If you're not playful, you're not alive.
— David Hockney (1937-2026)
Tributes following the recent death of renowned British artist David Hockney have celebrated his extraordinary creativity, curiosity and ability to see the world with fresh eyes. Throughout his life, Hockney championed experimentation and wonder, reminding us that creativity and playfulness are not qualities we leave behind in childhood.
In early childhood education and care (ECEC), play is often discussed as something children need. The right to play is recognised in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF), while the International Play Association describes play as vital to children's development, learning and wellbeing.
Play, and playfulness, however, are also valuable attributes for adults. According to researcher Stuart Brown, play is as important to human flourishing as sleep and nutrition (Brown & Vaughan, 2009). As he has famously observed:
"Play is like oxygen. It's all around us, totally vital to life, but goes unnoticed until it's missing." (National Institute for Play)
More than fun and games
When people think about playfulness, they often imagine laughter, silliness and high energy. Those things certainly have their place. In fact, being playful often involves letting go of adult expectations and allowing ourselves to become immersed in a moment alongside children.
But playfulness is more than a collection of behaviours. As CELA Learning and Development Specialist, Kerrie Maguire, explains: "Play is the action and the doing; playfulness is the mindset or disposition. It’s curiosity, openness and a willingness to engage without a required outcome.”
Playfulness shapes how we respond to children's ideas, how willing we are to follow unexpected directions and how open we are to wonder. In other words, playfulness is an attitude toward play, rather than the playing itself. (Vartiainen. J. et al., 2024).
This aligns with a 2025 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, which described playfulness as a "perceptual lens" that shapes how individuals interpret situations and identify opportunities for exploration, creativity and connection (Shen et al., 2025).
For educators, that lens can transform everyday moments. A cardboard box becomes a spaceship. A puddle becomes an ocean. A child's random statement becomes the opportunity to laugh out loud, together.
A power of connection
The Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 highlights the importance of play and dispositions such as curiosity, creativity, imagination, confidence and problem-solving. These qualities are often discussed in relation to children, but they are equally important for educators.
A playful educator is more likely to follow a child's lead, ask open-ended questions, embrace uncertainty and recognise the learning potential in unexpected moments.
Importantly, playfulness helps educators move beyond simply facilitating learning to becoming active participants in it.
Kerrie describes this as a state of connection:
When we play with children, our brains synchronise… we're in this flow with children, and that's our greatest point of connectedness and learning.
This state of flow draws parallels with slow pedagogy, when being in the present moment allows educators and children to become collaborators.
These moments also build trust, belonging and relationships.
Seeing possibilities
Playfulness can also change the way educators interpret children's behaviour.
In busy environments, it can be tempting to focus on efficiency, routines and moving children smoothly from one experience to the next. Yet some of the richest opportunities for connection arise when children linger in an idea, repeat an experience or take it in an unexpected direction.
As Kerrie observes: "Without playfulness, play can sometimes be interpreted as misbehaviour… Educators will say, 'Oh, that could go forever,' and I say, ‘perhaps it could, and even 15 or 20 minutes can help build relationships and create a stronger connection.’"
Her observation challenges educators to pause and reconsider what they are seeing.
What appears disruptive may be experimentation. What seems repetitive may be exploration. What feels like a distraction may be an invitation into shared meaning-making.
This does not mean abandoning boundaries or routines. Rather, it means recognising that relationships are often strengthened when educators allow themselves to stay with children's ideas a little longer and remain open to where those ideas might lead.
Developmental psychologist Elly Singer writes: “In a play pedagogy, teachers gently structure young children’s lives by means of routines, rituals, songs, dance, rhythms, rhymes, and humour.” (Singer, E., 2015)
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Holding onto wonder
The pressures currently facing the early childhood sector are real. Compliance requirements, staffing challenges and administrative demands can make playfulness feel like something extra; something to fit in when time allows.
Yet perhaps it becomes even more important during challenging times.
A growing body of research suggests that playfulness supports creativity, wellbeing and positive workplace relationships. A 2026 review of playfulness in the workplace identified links with innovation, resilience and stronger connections between colleagues (Jarkko et al., 2026).
For ECEC leaders, this is an important reminder. Cultures of curiosity do not emerge by accident. They are created when educators feel safe to ask questions, explore new ideas and take thoughtful risks in their practice.
Ultimately, however, playfulness is not about adding another strategy or initiative to an already crowded agenda.
For Kerrie, it is something much simpler: "Essentially, it’s losing yourself in that moment with children… letting go of those adult constraints and just being with children in those moments, because that brings so much joy."
Children do not separate learning, creativity, relationships and joy into neat categories. They experience them together. And playfulness invites educators to do the same.
As David Hockney's words remind us, playfulness is not something we outgrow. It is a way of engaging with the world that keeps creativity, curiosity and wonder alive throughout our lives.
References
Brown. S & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. Penguin Publishing Group.
Jarkko, A.-K., Kangas, M. & Heljakka, K. (2026). Playfulness in the workplace: A systematic literature review. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 11(1), p. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.16993/sjwop.408.
National Institute for Play: The science of play
Shen, X. & Crawley. Z. (2025). How does playfulness (re)frame the world? Evidence for selective cognitive and behavioral redirecting in times of adversity. Frontiers in Psychology. 15:1462980. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1462980
Singer, E. (2015). Play and playfulness in early childhood education and care. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 8(2), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.11621/pir.2015.0203
Vartiainen, J., Sormunen, K., & Kangas, J. (2024). Relationality of play and playfulness in early childhood sustainability education. Learning and Instruction. 93, Article 101963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101963
Further reading
CELA: Why play is the most effective way to support child development and learning
CELA: Guarding the work of childhood: Why we need to be custodians of play
CELA: The role of guided play in early education and care