The Magic Never Goes Away: Rediscovering Play as Grown-Ups

I took my kids to see Gabby’s Dollhouse today.

I expected a colorful, cheerful kids' movie with giggles, songs, and sparkles. Yes, it delivered all of that. My kids, and me quite frankly, are longtime fans of the show. What I didn't expect from this movie was to walk out of the theater feeling emotional.

Touched.
Hopeful.

Like the movie had whispered something directly to me, not as a parent, but as a person. It reminded me that the magic of play never actually disappears. It gets buried.

And for many of us, it’s been buried for a long, long time.

The "Villain" Who Felt a Lot Like Us

Without giving away spoilers, let me just say: the so-called villain of the movie? Not a villain at all (Kristen Wiig was phenomenal). They were someone who, on the surface, had abandoned play. Someone who wore adulthood like a perfectly pressed blazer, or odd spandex leathery outfit. Serious. Focused. In control. Maybe even a little rigid. A grown-up in every way.

But as the story unfolds, you realize that this character isn’t cold or mean or evil.

They’re just us.

Parents. Teenagers. Educators. Professionals. People living according to the perceived rules of what adulthood is supposed to look like. Work hard, be productive, stay focused, and grow up.

No time to play.

But underneath the performance, underneath the habits and hustle, that magic of play hadn’t died. It had just been buried.

That’s what cracked me open.

It turns out, the movie wasn’t for my kids. Not really. It was for me.

What Happened to Our Play?

At some point, play got put in a box labeled "childhood." We left behind the floor-flooded worlds of Hot Wheels, dollhouses, blocks, action figures, imaginary kingdoms, fairy-tale battles, blanket forts, and cardboard rocket ships. We traded spontaneity for structure. Joyful noise for silence. Dirt on our hands for appointments in our phones. We told ourselves: that was part of growing up.

But research tells us something different:

Play isn’t just a childhood behavior. It’s a human behavior.

Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, writes:

“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.”

Adults who deprive themselves of play are more likely to experience burnout, anxiety, isolation, and even physical health issues. Play is deeply linked to brain development, creativity, stress reduction, empathy, and resilience at every age.

So why do we stop?

The Psychology of Abandoning Play

• Cultural Pressure: We live in a productivity-obsessed world. If something doesn’t generate income, advance our goals, or check a box, it feels wasteful.

• Shame: Adults are accustomed to associate play with immaturity. We don’t want to be judged. We don’t want to seem unserious.

• Busyness: With packed schedules and constant responsibilities, play drops to the bottom of the priority list or off the list entirely.

• Loss of Modeling: If our own parents didn’t play with us, we may never have seen what adult play can look like. We may not know how to do it.

Slowly, without realizing it, we go from "Let's play!" to "I don't have time for that."

Reclaiming Play in Our Lives

Here’s the truth the movie reminded me of:

Play doesn’t disappear. It waits.

It waits for the moment you roll on the floor with your kid and pretend you're in a lava-filled obstacle course. It waits for the moment you let your learner lead the game instead of you. It waits for the moment you put your phone down, your to-do list aside, and build a blanket fort that’s totally impractical and absolutely perfect.

It’s in you. It’s in all of us.

If you work with children, as a parent, a teacher, a therapist, a support staff member, you have the power to awaken it in them. Not just by teaching "how to play," but by showing them what it looks like when an adult remembers how to play, too. A lot of our learners don’t know how to play and a lot of the parents we support feel like they never knew how.

That’s not the full story, however.

We all played once.

Whether in isolation or with others. Whether with toys or ideas or sensations. Whether safely or recklessly. We all once felt that spark and buried it somewhere beneath responsibility, stress, shame, and adulthood.

Play isn’t childish. It’s sacred.

5 Ways to Reignite Play This Week

We don’t have to wait for summer vacation, a special occasion, or permission from our inner critic to play. We just need to start with small, intentional acts that remind us how it feels to laugh, explore, and create for no reason other than joy.

Here are five simple and powerful ways to reignite play this week. No kids required, but they’re more than welcome to join.

1. Turn Off the To-Do List. Turn On a Game.

Put your phone away. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Then pull out a board game, card deck, puzzle, or even a game from your childhood that hasn’t seen daylight in years. Let yourself play to play, not to win, not to teach, not to prove anything. Just enjoy the experience of being in the game.

• Tip: If you don’t own any games, try a free app like “Heads Up” or grab a pencil and make your own version of Pictionary.

2. Make Something With Your Hands And Make It Messy

Paint with your fingers. Build with clay. Doodle with sidewalk chalk. Let the process be more important than the outcome. Resist the urge to make it “pretty” or “perfect.” Your goal is expression, not excellence.

• Try this: Draw your favorite animal (or anything) using your non-dominant hand. It’ll be hilarious, imperfect, and completely delightful.

3. Invent a Game With Your Kids (or Borrow Theirs)

Children are experts at making up games. Join them. Let them lead. If you don’t have kids around, channel your inner child by making up your own rules for something silly like “trash can basketball,” “spoon races,” or a hide-and-seek version with stuffed animals.

• Prompt: Ask, “What’s a game we can invent together that no one in the world has ever played before?”

4. Revisit Your Favorite Childhood Toy or Activity

Remember how it felt to line up Hot Wheels, dress a doll, build a fort, or spin until you fell over laughing? Find a way to bring that back. Go thrifting and buy a toy from your past. Or better yet, recreate the feeling of that toy, freedom, imagination, curiosity, in a grown-up form.

• Example: Loved LEGO bricks? Try an adult block set or build something wild with recyclables and glue. Loved make-believe? Try role-playing a silly character during dinner.

5. Schedule an Hour of “Free Time” and Don’t Plan It

This might be the most radical act of all. Block out one hour this week where nothing is scheduled. No laundry. No emails. No productivity. Just time that belongs to you. Ask yourself: What would 8-year-old me want to do right now?Then do that.

• Bonus: Invite a friend or partner to join you. Adults need playdates too.

Your Invitation Back

So here’s my invitation to you:

Throw yourself on the floor. Dump a bin of Legos. Put a silly hat on. Pretend your hallway is a jungle. Join the game.

Not to entertain.
Not to teach.
Not to check a parenting or clinical box.

Do it because you were once that kid and the magic that used to live in your fingertips, your laughter, your imagination?

It never left. It’s just waiting to be invited back to the surface.

Don’t just teach play. Live it.
Don’t just support play. Protect it.
Don’t just observe play. Remember it.

And if you need permission to start again, this is it.