Make some new friends

(Thanks to Jess Firestone for sharing this project with us!)

Have you ever felt like you don’t have any friends? We all feel that way sometimes, even though it isn’t really true.

Sometimes someone says “I don’t want to be your friend anymore,” and it could be true in that moment, but probably not forever.

Everyone has a friend-sized-hole in their heart sometimes. When you’re feeling that way, it can help to get playful and create some reminders that there are new friends living all around you right this very minute.

Draw and cut out some eyes, noses and mouths. You could also cut face parts out of magazines.

When you are drawing eyes, think about different colors of irises (the colored part of your eye), different shapes, closed, open, winking, animal, human, alien, enormous, tiny, long curly eyelashes, wearing rainbow eyeshadow or glasses… any kind of eyes!

When you are drawing noses, try out different shapes, sizes and colors. Triangles, circles, nostrils, no nostrils…pig noses are especially cute and easy to draw.

When you are drawing mouths, try out expressions and looks of all sorts: toothy grins, shy smiles, grouchy mouths, teeth with braces, mouths missing teeth, mouths with fangs, pointy beaks, long tongues sticking out.

Sort out all your parts and start putting faces together that look like a friend you’d like to meet, or someone you’d be curious to talk to.

Now grab your tape and start looking around your home for places for your faces!

Look closely—doesn’t the broom look friendly with all that hair standing straight up? Tape the face parts right on there.

What will that doorknob look like as a nose if you add eyes and a mouth?

Things that fold like oven mitts or couch cushions make natural mouths with a pair of eyes and a nose taped on.

If there’s something you really dislike, like washing dishes, make sure to give the sponge an extra silly face.

If your math book makes you mad, add a face that will make you laugh before you open it up to do your homework.

You can leave your friends around for other people you live with to meet—they will surely be surprised to see a spatula smiling from the drawer or the garbage can grinning at them from under the sink.

Think about if there is someone you know who could use a surprise friend or a reminder that they are not alone. You don’t even have to tell them you made it, if you don’t want to. Maybe tomorrow they come to school and their locker just happens to be smiling at them.

Here are some other ideas you can try!

1. Write a comic or graphic novel starring the friends you made. What happens when Broom meets Hairbrush? What do they have to say to each other? Do they have stories to tell about their time living with your messy family? Do they argue? Are they long-lost friends?

2. Go for a friend-search outside. Look for faces in the fire hydrants, the knots in a tree, and cracks in the sidewalk. Add a word bubble of what that tree might say for other people to find.

3. Get some of your alive human friends to join you and make lots of face parts. Mix and match with each other and then go around your school or neighborhood, sneaky style with tape. Add some delighted expressions to the door knobs, light switches, and other places people wouldn’t expect to see a smile peeking through.