This study explored students’ lived experiences of design thinking-based instruction in social studies and examined how these experiences were connected to national identity. A qualitative descriptive phenomenological design was used. Participants were 14 sixth-grade female students from Shazand, Markazi Province, selected through criterion-based purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, student artifacts, and researcher reflective notes. Data were analyzed inductively using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis with MAXQDA. Five themes were generated: tangible understanding of abstract national-identity concepts; transformation of belonging and national responsibility; creativity and cultural re-creation; empathy and understanding of others as a basis for collective identity; and contradictory experiences and gradual development. These themes were mapped onto cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of national identity, with some overlap across dimensions. Students described hands-on activities, empathy, collaboration, cultural representation, and reflection as experiences through which meanings of homeland, belonging, responsibility for cultural heritage, and respect for cultural diversity became more concrete. Given the phenomenological design, the findings should be interpreted as participants’ perceived experiences and meaning-making processes rather than as evidence of a causal effect or statistically generalizable impact.