<p>This case study of teaching practice seeks to harness the potential of curiosity, play and imagination as a means to approach and conceptualise global challenges. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are used as a framework to inspire fantastical scenarios for workshops where participants from illustration and design undergraduate courses at Arts University Plymouth are encouraged to generate unconventional and seemingly infeasible solutions. These workshops spark creativity and invite reflection beyond the immediate activities, freeing participants to think optimistically about addressing complex and serious global challenges through the lens of play and imagination. Through workshops focused on tactile exploration, students are encouraged to step away from digital tools to embrace processes of making and imagining. This approach offers insights into how creative problem-solving can open up avenues for innovative thinking where the action of making and experience of imagining are as important as output and outcome.</p>