We’re delighted to welcome Mia Sundstrom, Director for Play Transformation at the National Institute for Play (NIFP) and granddaughter of NIFP founder and world-leading play expert Dr Stuart Brown, to the Superyacht Design Festival 2026.
Superyachts are the ultimate expression of leisure and luxury - built for enjoyment, adventure and freedom. But Sundstrom introduces a powerful and often overlooked idea: that play isn’t just entertainment, it’s a fundamental human need hardwired into the brain. Drawing on decades of research from the National Institute for Play, she explores why play remains essential throughout our lives and how it fuels emotional wellbeing, creativity, collaboration and deeper human connection.
In her session, Sundstrom will share how understanding the science of play can transform not only life on board but also the creative process behind yacht design itself - offering designers new ways to think, experiment and innovate.
Ahead of the festival, she sits down with BOAT to discuss her grandfather’s legacy, the line between true play and escapism, and how a playful mindset can reshape the way we design - and experience - superyachts.
Tell me about your grandfather and how he started on this road, championing play?
My grandfather actually got into the science of play by looking at what happens when we don’t play. He was a psychiatrist at Baylor Medical School when the Texas governor asked him to join a commission investigating Charles Whitman, who at that time had committed the largest mass murder in U.S. history. Their research found one striking thing: Whitman had barely played as a child. Fascinated, my grandfather studied 26 homicidal inmates in Texas prisons and found the same pattern - severe play deprivation. That was his “aha” moment: play isn’t optional; it’s essential.
He pivoted his career to the neuroscience of play - how it shapes behaviour, relationships and society - and eventually founded the National Institute for Play in the early 2000s. Personally, he doesn’t just study play; he lives it. He taught me my own “play nature” from a young age, and now I’m motivated to carry his legacy forward as he gets older.
Why is play so important for humans?
Play is biologically hardwired into the oldest part of our brains. Jaak Panksepp, a pioneering play researcher, showed that even rats without a cortex still play, proving that play resides in the brainstem alongside primal drives like fear.
Because it’s so deeply rooted, play triggers huge benefits: it forms new neural pathways for learning, creativity and cognitive flexibility; it calms the amygdala [the part of our brains responsible for emotions], reducing stress; and it activates mirror neurons, which build empathy, trust and social connection. In short, play boosts cognitive growth, social connection and emotional well-being.
How is adult play different to children's play?
Adult play is different from children’s play in some ways, but not as much as we think. What’s really interesting - and something my grandfather focused on - is that each of us has a unique ‘play personality’.
There are eight different types: Collectors find joy in acquiring and curating objects or experiences; Competitors thrive on challenge, skill and winning; Creators and Storytellers immerse themselves in making, imagining or performing; Directors love planning and orchestrating events; Explorers seek new experiences and knowledge; Jokers delight in humour and fooling around; Kinesthetes engage through movement and physical activity.
You can see early hints of these play personalities in infancy. For example, a child who loves object play with blocks and Legos may grow into an adult drawn to design and engineering. Someone who might spend childhood making up games or worlds might grow into writing, performing or other creative careers.
In a perfect world, our play personality would guide us through life and even into our work. But what usually happens is that external pressures pull us away from those intrinsic play drives. By the time we’re adults, many people can’t even remember what they loved to do purely for fun.
So what should adult play look like?
In theory, adult play should look like a grown-up version of what we loved as kids. And honestly, it often can look similar: playing with a dog, being in nature, card games, making things, telling stories.
But it has to be done for fun. Instead, adults often play for outcomes: fitness, productivity, self-improvement and achievement. That outcome mindset shuts down the “play state", which is spontaneous and done purely for its own sake and the type of play where we see the most benefit.
We also need to make sure we can tell the difference between play and escapism. Life comes with stressors, so we often turn to TV, alcohol or other distractions to “check out” for a while. The key distinction is that escapism usually offers short-term relief but long-term downsides, whereas play provides lasting benefits. Play stimulates the brain, strengthens creativity, builds connections and improves well-being - effects that persist long after the activity ends. Adults often drift back and forth between true play and mere escape, and learning to recognise the difference is part of reclaiming the joy and growth that play offers.
And if adults don’t play?
Of course, not all adults who stop playing become mass murderers - but there are effects. At the National Institute for Play, we’ve found that adults who don’t engage in play tend to be more depressed, rigid, emotionally reactive, less creative and lonelier. Play supports neuroplasticity - helping positive pathways form for learning, healthy habits and social connection. Without it, we get stuck in negative loops: anxiety, rumination and stagnation. The flip side of not playing is shrinking possibility, creativity and emotional resilience.
Yachts are vehicles for leisure and freedom. How might thinking about play reshape the way they design these vessels?
Prioritising play can transform yacht design because it unlocks creativity. Designers can explore without constraints - asking, what would my kindergarten self want on a yacht? - and let imagination guide them.
Play shapes the yacht itself: spaces can be built around water activities, movement, exploration, storytelling or competition. By understanding an owner’s play personality, designers can create environments that spark joy. Unexpected lighting, unique materials, water features and interactive elements like hidden compartments, moving walls, or fold-down platforms can transform formal spaces into playful ones. That surprise - the “wow, it wasn’t there before” - engages and delights.
Beyond aesthetics, play fosters social connection. Humans are often guarded, but play opens communication and authentic interaction. In yacht design, that means creating spaces where people can connect, bond and share experiences. My grandfather even wrote about “playing love” in relationships, highlighting just how central play is to human connection.
The Superyacht Design Festival (1-3 February 2026) is a two-day event that brings leaders of the superyacht industry and guests from the luxury community together for a thought-provoking and entertaining event that celebrates the world of design. A limited number of tickets are still available.
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