Thank You for Being an (Imaginary) Friend

Having a friend requires lots of thought and care. Using design, creativity and empathy, help students design a cozy home for an imaginary friend right in your classroom. To start, ask your students to create the class’s imaginary friend and describe what they might act like.

Some questions to get you started are:

• Where does our friend live?
• What food do they like to eat?
• What’s their favorite color?

Once you have a good idea of who your imaginary friend is, start creating a cozy corner for them!

Provide materials like large cardboard boxes or sheets to create framework like doors, walls and windows. You can also use desks and chairs that you have in the classroom to give the home more structure.

Once you have the shape of your cozy home, let your students use their imagination to picture what the imaginary friend would want in their space, such as toys, drawings or even pizza!

To set the mood, find music online (or make your own!) that you think your class’s friend would like.

Once it’s made, students can use the cozy corner to relax, read or make art with their friend!

Have your class redecorate the cozy corner once a week to update their imaginary friend’s ever-changing interests or to welcome a new friend—real or imaginary—into the classroom!

To support this unit, use the Bringing My Imaginary Friend to Life Handout.