Budding poets will want to enter Pets Add Life Children’s Poetry Contest
Just about any pet owner can share stories about the positive impact their companions have on their lives. It’s been shown time and again that having a pet in your life reduces stress, increases personal well-being, and promotes health and healing. This is especially true for children raised in an environment that includes pets.
Pets Add Life (PAL) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase awareness of the benefits that come from owning a pet. They use social media as a tool to encourage people to find and adopt the right pet for them and their families. They are holding their 7th annual Children’s Poetry Contest, open to students in grades three through eight.
Children are encouraged to write poems about their pets and how having an animal has positively affected their lives. Six winners will be chosen from across the US, and winners receive a $250 pet care gift certificate and a special mention in a national publication. One winner will be chosen from each grade, and that winner also receives a $1,000 scholarship for their classroom. The scholarship is to be spent on a field trip, or activity relating to animals.
Submissions are accepted online or by mail and have to be in by January 31,, 2015. Poems can be about anything pet-related your child wants. Poems about their pet, how much they love pets, the effect having a pet has had on them, etc., all qualify. The only stipulation is that they are not to be more than 100 words and winners will be selected by a panel of judges. If you have a child who loves their pet, I suggest encouraging their poetry.
I’m a little over the age limit for this contest, but it inspired me to write a little poem about my dog, Maria:
Dog Haiku
For more information, visit the Pets Add Life website.
