Meet the Koa-Kuas: What Happens When Kids Design Their Own Iyanwa Companions

A few weeks ago, a primary school in the UK sent through a stack of completed "Create Your Own Koa-Kua" pages from a class of age 9-10 students! How cool is that?

If you're not familiar with the sheet: it's one of the activities in the free IYANWA and FAHLI Teacher Resource Kits, built around Elliot, the Koa-Kua at the heart of both books. Koa-Kuas are companions for adventurers who travel across Iyanwa, and the activity asks students to invent one of their own — design, name, personality, abilities, strengths and weakness, and all.

What came back from this class was a genuinely brilliant collection of hand-drawn creatures, each one completely different from the next.

What the Class Came Up With

Every completed page told a slightly different story. Some students leaned into bold color and pattern, with bright fur, wing shapes, or striking markings that made their creature instantly recognizable. Others focused on personality first, working out who their Koa-Kua was before deciding what it looked like. A few clearly spent real time on the finer details: the way a tail curled, male and female varations, and weaknesses that really balanced our their strengths, which would make for some superb storytelling. One specifically talks about their Koa-Kuas ability to shoot spines from their tail, and the pain of growing them back (like a tooth being pulled!).

These exercises are such a great way to get students to think about their Koa-Kuas, and if they traveled through Iyanwa, how would they have worked together with them - where would they have struggled, where would they have thrived.

Chris Thanks again for last week! A small sample of SW's Koa-Kuas for you... Thought you might like to see your inspiration in action, whether they have read the book or not!

A Few Favorites

An awesome Lunobo by Grace, age 10

An amazingly detailed and intimidating Koa-Kua by Charlie, age 10

A small collection of some amazing Koa-Kuas!

Why This Activity Keeps Working

Seeing real submissions come back is a good reminder of why the Koa-Kua sheet earns its place in the kit. It doesn't just ask students to color inside the lines of an existing character — it hands them full creative ownership. They're deciding what their creature values, what it's capable of, their strengths/weaknesses, which means every finished page reflects something of the student who made it.

That's a small thing on paper, but it's the kind of activity that tends to produce the most memorable classroom moments: the ones where you can see a student thinking like a storyteller.

Bring It Into Your Own Classroom

If your students haven't had a go yet, the Create Your Own Koa-Kua page is free to download as part of the complete IYANWA and FAHLI Teacher Resource Kits — no sign-up required. It pairs well with the Creative Writing Prompt Cards for an extension activity, or works as a standalone literacy center.

Teacher Resource Kits

Has your class made their own Koa-Kuas? I'd love to see them! Send in your students' creations to be featured in a future post.