It’s Father’s Day on June 19 and this year dads across Courier Country can feel even more special thanks to our fun free project.
The Courier is inviting all pupils in primaries three and four to draw a picture of their dad along with a short message to be published in the paper in the run-up to Father’s Day.
It’s completely free to enter Draw Your Dad, with no cost to the pupils or the school to take part.
The closing date for entries is this Friday, May 20, and we have already received some amazing drawings. Primary 3m at St Joseph’s Primary School in Dundee have been hard at work paying fitting tributes to their dads. The pupils reckon dads take you anywhere you want, play football with you and give you extra treats, and Charlie Keogh speaks for the whole class when he says: “My favourite thing about my dad is he is just my dad.”
Jules Hope says they wanted to enter the project “so our dads could see our pictures in the paper and what we wrote about them”. Charlie adds: “We want to show people how good our dads are” and Guatam Singh observes “It’s been fun because we don’t often get the chance to do things about dads.”
They may only be in Primary 3 but they’re already avid readers of The Courier. The overall opinion is that it’s a good paper because it has lots of cheery news and not too much bad news.
And the pupils have tips for other schools on how to do a good drawing.
“Don’t draw stick bodies – draw proper bodies with hands and fingers,” advises Rubynn Rice. Thomas McFarlane says: “Draw your dad wearing his favourite clothes or football strip,” while Jules and Marie-Therese Black add: “It doesn’t have to be perfect – just do your best.”
Class teacher Joanne Mitchell has enjoyed working the children on the project and said: “The children have really enjoyed taking part in Draw your Dad project. It has given them the opportunity to reflect on the role of a dad and has highlighted just how much fun dads can be.”
Although the Primary 2 class at Langlands Primary in Forfar aren’t eligible to officially enter, they were so excited at the thought of drawing their dads that class teachers Claire Feeney and Joanna Young decided to do it as a fun class project.
Lucy Mulligan explains they love to colour and draw and Eden Coventry adds it’s nice to surprise dads with drawings of them. The pupils have taken lots of trouble with their drawings and are looking forward to entering properly next year.
Here at The Courier we’re hoping hundreds of youngsters – in P3 and P4 – will take the opportunity to enter and we’ll print every entry we receive, along with a short message, in a series of special supplements.
Get involved
It’s only one entry per child but as not all children have a dad in their lives, we’re more than willing for pupils to draw the important male figures in their life and we will leave this to the discretion of the teacher.
Here are a few pointers to bear in mind: drawings must be on the template provided in the welcome pack but teachers can photocopy more if needed.
We recommend using bold colours – crayons and felt tip pens show up best.
Try to get the picture in the centre of the template provided and make the picture as large as possible within the template.
We need all the pictures to be with us by Friday and any we receive after this date can’t be included. We can only accept one batch of pictures from each school.
Courier marketing executive Sharon Methven has a word of encouragement: “The response so far has been great but there is room for more. The project is open to all primary three and four classes so get your entries in now via your school!”
Welcome packs
Welcome packs with details on how to enter have been sent to every school in Courier Country. If your school has not yet received a pack, please contact
Sharon Methven on smethven@dcthomson.co.uk and one will be
sent out.
We need all the pictures to be with us by Friday May 20 and any we receive after this date can’t be included. To ensure your messages can be printed, can teachers please make sure all writing is legible.
