Bringing evidence-led play science into workplaces across Australia and New Zealand in practical, credible ways. Together, we are helping leaders understand why play matters at work, not as a distraction from performance, but as part of what supports connection, adaptability, and healthier team dynamics under pressure.
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Bring Play Science Into Your Workplace
The National Institute for Play in Australia and New Zealand
What is NIFPlay?
NIFPlay, the National Institute for Play, is a global leader in the science of play. Founded by Dr Stuart Brown, NIFPlay curates and interprets research that reveals how play shapes cognitive, emotional, physical, and social development to unlock human potential.
Its work has helped shift the way play is understood. Rather than treating play as a luxury or something people outgrow, NIFPlay positions it as a biological necessity, not a luxury, and a vital part of human wellbeing across the lifespan.
As a predominant voice in play science, NIFPlay bridges the gap between research and practical application, helping individuals, organisations, and communities better understand the role play can have in creativity, resilience, connection, and healthier human functioning.
This partnership is built on a clear position: play is a public health necessity, and in modern workplaces, it is often the missing performance infrastructure.
While the science of play is well established, many organisations still struggle to apply it in ways that feel relevant and practical for modern teams. Through this partnership, Corporate Challenge Events works with NIFPlay to translate research into clear education, insights, and strategies that leaders can use with confidence.
The focus is not on surface-level activities or one-size-fits-all ideas. It is on helping workplaces understand the conditions that support stronger connection, trust, exploratory thinking, and healthier responses to pressure, then turning those ideas into approaches that can carry into the everyday rhythm of work.
Pictured: Dr Stuart Brown with his daughter Lauren Sundstrom and granddaughter Mia Sundstrom, CEO of NIFPlay.
Play Science in the Workplace
The pressure on modern teams is real
BCG reported that 48% of employees surveyed across eight countries are struggling with burnout, while McKinsey found that 84% of CEOs say innovation is critical to growth, yet only 6% are satisfied with their innovation performance.
Play science helps explain why these pressures matter. Humans are wired for play across the lifespan. When a play state is activated, it does not just change mood. It triggers activity across the brain and nervous system linked to learning, flexibility, emotional regulation, connection, and reward. In simple terms, play helps the brain become more open, adaptive, and responsive.
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Hardwired to Play
Research in this area points to several important shifts. Play activates deep brain circuits associated with engagement. It supports neuroplasticity, helping form and strengthen neural pathways. It softens over-control from the prefrontal cortex, which can reduce self-consciousness and fear of failure. It also helps calm threat responses, making stress and defensiveness less dominant. At the same time, play strengthens attunement, social bonding, and reward chemistry through systems linked to connection, trust, and positive mood.
That is why play is not a side issue in adult life. It affects the human systems that shape how people think, feel, connect, and respond under pressure.
FAQs
Your Questions Answered
Looking to go deeper? Read our partnership announcement or explore key insights from the NIFPlay report before diving into the questions below.
Partnership announcement
Read the announcement behind our exclusive Australasian partnership with NIFPlay and why it matters for the future of workplace play.
NIFPlay Report Insights
Read the standout insights from the NIFPlay report and how they help make play science easier to understand and apply.
Is this only for playful teams?
No. This work is not reserved for naturally playful teams or extroverted cultures. NIFPlay’s position is that humans are hardwired to play across the lifespan, but people access play differently. Corporate Challenge Events designs for multiple play types and participation styles so teams can engage in ways that feel natural rather than forced.
What if our team is sceptical or not naturally playful?
That is often where this work is most useful. Scepticism usually comes from how play has been framed in the past, as entertainment, agenda filler, or something that sits outside serious work. The approach here starts with credible education, clear language, and thoughtfully designed experiences that help teams understand play as support for connection, flexibility, and healthier responses to pressure.
Where does Science of Play fit best in a team day or conference agenda?
Science of Play works well as an opener, especially when you want to give the day stronger meaning than activities alone. It gives leaders and teams a shared understanding of why play matters, creates buy-in early, and sets up the rest of the experience with more context and purpose. It can also work as a standalone leadership session or as part of a broader People and Culture, wellbeing, or capability agenda.
Can this be tailored to different team needs or business goals?
Yes. The partnership is built on the understanding that people engage with play differently and that one-size-fits-all design can create resistance rather than connection. That is why Corporate Challenge Events translates play science into practical education, team experiences, and leadership tools that can be shaped around different pressures, goals, and team contexts.
Can play-based team building still work for teams under pressure?
Yes, and that is often when it is most relevant. Pressure can narrow communication, increase rigidity, and make collaboration harder to sustain. Play-based team building is designed to help teams reconnect as humans, access a play state, and experience the conditions that support trust, exploratory thinking, and more constructive responses under load.
What is the difference between play state and play trait?
A play state is the moment of playing itself. It is changeable, responsive to context, and more like weather. A play trait is playfulness as a more stable disposition, more like climate. The encouraging part is that time spent in a play state can help build the play trait over time through neuroplasticity. That is why this work is not just about creating a good moment. It is about creating conditions leaders can keep building on.
How do leaders keep the impact going after the event?
This is where ongoing support matters. The Play Lab gives leaders continued exposure to the ideas, language, and research behind play through a monthly webinar series. The Play Hub extends that with practical resources and guides leaders can use in everyday work. Together, they help teams move beyond a one-off play state and begin building play as a trait within team culture over time.
Want to Know More?
Discover A practical, science-backed team experience that reframes play as a biological and public health necessity, and the missing performance infrastructure that helps teams build connection, adaptability, and sustainable high performance.
Phone
Phone 1300 28 29 63