The Playful Way: Creativity, Connection, and Joy Through Everyday Moments of Play

by Piera Gelardi

Play can unlock your creativity and lead to innovation and success—creative director Piera Gelardi shows you how.

The demands of adulthood often cause us to view play as something child-like, silly, and ultimately separate from our real lives. In treating it like a luxury, we fail to experience the critical advantage that play offers us to lead whole, successful lives.

Play—a state of absorption in activities for enjoyment or exploration—can be a superpower at any age, and individuals who engage in more frequent play tend to have better psychological and physical functioning. In The Playful Way, creative director Piera Gelardi helps adults reclaim their playfulness by developing a more playful mindset and applying it to their life, work, relationships, changes, and challenges. Anyone can rediscover their sense of wonder by embracing life the playful way, a path that offers advantages, unlocks innovation, and feels a whole lot better. Science has proven these and more benefits of a playful

Improved mental health Improved physical health thanks to enduring commitment to (fun!) fitness Trust and creativity in teams Focusing on both the light and fun and the tough and serious, The Playful Way is a guide to reconnecting with your inner child and realizing that when you have a playful mindset, you don’t have to go play. Play comes with you everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2026

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Playful Way is a refreshing invitation to rethink how we move through life. Piera Gelardi challenges the assumption that play is something we outgrow, instead presenting it as essential to creativity, resilience, and connection.

What stands out is how accessible the book feels. Through personal stories and simple practices, Gelardi offers a way to loosen the grip of pressure and perfectionism and rediscover curiosity and joy in everyday moments. The shift from the “Pressured Way” to the “Playful Way” is both practical and deeply needed.

This is a helpful read for anyone feeling burned out or disconnected, offering gentle permission to approach life with more openness, imagination, and delight.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book for review.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I didn’t really know what to expect but it was very insightful. Some bits I particularly liked were the idea of a morning visualisation portal to stretch your brain and the Play Shift framework to use when you are feeling reactive: pause and notice, lighten (releasing the stress), acceptance and ‘yes and’ (given the situation how might I work with it). The book contains great advice and in a nice accessible way. Thanks NetGalley and Harper One for the ARC.

[Caitlan Etchevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read. Uplifting, joyous and introspective. Absolutely recommend for those leaders looking for a change, the ones stuck in a “serious suit” and those just looking for some levity in this harsh current state of affairs.