Playday @ the Design Museum

Join us for UK Playday, an annual celebration of playfulness. Explore the rich and lively culture of children’s play throughout the building.

What to expect:

Playful interventions and drop-in activities will transform the museum into an immersive, creative studio for experimentation, making and hands-on play for all ages and abilities.

This summer the exhibitions are brimming with playful designs, fashion dolls, dollhouses, toys, games and puzzles. Designer Enzo Mari valued play and playfulness as vital ways to understand the world, and believed strongly in the capabilities of children. As a young father in the 1950s, he noticed that many toys and games did not encourage creative thinking or autonomy in children. He went on to design some of the world’s most iconic childrens’ puzzles and books, and his work and ideas offer up the potential for new social contracts with children.

As a Playday Champion, the Design Museum is committed to the child’s right to play – on Playday and every day. National Playday is celebrated each year across the UK on the first Wednesday in August. It is a celebration of children’s right to play, and a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives.

Find out more about our current exhibition Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli and its related free display Grazi Enzo: Contemporary Response to Enzo Mari.

Learn more about National Playday here, coordinated by Play England, Play Wales, Play Scotland and PlayBoard Northern Ireland.