Let’s Reimagine Play
What if play isn’t a break from learning and work, but the engine behind them?
Play@TED is a partnership between TED, the LEGO Group, and the LEGO Foundation aimed at inspiring a global movement to transform how we think about play. Together we will showcase how creative play can be a game-changer and help shape brighter minds, braver ideas, and a more imaginative future for everyone.
Play@TED Originals
The shape-shifting sounds of the accordion
Musician Maria Telesheva plays the accordion like a second set of lungs, showcasing this powerhouse instrument and its impressive 226 buttons — whether she’s playing Bach or the Beatles. In this talk and performance, she discusses how she fell in love with this musical acrobat and plays two beautiful songs.
How doodling unlocks your imagination
Artist Joe Whale used to get in trouble for doodling in class, until a local restaurant let him cover an entire wall with his artwork … and the internet took notice. He traces his unlikely beginning to a bigger story: your imagination is a muscle, and it weakens when you hand it off to AI. Through a live doodling demo, he shows in real time what it looks like to let a thought become a drawing, one line at a time.
The creative genius of sneaker design
Designer Salehe Bembury turns sneakers into stories — like a sunset-colored shoe and footwear with a hiking whistle in the heel. In conversation with TED's Cloe Shasha Brooks, Bembury walks through some of his most coveted drops (for Crocs, New Balance, Versace and more) and breaks down the risk-taking behind his work.
The power of imagination - onstage and off
When professional child actor Suki Hillier landed the title role in "Matilda The Musical," she thought she would have to learn how to become someone else. Instead, she realized she had known the role since she was three, when she playfully tried to move objects with her mind the way Matilda does. In this joyful talk, she reveals the similarities between the stage and life — because imagination isn't about escaping the world. It’s a way of building one.
I am...
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Never Stop Playing!
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Let Play Lead Learning!
Make Play Possible!
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