When play became a design discipline
In 2026, Kolding School of Design marks the tenth anniversary of its MA programme in Design for Play – the world’s first postgraduate programme dedicated to design and play. On the programme, students build on their core disciplines – such as communication design or industrial design – through practice-based courses and ambitious projects, working closely with children, users and real-world design challenges. Along the way, they develop their methods, their design skills and their understanding of how design can create value in a broader context.
The programme was developed through a close partnership between Kolding School of Design, the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group, and welcomed its first cohort of students in 2017. Together, the partners have created a platform for education, research and development that is now helping to shape an entirely new design field.
At the heart of this is the Play Design Lab at Kolding School of Design, alongside the school’s Play Workshop, where students and researchers experiment with materials, prototypes and playful concepts. Here, ideas are quickly translated into physical experiments, and play functions both as a method and as a subject of design.
An idea takes shape
The story began several years before the programme officially opened. Between 2013 and 2015, Kolding School of Design explored what characterises the Danish design tradition in relation to play.
- We collaborated with companies, organisations and play experts to understand the field, says Karen Feder, Associate Professor and Head of Design for Play, who helped shape the original partnership behind the programme.
- It quickly became clear that no one was actually educating designers with expertise in play. At the same time, much of the existing knowledge was buried in dense reports and academic papers that were rarely used in practice.
This led to a clear realisation: if play were to be taken seriously as a design field, it would require education, research and new methods.
At the time, Kolding School of Design had already been collaborating with LEGO for several years.
- We knew they were just as passionate about play as we were, says Karen Feder.
- They could see the potential in bringing play and design closer together, which is why the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group became key partners in establishing the initiative.
For Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Educational Impact at LEGO Education – and at the time Global Head of Research at the LEGO Foundation – the idea made sense from the outset:
- We had already had strong collaborations with Kolding School of Design, he says.
- So we quickly saw the potential in developing something more long-term. For us, it was about creating a sustained focus on children, play and design quality in the way we develop and learn.
"The collaboration has strengthened our view of play as something that exists not only in products, but also in processes, learning and development," says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Educational Impact in LEGO Education.
Creating the world’s first MA in Play Design quickly proved to be a challenge. Quite simply, no model existed.
- No one had done this before, says Karen Feder.
- So we had to start completely from scratch.
The development of the programme was shaped by experimentation, pilot projects and international collaborations. Faculty travelled to leading institutions such as Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to gather inspiration and inform the curriculum.
The ambition was clear: to educate designers with a deep understanding of play, both as a human driver and as a design method.
- We wanted to educate designers who can work professionally with play in practice, says Karen Feder.
- Play may look very different on the surface – for children and adults alike – but it often relies on the same dynamics and motivations. Our ambition was to educate play designers who can make the world a more playful place.
At the same time, the partnership laid the foundation for a research environment around Play Design, contributing knowledge to both the programme and the wider world. In the Play Design Lab, researchers and students explore areas such as children’s play and learning, wellbeing and health, and experiment with how Play Design can create new forms of meaningful experiences and challenge existing practices. Professor of Play Helle Marie Skovbjerg is a key figure in this research environment.
- It has taken us ten years to move from ‘play and design’ to a solid knowledge base in Play Design, says Karen Feder.
A partnership reaching beyond borders
From the outset, the ambition was never to create an academic silo.
- It has been important for us to be an outward-looking, organic entity, says Karen Feder.
Students therefore collaborate continuously with external partners, and both internships and partnerships are integrated into the programme. Projects range from developing play experiences to exploring new forms of playful learning and design processes.
For students, this means working closely with children, markets and real-world challenges. It provides experience in designing within complex contexts and in translating play from idea into tangible products, environments and experiences.
The collaboration has also led to international connections.
One example is the partnership with Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, which began with student collaboration and has since developed into a broader academic partnership.
Students and faculty from Denmark and Colombia have worked together on projects exploring children’s right to play and playful communication across languages and cultures.
- The strength of the collaboration is that we have far more in common than one might think, says Karen Feder.
- We can learn much more from each other than we imagine.
“When we began exploring the field, we discovered something quite striking: there was in fact no one educating designers with expertise in play. So we decided to create the programme ourselves,” says Karen Feder, Associate Professor and Head of Design for Play.
For LEGO, the collaboration has also been highly influential.
According to Bo Stjerne Thomsen, the partnership has helped expand the company’s understanding of play.
- It has strengthened our view of play as something that exists not only in products, but also in processes, learning and development, he says.
Kolding School of Design has contributed research and reflection that have helped shape the development of playful learning.
A concrete example is the collaboration with LEGO House in Billund, where researchers and designers worked together on new methods for observing and understanding play experiences.
- It didn’t just give us a stronger theoretical language, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen.
- It also provided more practical tools for developing the visitor experience and strengthening competences around play in practice.
The collaboration has also included projects on playful urban spaces in Billund, partnerships with schools and experiments with new types of playful learning environments – where design, pedagogy and experience design intersect.
At the same time, the partnership has helped establish an entirely new professional field around design for play – with education, research, methods and a shared language for working professionally with play in design.
Play designers in new roles
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises over the past decade has been the diversity of roles play designers have taken on.
When the programme was first established, many imagined careers primarily within traditional play industries such as toys, games and playgrounds.
Reality quickly proved far broader.
Today, graduates from Design for Play work across fields including fashion, museums, healthcare and the development of learning environments.
- We have play designers working in places we could never have imagined ten years ago, says Karen Feder.
For LEGO, these new perspectives are a key strength.
- Students bring new ways of seeing play, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen.
- At LEGO, we naturally work a great deal with the LEGO system, but play exists in many forms. The students help us broaden our perspective.
“We have play designers working in places we could never have imagined ten years ago – from museums and hospitals to the fashion industry. It shows just how much potential play holds in design,” explains Karen Feder.
Looking back, Bo Stjerne Thomsen highlights one key outcome:
- We have helped build a shared language around children, play and design.
This makes it easier to collaborate across organisations and disciplines – and to take play seriously as something that influences development, learning and quality of life.
Karen Feder agrees:
- What we have created together is truly unique, she says.
- Giving young people from around the world the opportunity to study Play Design – that is something I am genuinely proud of.
The next ten years
Both see significant potential for Play Design in the future.
For Kolding School of Design, the focus is on continuing to explore where play can create value and pushing the boundaries of where Play Design can play a role.
- We are far from finished, says Karen Feder.
- There is still enormous potential.
For LEGO, it is crucial that the school continues to be a curious and experimental environment.
- Strong educational programmes are built on tradition, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen.
- But they must also challenge it.
It is precisely in this tension that new ideas emerge. And perhaps that is where the strength of play lies – not only as something we do, but as a way of thinking, learning and designing.
When the programme was first created, Play Design did not exist as a field. Ten years on, Kolding School of Design and LEGO have helped shape exactly that: a design discipline that continues to challenge our understanding of what design can be – and the role play can play in the society of the future.
“At the LEGO company, we naturally work a great deal with the LEGO system, but play exists in many forms. The students help us broaden our perspective,” explains Bo Stjerne Thomsen.
FACTS
2013–2015: Kolding School of Design explores Danish design traditions related to play through HUB for Play & Design.
2017: The world’s first MA in Design for Play launches in partnership with the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group.
2017–2025: Play Design develops into an international field of research and education, with collaborations across companies, universities and organisations.
2022: The partnership between Kolding School of Design and the LEGO Foundation is extended through a new five-year agreement.