My Dream Pet with Petplan UK
When I was growing up, I didn’t just have an imaginary friend, I had a whole circle of friends who were make-believe. They would each have their own unique look and personality, but we would always be the best of friends, who were there for each other whenever needed. My imaginary friends were soon replaced by my two younger sisters and brother and then later, by my real-life friends at school. However, my over-active imagination continued and so did my desire to create through craft, picture, and stories. I have seen the same kind of passion in my two boys when they use their vivid imagination to create magical worlds with each other, through roleplay and character invention, fused from real life and fantasy (books, TV and the many soft toys that they own). Being 15 months apart, at 4 and 6 years old, they are on the same wavelength as each other and regularly hold shows, concerts, dramas, and heists. But, it’s the boys and their soft toys that win the battle every time. The one thing that has really wowed me about the boys’ imagination is their ability to create totally new and unique characters. Check out this drawing of ‘Colour Bigman’ from Aidan who is only 4 years old.
So, when I heard about Petplan’s campaign for children to put their artistic skills to the test and design their dream pet, I knew this would be the ideal project for the boys. What’s more, their imaginative and creative dream pet design would then be turned into an amazing soft toy for them to keep and treasure! How amazing is that!?
Who is Petplan®?
Petplan was born in 1976 and its aim is to keep our nation’s pets healthy and owners happy. Petplan offers the very best pet insurance policies, as well as great customer service, to help millions of owners get their beloved pets back on their feet following illness or injury. Petplan offers genuine ‘lifetime’ policies, as they understand that pet owners require specific needs when it comes to finding the right insurance policy for them. They offer policies like their market leading ‘Covered for Life®’, which is designed for pet owners who are concerned about their pet developing a long-term, chronic or recurring illness. And, they also offer more specific Petplan Dog Insurance for dog owners and 12-month policies that are designed to suit all needs. Petplan is also committed to supporting and working with over 1,200 rehoming charities throughout the UK, and in 1994, formed the Petplan Charitable Trust, which has so far raised more than £7 million towards a better, healthier world for animals.
Petplan’s Dream Pet Campaign
Petplan UK have organised a truly exciting campaign for children to put their artistic and imagination skills to great use and draw their dream pet. Their imagination is their limit, so children can come up with the weirdest and the most exciting dream pet that they can think of. The most amazing part? Their dream pet drawing will be transformed into an amazing soft toy for them to keep and treasure! It’s like every child’s dream come true to see their creation as a real soft toy!
Petplan provided the boys with an awesome set of drawing supplies to get busy coming up with their dream pet designs. We set up a day of imagination and creativity at the weekend, to get the boys’ creative juices flowing. We listened to music, we roleplayed as superheroes, we played games and read books. And, then, just before dinner, the boys sat down with their Sharpie pens, coloured pencils, and wax crayons, and worked very hard to come up with their dream pet together. I was surprised to see that it had only taken them 15 minutes to design and name their dream pet, without one single argument! So, the boys and I present to you:
BATCAT!
Such a brilliant name for an amazing Dream Pet!
We sent off BatCat’s design to be made into a soft toy. It took a few weeks to create their bespoke soft toy and when we received BatCat the soft toy in the post, we could not believe our eyes. Our mouths had literally fallen to the floor and our eyes had almost popped out of our head. It was BatCat as a soft toy!
BatCat was a soft toy, whaaat!?
The boys instantly fell in love with BatCat and they now alternate who’s going to sleep with BatCat every night. Plus, BatCat has become the third musketeer and travels everywhere with the boys, including at school, where the other children have fallen in love with BatCat too!
Words cannot express how amazing it felt to see my boys’ eyes light up with glee and excitement when they received their imaginative creations in the form of a soft toy. The fact that they created BatCat from their own imagination and saw their results being made into a real soft toy has given them a sense of accomplishment and achievement, which has motivated them to keep using their creativity to invent newer and better designs. Imagine what this kind of project could do for all kids in school! I think that a project/campaign like designing a pet toy and seeing it come to life is how we motivate and spur our children on to keep using their imaginations and perhaps make inventors and designers out of our future generation. What a brilliant campaign, thank you so much, Petplan!
*This post and, of course, BatCat, has been possible thanks to Petplan, but all thoughts and sheer excitement are 100% our own! *
