Play Page

Play at DFI

a red dog and some polka dates on a checkerboard background

Image generated by DALL·E 2

Why “Play” in Research and Pedagogy?

A fundamental part of our mission at DFI is to honor play as a site of imagination, creativity, and possibility. By centering the voices of young people as well as recognizing the value of play for adults, we gain a fuller picture of the complexity of play, as well as its role in fostering community, shaping identities, and nurturing overall well-being. Thisapproach also helps us to refine our understanding of the conditions that facilitate play—the materials, individuals, environments, and boundaries that distinguish and comprise play in its many forms.

Playful Projects

Browse the following play-centric projects incubated at DFI.

Square pop and play logo image with paint brush stroke background and words Pop and Play on light blue circle.

Pop and Play

Professors Haeny Yoon and Nathan Holbert take play seriously. On their podcast, Pop and Play, they talk with educators, parents and kids about how they play in their work and their lives, and why play matters. 

wooden toys in a row

Play and Wellbeing Site

Play and Wellbeing is a public pedagogy project that compiles and synthesizes research, commentaries, and original multimodal works that address the many dimensions of play across the lifespan, and their impacts on wellbeing.

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DFI Opportunities for Play

Check out these additional opportunities at DFI for becoming involved in play and playful projects:

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a student sketches an image that is projected by an iPad

Tech Playgrounds

Tech Playgrounds are a workshop series open to all members of the TC community who wish to experiment with new technologies for teaching and learning in a playful, supportive environment. Past events include robots and drones, no-code programming, and AI image generation. Come join us! 

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Immersive Learning Club

The Immersive Learning Club, designed as a book-club style workshop, provides a collaborative space for members of the TC community to deeply explore the educational applications of VR and discuss how the technology can be innovatively and effectively used within the realms of teaching and learning.

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Affiliated Lab: Snow Day

The Snow Day Learning Lab is the research group and design laboratory of Professor Nathan Holbert and is located at Teachers College, Columbia University. Our primary goal is to understand how people make sense of their world through play. To that end, we make and study games, toys, tools and technologies that offer opportunities to experience and explore things of personal and communal value, and further our understanding of how people think, learn, and play.

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