Introducing the play activity wheel: Designing social, physical and playful learning activities from digital game universes

This article introduces and describes the play activity wheel, developed by the authors. It was created through looking back at 19 years of personal experiences of transform-ing television shows, board games and digital games into pedagogical activities, and has a focus on social, physical and playful learning. The idea of developing computer games, television series and board games into physical activities arose from observing children’s interests in transforming these universes into games and activities. The play activity wheel was developed in various settings with different participants, such as children aged 1–15, students in higher education, educators, researchers and other stakeholders. For the purpose of this study, the play activity wheel was tested as a tool for preservice teachers. A researcher/educator collaborated on designing a process to achieve common learning goals in a playful learning space. In this study, we present the theoretical background for the play activity wheel and demonstrate how it can be used to design playful learning.