Celebrate International Day of Play with us!
This UN adopted day is a time to celebrate the power of play. It’s a time to raise awareness about how central play is to every child’s development and well-being. And it’s a time when we can come together to make sure that every child is able to fulfil their right to play.
Play Experience at the UN
On International Day of Play, June 11 @ 12:30 - 5pm, the UNHQ lawn in New York will transform into an open-air playground where children, leaders, and partners come together to celebrate the joy, power, and importance of play in every child's life. Sign up now!
Play@TED Event
MAY 14, 2026
Chris Duffy - Host
As the host of TED's How to Be a Better Human podcast, comedian Chris Duffy explores unexpected paths to self-improvement, offering sharp insights and fresh ideas for how we can show up for one another. He's the author of Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy and writes the popular weekly newsletter Bright Spots. He also wrote for both seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO, which was executive produced by John Oliver.
Cloe Shasha Brooks - Host
Cloe Shasha Brooks is a curator and host at TED where she has worked for 15 years. In her role, she finds unique speakers for TED’s wide variety of stage, audio and video programs. She co-writes and edits TED Talks, conducts interviews, and coaches speakers. She has worked with over 500 TED speakers, diving deep into their research to help them develop their narrative arcs and communicate their ideas with clarity, nuance and impact. Outside of TED, Cloe is a lover of the outdoors, writing, cooking, playing music and hosting big gatherings. She lives in Brooklyn with her spouse and two children.
Maxwell Pearce
Maxwell Pearce is a Harlem Globetrotter and award-winning mixed-media artist exploring human rights, social justice, and African American history. Using shoelaces and athletic materials, his work reveals the personal stories beneath the uniform. He has collaborated with the NFL, NBA, and Reebok, and his artwork has been featured in installations at Art Basel Miami. Before the Globetrotters, he was a standout point guard at Purchase College, gaining global attention for viral slam dunk videos.
Randi Williams
Randi Williams is an artificial intelligence researcher exploring how children interact with social robots and AI companions, examining how these technologies affect education, creativity, and trust. Her projects at MIT’s Media Lab explored questions like how children perceive the friendliness or authority of robots and how AI systems can either support or disrupt social and emotional growth. Now, as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, she equips changemakers to use AI responsibly to transform teaching and learning.
Katina Bajaj
Katina Bajaj is the co-founder of Daydreamers, a platform exploring how creativity supports human health and flourishing. She coined the term “creative health” to describe the biological and psychological role creativity plays in resilience, adaptability, and wellbeing. Drawing on training in clinical psychology from Columbia University’s Mind-Body Institute, she studies how play and imagination can help adults reconnect with their creative capacity.
See all our speakers
Join us live.
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Keep the ideas in motion.
TEDx is a global community of independently organized, volunteer-run events that bring people together to share ideas and spark local conversations.
Through TEDxPlay, TEDx organizers around the world are amplifying the conversations from Play@TED by hosting play-themed events that pair curated TED talks with locally relevant perspectives, programming, and experiences — exploring the role and importance of play through a local lens.
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