It was a bright morning in Sunshine Elementary. Ms. Bloom stood in front of her lively second-grade class. “Today is Friendship Day!” she announced. “We have a surprise project—and a new friend joining us!”

The door opened, and a girl with curly hair and sparkling eyes stepped in. “Everyone, meet Zara. She just moved here from Green Valley.”

“Hi, Zara!” the class greeted in unison.
Zara gave a shy wave. “Hi…” she said quietly.
Ms. Bloom continued, “Today, we’ll make a Friendship Puzzle. Each of you will decorate a puzzle piece to show something about yourself. When it’s done, we’ll put it together!”

Leo, a boy in the front row, raised his hand. “Can it be about ANYTHING we like?”

“Anything that makes you special!” Ms. Bloom replied.

The class buzzed with excitement, grabbing markers, glitter, and stickers to decorate their pieces.

Zara looked at the blank puzzle piece in front of her. She wasn’t sure what to draw. Beside her, Mia was drawing a rainbow. “What’s your favorite thing, Zara?” Mia asked.
Zara smiled a little. “I love baking. My grandma and I used to make cakes with lots of sprinkles.”
“Yum!” Mia said. “You should draw that!”

As Zara sketched a colorful cake, other kids worked on their pieces too.

When it was time to put the puzzle together, things got tricky.
“This piece doesn’t match mine!” Leo said, frustrated.
“Mine has glitter all over it—it’ll never fit!” Ravi grumbled.

Zara hesitated. She wanted to help but felt nervous. Then she raised her hand.
“Maybe we could try turning the pieces and working together,” she suggested softly.
Everyone paused. “Good idea!” Mia said.

The kids began taking turns. Zara helped Ravi fit his elephant near Leo’s soccer ball. Mia connected her rainbow to Zara’s cake. Slowly but surely, the puzzle started coming together.