

8 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 hristmas? ? C K U cats? Does your familyDoes your celebrate Were you born in the you Were Do you enjoy singing? enjoy Do you Do you prefer dogs or Do you flms? or coke? sunshine? or swimming? Do you like superhero like Do you Do you prefer snow or prefer snow Do you Do you prefer lemonade Do you Are you better at running you Are food? bone? brothers? Have you been you Have Do you have any any have Do you What’s favourite your anywhere in America? anywhere Have you ever broken a broken ever you Have meat? maths? spider or a snake? Do you enjoy doing enjoy Do you Does your familyDoes your eat Would you rather hold a you Would What colour is your hair? What colour is your

HE SEE T ARRIVES IN UK CINEMAS 24TH JUNE FILM!

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 9 Activity: Balloon Dog In this craft activity, the group can all make their own balloon sausage dog to take home by following these simple instructions. You may wish to practice this beforehand to make sure you’ve got the technique down before showing the group. With younger groups, you may wish to make the dogs for them.

You’ll need: Good quality modelling balloons, balloon pump. Timing: 10 minutes

1. Stretch the balloon and blow it up using the pump. Leave a hand’s length (about 10cm) at the end uninﬂated.

2. Hold the balloon in the left hand with the inflated end pointing left. At the inflated end, twist a bubble four finger-widths wide (about 6 cm). Twist it around a few times.

3. Make two more bubbles the same size. The balloon should look like this:

1 2

4. Twist the joints labelled ‘1’ and ‘2’ together. Twist around several times. You now have a dog’s head with ears - the balloon should look like this:

5. Next, you need a neck. Twist a bubble four ﬁngers wide next to the ears, and reinforce it with a few extra twists.

6. Now for the legs. Holding on to the neck, twist two more bubbles four ﬁngers wide, reinforcing each with a few extra twists. Then twist these bubbles together, as you did with the ears, and reinforce a few times. The balloon should look like this:

7. Leave about one-and-a-half hands’ lengths (about 15cm) of balloon for the body, then twist two more legs as you did in step 6. The last bit of bubble before the tail will stop the legs untwisting. You should be left with a balloon dog like this one:

10 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 At this point, you could break for refreshments if you would like. Part 2: Take Care of Me

Dogs, bunnies, children, even grown-ups - we all need people who take care of us.

Activity: Marshmallow Bunny

You’ll need: Ordinary marshmallows, mini marshmallows, toothpicks, writing icing, scissors. Check the dietary requirements of your group and provide alternatives if necessary. Timing: 15 minutes. Please note: If the group are eating the marshmallows afterwards, be careful to remove any pieces of toothpick.

Snowball the bunny plays a big part in The Secret Life of Pets. The young people can make their own delicious Snowball in a few easy steps - to eat straight away, take home, or toast on the ﬁre if you have one later!

1. An ordinary marshmallow, base-down, is the bunny’s body. Stick a toothpick into the top and attach a second marshmallow, on its side. The round base of the second marshmallow is the bunny’s face.

2. Now cut an ordinary marshmallow into half lengthways, and then in half again. Trim two of these sections into ear shapes. Attach them to the head using pieces of toothpick.

3. Cut a mini marshmallow in half and attach these two legs to the front, using either the marshmallow’s sticky inside or a dab of writing icing. Trim another mini marshmallow and stick it on the back to be the tail.

4. Use writing icing to add eyes, a nose and whiskers. (You can use ordinary pen if the bunny isn’t going to be eaten.) Your ﬁnished marshmallow bunny should look something like this:

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 11 Activity: Somebody Who Looks After Me

In this discussion and writing activity, the young people will be encouraged to express their gratitude and strengthen their relationships with the people who care for them.

You’ll need: A copy of the template from page 13 for anyone who wants one; paper or card; coloured pens and/or pencils. Timing: 20 minutes

The Secret Life of Pets reminds us to be grateful for the people who take care of us. Ask the group to think about somebody who looks after them: this could be a parent or carer, a grandparent, a teacher, an older sibling, a friend, or someone else. What does this person do for them that they’d like to say thank you for?

Talk about some ideas with the young people and then ask them to write or draw a card. They can make their own or use the photocopiable template overleaf. They can then show or read their card aloud to the rest of the group if they would like to. Encourage them to give the card to the person they’re thanking during the week.

You could also… Organise a community ‘thankyou’ event for parents, carers and others, at which the young people read out and present their cards. For Cub Scouts, this could be part of a Cubs100 ‘Thanks Event’.

12 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Dear...

Thank you for the small things that you do for me every day, like …..

Thank you for the times when you’ve done something big and special for me, like….

Thank you for looking after me! I think you’re brilliant because...

From...

HE SEE T ARRIVES IN UK CINEMAS 24TH JUNE FILM!

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 13 Activity: Pet Rescue In this energetic game, the young people will be encouraged to think about what it takes to be a good friend.

You’ll need: a large indoor or outdoor space; chalk, string, or something else to make a circle. Timing: 15 minutes

The animals in The Secret Life of Pets learn to help each other out when they’re in trouble. In this game, will the group put themselves at risk to help their friends?

Mark out a large circle in the middle of an outdoor area. You could use chalk, string, sticks or stones. This is the ‘pound’. One player is designated the ‘Guard’, another the ‘Warden’. The rest are ‘pets’ who want to avoid being captured and taken to the pound! The Guard patrols the edges of the pound whilst remaining within the circle; if they are able to touch-tag any of the nearby pets, those pets are captured. The Warden runs around after the pets attempting to ‘capture’ them (with a touch-tag). The Warden leads captured pets over to the pound. Once inside the circle, they must stay there. However, other pets can rescue pets on the way to the pound if they are able to tag them without being tagged themselves by the Warden or the Guard. The game is over either when a set amount of time has passed or when the Warden and the Guard have captured a set number of the pets.

14 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: Friendship Fire-Building In this outdoor activity, the young people will both practise their ﬁre-building and their teamwork skills. For Cub Scouts this activity could count as part of the Teamwork Challenge Award, the Fire Safety Activity Badge, or the Backwoods Cooking Activity Badge.

You’ll need: a large outdoor space suitable for making fires, with kindling and fuel available; matches or lighters; copies of the Scout skills fire-lighting method if needed. Timing: 20 minutes. Please note: The group will need adult help and guidance with this activity, especially if they are not familiar with the Scout skills fire-lighting method (available at Scouts.org.uk).

In this activity, the group will split back into their teams from ‘Teamwork Trail’. (If you didn’t do this activity, that’s teams of four, each containing a ‘dog’, a ‘cat’, a ‘bird’ and a ‘rabbit’.) Together, the team will help each other build a ﬁre. Here are their jobs:

The dog in each team must clear the ground and make a hearth by placing dry sticks side by side. The bird must gather small twigs and dry leaves for kindling, and arrange this on top of the hearth. The rabbit must gather larger sticks for fuel. The cat, under adult supervision, must strike the match and blow on the kindling until the ﬁre is established.

If you made marshmallow bunnies earlier in the evening, this might be a good time to dismantle them (take a picture ﬁrst!) and toast the marshmallows on the ﬁre. Encourage the group to talk about the activities they’ve enjoyed together over the course of the meeting.

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 15 What You’ll Need

Here’s an at-a-glance checklist to help you prepare what you’ll need for each activity in this pack.

Meet and Greet - a projector or laptop to show the ﬁlm trailer.

Yip Yap Woof - no equipment required.

The Owner’s Coming! - a large indoor space; no other equipment required.

Teamwork Trail - a wide outdoor or indoor space; 3-6 cardboard boxes, each containing 3 labelled bags with a selection of sensory objects; a copy of your map for each team; pens; blindfolds; earplugs optional.

Fur or Feathers, Paws or Claws - a copy of the bingo card on page 9 for everyone in the group; pens; phones or printed photographs if you’re doing the extension activity.

Balloon Dog - modelling balloons; balloon pump.

Marshmallow Bunny - ordinary marshmallows; mini marshmallows (in line with dietary requirements); toothpicks; writing icing (or pens if you’re not planning to eat the marshmallows afterwards); scissors.

Somebody Who Looks After Me - a copy of the template from page 13 for anyone who wants one; paper or card; coloured pens and/or pencils.

Pet Rescue - a large outdoor space; chalk, string, or something else to make a circle.

Friendship Fire-Building - a large outdoor space suitable for making ﬁres, with kindling and fuel available; matches or lighters; copies of the Scout skills ﬁre-lighting method if needed.

You may also want to think about getting prizes for participation, teamwork and effort.

The following activity pages are designed to be printed or photocopied for the young people to complete at home.

There is also a poster on p21 for use in your publicity.

16 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: If I were a pet…

Write or draw your answers!

If I were a pet, I would like to be…. Suggestions: A cat, a dog, a bird, a giraffe, a dinosaur, a dragon...

I would like my owner to be…. Suggestions: A celebrity, a ﬁctional character, someone from history...

I would live in…. Suggestions: A ﬂat, a tree-house, a mansion, a luxury yacht...

While my owner was out, I would… Suggestions: Eat, play, scratch, chew, chase, dance, nap, party…

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: Super-Pets!

Can you guess the truth about these amazing, record-breaking animals?

1. Bertie, the world’s fastest tortoise, broke the record at what speed? a. 5 miles per hour b. 0.1 miles per hour c. 0.6 miles per hour

2. Zeus the Great Dane, the tallest dog ever, was the size of an average donkey at how tall? a. 0.995 metres b. 1.105 metres c. 1.118 metres

3. Which of these do you think was the longest, at 79cm? a. The longest recorded rabbit’s ears b. The longest recorded dog’s tongue c. The longest recorded cat’s whiskers

4. Zac the Macaw set a world record in 2012 when he: a. Fried two packets of sausages without human assistance b. Opened 35 canned drinks in one minute c. Proved he could say over 100 different words

5. Otto the Bulldog set a world record in 2015 when he: a. Skateboarded through a human tunnel of 30 people b. Walked 20 metres on his hind legs c. Created a painting which sold for $25,000

6. Oscar the cat entered the record books in 2009 when he became the ﬁrst animal to be given: a. An x-ray eye b. Two bionic legs

c. A brain transplant Answers: 1. C; 2. C; 3. A; 4. B. 5. A; 6. B 6. A; 5. B. 4. A; 3. C; 2. C; 1. Answers:

HE SEE T ARRIVES IN UK CINEMAS 24TH JUNE FILM!

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: Fuzzy Faces

You’ll need: coloured felt, scissors, PVA glue, a thin black pen, paper, coloured pens or pencils.

Make these fuzzy Secret Life of Pets faces! Use the templates and instructions below to cut out the felt shapes, and then stick them together as shown in the pictures. Use a thin black pen to draw on the features. If you’re feeling conﬁdent, you could even design some more of your own. Ask a grown-up to help with any ﬁddly bits!

Once you’ve made a few fuzzy faces, why not stick them to a sheet of paper and draw around them to recreate your favourite scene from the ﬁlm?

Max 2 1 - Base: white felt. 2, 3 - Ears and patch: brown felt. 1 4 - Eyes: white felt. 3 4

3 Chloe 1 - Base: dark grey felt. 4 2 - Patch: light grey or white felt. 3 - Nose and ear triangles: pink felt. 1 4 - Eyes: white felt. 2

Snowball 1 - Base: white felt. 2 2. Ears and nose: pink felt. 3. Eyes: white felt.

1 3

IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 Activity: No Pet? No Problem!

You could offer to help take care of a neighbour’s pet or volunteer at an animal shelter. If you’re feeling crafty, you could also attract wildlife in your garden or other outdoor space (with permission!) with these ideas. You may want to ask a grown-up to help.

Bird Cakes You’ll need: empty yoghurt pots; string; scissors or craft knife; a block of lard; some peanuts; bird seed; digestive biscuits; other optional ingredients including cheese, porridge oats, raisins. Please note: Ask a parent or carer for help if you have any food allergies.

1. Take the lard out of the fridge to soften a bit.

2. Using the scissors, make small holes in the bottom of the yoghurt pots, and thread the string through. Make a knot so that the string does not slip back out.

3. Cut the lard into chunks. In a mixing bowl, crumble in the digestives, and thoroughly mix in the bird seed, peanuts and other ingredients. The mixture should be quite solid and held together by the lard.

4. Spoon the mixture into the yoghurt pots and put them in the fridge to set. You can then tie the string to a branch outside so that the yoghurt pot hangs upside down.

Inspired by WWF.org.uk.

Bug Mansion You’ll need: wooden pallets; recycled materials like cardboard, old plant pots, tiles and drainpipes; natural materials like logs, turf, stones and straw. Please note: Do this activity with the help of a parent or carer.

In the early autumn, ask permission from the owner of the garden to build this habitat for bugs to hibernate in over the winter. Wooden pallets are an important part of this project; ask a grown-up and see if you can get some from a builders’ yard or industrial site.

1. In a cool, moist spot (such as under a tree) where your bug mansion won’t intrude on anybody’s space, layer the pallets on top of each other with the largest at the bottom. The bug mansion can be whatever size you want it to be. You may want to tie the pallets together with string.

2. Fill the gaps in the pallets with the other materials - for example, recycled materials like cardboard, old plant pots, tiles and drainpipes, or natural materials like logs, turf, stones and straw. Think about creating different habitats for different kinds of creatures: for example, beetles, centipedes and woodlice like to live in dead wood, while frogs and newts like the cool, moist conditions under stones and tiles. Join us for a cinema trip, Inspired by Edenproject.com. followed by conversation and fun secretlifeofpets.damarismedia.com IN CINEMAS JUNE 24 IN CINEMAS JUNE 24

Join us for a cinema trip, followed by conversation and fun secretlifeofpets.damarismedia.com

Author: Sophie Lister Consultant: Holly Price Producer: Judy May Publishing Manager: Steve Alexander Copy Editor: Jennifer McLean Website: Stephen Cross Designer: Iain Gutteridge

The content of this resource is copyright Universal Studios and Damaris Media. © Damaris Media 2016. The Secret Life of Pets © 2016 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. For community activities and promotional use only. Sale, duplication, republication or other transfer of this material or excerpts thereof is strictly prohibited.