Award to a Friend

Sometimes when we are celebrating others, we notice something special about them that they don’t realize about themselves! Today, we are going to do an art activity called Award to a friend where we will notice something special about someone else’s artwork and give it a special award.

1. Give students 5-10 minutes to create a drawing or piece of art about anything they choose. Alternatively, feel free to assign a theme for the piece of art (e.g., it must include: a birthday cake; their favorite four-legged animal; something related to an upcoming holiday, the time of year, something they are studying in school, etc.).
2. When students are finished with their art, ask them to find a partner. Ask each child to explain to their partner what their piece of art is and why they chose to make it. Then, have each partner say what award they would give their partner’s piece of art (e.g., most beautiful, most creative, most colorful, most joyful, etc.).
3. When partners are finished sharing what awards they would give each other, come back together as a whole group, and ask a few pairs to share what awards they gave each other.

• Why is it important to notice and share something special about something someone has created?
• What other awards might you have given to someone else for their art piece today? For your own art piece?

For primary school students:

• Before starting the activity, brainstorm the names and types of awards, and create images of these awards and print them out.
• Prompt students to use descriptive adjectives for their awards and embed a short lesson on superlatives.

For students in grades 5-6:

• Consider using this strategy during academic work such as writing assignments or projects. Invite students to write an essay or implement a research project, invite students to take turns presenting their work, and award them in a certain category to all other participants.