Keep the Heart Open to Play

July 14, 2026

Keep the Heart Open to Play


Possibilities abound for magical connections.

Play every day in every way.
Play is life.


Your delta flow feeds my sisters' feet,
fires her soul.

Together for global transformation.


The hardest times can be boring but also fun.

Finding self and others through our play.

Live like a kid again.


Play fills me with ideas, joy, and wonder.

My dreams and passions and visions were already happening.

No rules. No clock. No apologies.
Just play, play, play.

Ready to go be a champion of play.


Play is for all of us, both me and you.

Together we're so much better than creating play moments alone.

Make your heart dance and your soul happy.

A moment of play makes your day.

Whenever I may, I like to play.

Play our way into changing ourselves and the world.


Yes, and then magic happens.

Eat, drink, and celebrate play.

My kingdom for play.
My kingdom of play.


I took the road less traveled,
and that has made all the difference.

I want to fly on a swing
with glee in the breeze.


Play is the essence that brings us together.

Play is the embodiment of joy.

I am because we play.

In gratitude and wonder.


I forgot I was a child, babbling,
and by playing
I remember all I can still become.


The growing fire sparked and hissed as it warmed the readers around it.

Play is connecting to yourself.

How joyous to be connected through play to all of you.

Play is a cool day.

Play unites.
Play inspires.


I'm learning to bring my internal curiosity to the exterior world.

Play sparks that turn ordinary moments into pockets of wonder.

Play connects the world across borders.

Many drops, rising tide.

My heart is full of playful delight.

Sun shining on the ocean.

To play today, with all of you


Play is going back to the source.

Play is always fun.

I am ready.

Hear my bones here jangling and dancing.

Playfulness and joy, the connective tissue of our world.

Play creates smiles and giggles.

Play fills up my heart with tickles and light.

Play weaves our different strands together.

Play is fun. Enlightenment.

Play is full of colours.

Play is architecture.


Play connects mind and movement to support human development.

Keep the heart open to play.


 

(This poem was created from the chat comments of The Art & Science of Play and then creatively edited)


By Danielle Speciale June 9, 2026
Author: Sarah Filman, GPB Director of Programs
June 9, 2026
GPB and Linking Circles Academy Collaborate on Project TECI We love a good partnership. And we really love a partnership that puts play where it belongs, in a classroom. So when Linking Circles Academy came with a vision to transform how teachers in Nigeria show up for their diverse learners, we opened the door. Fewer than half of teachers in Nigeria do not receive any training on inclusive education, and there are a lot of learners with diverse learning needs and abilities. Founded by Elizabeth Adams, a brigadier, Linking Circles is an education-focused organization on a mission to improve learning outcomes in African schools through teacher development. They've already trained over 50 teachers through virtual and in-person workshops. Project TECI (The Equitable Classroom Initiative) is their boldest move yet, aimed at training and mentoring at least 1,000 primary and secondary school teachers to design and sustain inclusive, equitable, student-centred classrooms. It's ambitious. It's necessary. And it has GPB's name all over it. Inclusive classrooms need teachers who know how to meet a room full of different minds, different stories, and make every single one of them feel like they belong. And play is one of the most powerful tools for developing exactly that. That's why GPB is stepping in as a curriculum partner for Project TECI. Through our Educators Ensemble, we're bringing our play-based and experiential learning methodologies directly into the teacher training design. GPB will be providing play-based learning resources and frameworks to shape the TECI curriculum, offering advisory and technical input, and delivering a virtual training session for TECI facilitators on how to integrate play and performance-based approaches into their work. We'll also introduce GPB's work to the educators coming through the TECI programme — because once a teacher catches the play bug, there's no telling where it spreads. We're happy to be walking this road with Linking Circles Academy. We're bringing play into spaces where it has been absent for too long. And we can't wait to see the classrooms and the children that TECI helps transform. Let's play it forward!