Play the Brain: Three Levers That Make Adult Learning Stick
Lead Author: Saad Bin Tariq
Additional authors:
Timetable: ,
Description:
In this highly interactive session, participants will explore how purposeful play activates learning in the adult brain and how this can be intentionally designed rather than left to chance.
Drawing on neuroscience, experiential learning theory, and CBT principles, the session introduces a simple, practical framework: The Three Levers of the Playful Brain — Attention, Emotion, and Embodied Cognition. These levers represent the key neurological drivers that help learning cut through distraction, become meaningful, and transfer into real-world behavior.
Rather than talking about play, participants will experience it.
Using LEGO® Serious Play and short tabletop play prompts, participants will move through three short experiential cycles, each designed to activate one of the levers:
Attention & Novelty – Using surprising constraints and playful challenges to disrupt autopilot and spark curiosity.
Emotion & Meaning – Building metaphorical models connected to lived experiences that surface feelings and values, deepening memory and relevance.
Embodied Cognition – Thinking with our hands by building physical models that externalize complexity and support reflection and sense-making.
After each experience, participants will collectively “decode” what happened — linking the activity to core principles of adult learning (Kolb’s experiential cycle, andragogy, and embodied cognition) and discussing how facilitation choices can increase or decrease inclusion, psychological safety, and learner engagement.
In the second half of the session, participants will shift from learner to designer. Working individually or in pairs, they will select a session, module, or workshop they currently run (or plan to run) and apply the Three Levers Design Canvas to redesign a segment of it:
Where could attention be better captured through play and novelty?
How might we evoke emotion and meaning without over-exposing or alienating participants?
How could embodiment replace over-reliance on slides, discussion-only formats, or passive listening?
Participants leave not just inspired, but equipped with a flexible framework they can adapt across higher education, further education, workplace training, and lifelong learning settings — supporting playful practice that is inclusive, purposeful, and aligned with real learning outcomes.
References, web links and other resources:
This session is informed by:
Kolb, D. (1984) – Experiential Learning Theory
The experiential cycles used in the session align with Kolb’s model of concrete experience, reflection, abstract conceptualisation, and experimentation.
Knowles, M. (1980) – The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs Pedagogy
The framework supports adult learners’ need for relevance, autonomy, and practical application.
Lakoff & Johnson (1999) – Philosophy in the Flesh
Underpins the principle of embodied cognition: thinking and learning are inseparable from bodily experience.
Wilson, M. (2002) – “Six Views of Embodied Cognition”
Demonstrates how sensorimotor experiences enhance meaning-making and learning retention.
LEGO® Serious Play® methodology
Used as a facilitative tool for metaphorical thinking, collective sense-making, and inclusive group reflection.
Psychological Safety research (Edmondson, 2018)
Informs the design of emotionally safe reflective activities that support vulnerability without coercion.
Play the Brain: Three Levers That Make Adult Learning Stick
Lead Author: Saad Bin Tariq
Additional authors:
Timetable: ,
Description:
In this highly interactive session, participants will explore how purposeful play activates learning in the adult brain and how this can be intentionally designed rather than left to chance.
Drawing on neuroscience, experiential learning theory, and CBT principles, the session introduces a simple, practical framework: The Three Levers of the Playful Brain — Attention, Emotion, and Embodied Cognition. These levers represent the key neurological drivers that help learning cut through distraction, become meaningful, and transfer into real-world behavior.
Rather than talking about play, participants will experience it.
Using LEGO® Serious Play and short tabletop play prompts, participants will move through three short experiential cycles, each designed to activate one of the levers:
Attention & Novelty – Using surprising constraints and playful challenges to disrupt autopilot and spark curiosity.
Emotion & Meaning – Building metaphorical models connected to lived experiences that surface feelings and values, deepening memory and relevance.
Embodied Cognition – Thinking with our hands by building physical models that externalize complexity and support reflection and sense-making.
After each experience, participants will collectively “decode” what happened — linking the activity to core principles of adult learning (Kolb’s experiential cycle, andragogy, and embodied cognition) and discussing how facilitation choices can increase or decrease inclusion, psychological safety, and learner engagement.
In the second half of the session, participants will shift from learner to designer. Working individually or in pairs, they will select a session, module, or workshop they currently run (or plan to run) and apply the Three Levers Design Canvas to redesign a segment of it:
Where could attention be better captured through play and novelty?
How might we evoke emotion and meaning without over-exposing or alienating participants?
How could embodiment replace over-reliance on slides, discussion-only formats, or passive listening?
Participants leave not just inspired, but equipped with a flexible framework they can adapt across higher education, further education, workplace training, and lifelong learning settings — supporting playful practice that is inclusive, purposeful, and aligned with real learning outcomes.
References, web links and other resources:
This session is informed by:
Kolb, D. (1984) – Experiential Learning Theory
The experiential cycles used in the session align with Kolb’s model of concrete experience, reflection, abstract conceptualisation, and experimentation.
Knowles, M. (1980) – The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs Pedagogy
The framework supports adult learners’ need for relevance, autonomy, and practical application.
Lakoff & Johnson (1999) – Philosophy in the Flesh
Underpins the principle of embodied cognition: thinking and learning are inseparable from bodily experience.
Wilson, M. (2002) – “Six Views of Embodied Cognition”
Demonstrates how sensorimotor experiences enhance meaning-making and learning retention.
LEGO® Serious Play® methodology
Used as a facilitative tool for metaphorical thinking, collective sense-making, and inclusive group reflection.
Psychological Safety research (Edmondson, 2018)
Informs the design of emotionally safe reflective activities that support vulnerability without coercion.