Play is serious work for grown-ups too.

The Flourish Lab designs playful invitations, parallel practice, and learning modules that help adults reconnect with curiosity, community, and joy. We are educators and researchers who believe that how we play shapes how we learn and live.

The people behind the play

By signing up, you'll get access to the full archive of everything that's been published before and everything that's still to come. Your very own private library.

Lina Darwich

Dennis DeBay

Writing & references

Our scholarship on play, Playful Invitations, and Parallel Practice, along with the work that shapes our thinking.

Our writing

• In progress · BookDarwich, L., & DeBay, D. [Working title of the book].
• In progress · Book chapterDarwich, L., & DeBay, D. [Chapter title on the eight Playful Invitations]. Play & Culture Studies (TASP).
• Proposed · ConferenceDarwich, L., & DeBay, D. (2027). [Session title on Parallel Practice]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.
• In progress · ArticleDarwich, L., & DeBay, D. [Practice-based article title]. Journal of Play in Adulthood.
• DeBay, D., Darwich, L., Forbes, L., & Mahfouz, J. Using Play in Teacher Preparation to Foster Joyful Classroom Practice.(An EdPrepLab Brief)
• Darwich, L., DeBay, D., Forbes, L., & Mahfouz, J. (2025, January). Play, reflect, cultivate social and emotional learning: a pathway to pre-service teacher SEL through playful pedagogies. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 9, p. 1478541). Frontiers Media SA.

References that shape our work