People Who Play

Emma chats to Sophia Hilton, Founder of Not Another, self-made entrepreneur and Queen of Colour! Sophia talks about how she built her hugely successful, international businesses, and the role of creativity and risk taking in making them happen. She also talks about the role of colour in being able to express yourself and the wonders of a hairstyle that reflects YOU! Emma and Sophia also talk about...

Emma and Ben are back and they have a lot to catch up on! Ben digs deep and confronts Emma’s ability to read a book even when chaos is erupting around her and Emma answers a listeners’ question about how to help her serious, to-do list loving husband live a bit more playfully. For more insights on living playfully follow @playful_den Follow Emma @emmaworrollo Follow Ben @benflyingretro Subscribe t...

Emma chats to Laura Walsh, Head of Play, from Starlight a charity organisation which facilitates play for children suffering serious illnesses. Laura talks about the magic of play and its power to transform difficult medical interventions which can be scary experiences for young people receiving medial treatment. Laura also explains why it’s so important to facilitate play for families who are goi...

In this episode Emma chats to Greg Botrill, teacher, educational thought leader and early years expert. Greg explains how education is so deeply entrenched in politics and the gaps between where we’re at with education today and where kids are going. Greg is passionate about imagination and creativity and shares some of his approaches and introduces Emma to the ‘magic mustard tin’. Greg is the aut...

In this episode Emma speaks to Olga Thompson aka Big Fat Greek Mother a comedienne who brings to life characters and tells stories to make us laugh - a creative process sparked from a difficult time which has led to a transformational personal growth and alignment. Follow Olga on IG: @big_fat_greekmother See Olga's show: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/el-greco-of-hornsey-tickets-392341683537?aff=e...

This is a glorious chat with Anna Mathur about the contemporary culture of motherhood and how it makes it difficult to accept ourselves and move towards our own needs. Anna Mathur is a mum of three, author, podcaster and psychotherapist. She's also the founder of The MotherMind Way (www.themothermindway.com) a platform of low cost, resources to support the emotional and mental health of all mums....

In today's episodes Emma tells Ben she's on a creative high and shares how she's been asking her community to set her dares to help with boldness and braveness. Ben doesn't really know what to say, it's been a quiet time for his thoughts this week. Lol.

On this guest episode, Emma is joined by Dr Peter Grey, a research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College and author of internationally acclaimed introductory psychology textbook- Psychology, Worth Publishers, which views all of psychology from an evolutionary perspective. His recent research focuses on the role of play in human evolution and how children educate themselves thr...

In this episode a very jetlagged Ben catches up with a very toddler tired Ems! Topics discussed: - Ben's father son skate trip experience to LA - Raising kids to be comfy in their own skin - Solo parenting and the challenges of managing toddler craziness - The 'good bits' of American culture and what we awkward, deprecating Brits can take away from it

In this episode Emma and Ben discuss a variety of pointlessly playful topics such as - is Nesquik still relevant? Is Stranger Things the best thing our eyes have ever seen? And Ben's hardest life challenge so far - building a playhouse. Emma talks to Racheal Jackson aka Banyan Bridges who shares her story of how her creativity came from a difficult period of post-natal depression and blossomed int...

Emma and Ben are back! Kicking off a new season of People Who Play with a good old life catch up covering an array of topics from Ben's career crisis, the Platty Jubes, why Ben hates voice technology and Emma's hayfever woes. Emma interviews author and photographer Kate T Parker discussing her cult followed books Strong is the New Pretty and Heart of Boy. They discuss photography and the benefits...

In this sponsored episode of the podcast Emma chats to Andrew Tanner, Design Manager from Habitat about the inspiration behind the launch of Habitat Kids. Emma and Andrew mull over how our relationship with our spaces have changed post pandemic and both share their tips on making spaces ready to spark creative. Browse the Habitat Kids range at https://www.habitat.co.uk/shop-by-room/kids Follow Hab...

Emma and Ben are back discussing their new domestic dilemma - fridge stink. This weeks guest is Hannah Saunders founder of Big Fish Little Fish - a family rave experience. Hannah describes her personal experience of being in the 'playground' of the rave scene and how she's switched career to bring the magic and freedom of rave culture into the family space. Emma and Ben also answer some new faxes...

Strap in for a silly-fuelled episode as Ben and Ems spiral into madness as they work through their 'domestic dilemmas'. How will Emma win her war on ants? Will Ben be able to cope with the new bleach-free cleaning products? To continue the lols and laughter Emma interviews social media comedian Chris Hall as they unpick when and why he started to put comedic pieces online and how social media has...

This episode is all about toys! What's the latest in the toy industry? Are today's toys increasing imagination or fuelling more and more mindless consumerism? Emma dives into these questions and more with Azhelle Wade aka the Toy Coach, a toy industry veteran who now helps inventors take their new ideas to market. This episode is sponsored by Whirli toys the UK's revolutionary toy swap service tha...

Emma and Ben share their joy of the Olympics, talk about Ben's immersion into Jabba's Palace and try and work out if Emma is a mouth-breather. Today's guest is Jeff Harry, a positive psychology coach and an expert in helping businesses use play to solve problems and improve corporate culture. Jeff shares why playing at work isn't what people assume and how it really help organisations retain staff...

Emma and Ben share their opposing strategies to coping with the common cold and why they don't get on when they're ill. Interview with artist Murugiah who discusses the importance of creative freedom in childhood and how to maintain a passion for something that is your play when it becomes your career. Murugiah Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_murugiah/?hl=en Support Playful Den on Patreon htt...

In this episode Emma and Ben go deep on their woes with domestic appliances. Emma has invented a new drink suitable for WWE wrestlers. Amy from The Adventure Project joins the pod to talk about 'adult recess' and how she uses laughter yoga as a tool of self discovery and learning.

In this episode Emma interviews Ellie Gibson, video game journalist and one half of the comedy duo Scummy Mummies. They discuss why so many parents are fearful of gaming and how having some hands on experience of gaming can help parents understand their kids' gaming habits in more depth. Emma and #producerhusband Ben also discuss Ben's big purchase of a leaf blower and consider starting 'couples g...

Emma welcomes Dr Kyl Myers author of Raising Them to learn about Kyl’s journey from Mormon upbringing to her Queer identity and commitment to gender creative parenting.