Flow and the Play Cycle - Pete King - A Theoretical Consideration of the Importance of Flow in Established Play Cycles

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

Flow and the Play Cycle presents a theoretical analysis of how flow functions within established play cycles. The work builds on a six-element model of play cycle processes introduced by Sturrock and Else and later revised by King and Newstead, linking precue, play cue, play return, play frame, flow, and annihilation to Winnicott’s “potential space” or “third area.” It argues that while most elements can be observed, flow and precue must be inferred, and discusses implications for collaborative play, therapeutic settings, and play-based learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Established Play Cycle

Flow

Flow and the Play Cycle A Theoretical Consideration of the Importance of Flow in Established Play Cycles • Pete King The author discusses the process of play in terms of six elements in the play cycle first introduced by Sturrock and Else in 1998 and revised by King and Newstead in 2020—precue, play cue, play return, play frame, flow, and annihilation—and their relation to Winnicott’s concepts of “potential space” or the “third area,” which Sturrock referred to as the “ludic third.” Claiming that, although four of the six elements can be observed in actual play, two—flow and precue—cannot, the author focuses on the importance offlow in established play cycles enabling the sharing of children’s inner and outer worlds with other children and adults during their play. He also considers the implications of such play cycle flow in both therapeutic and learning contexts. Keywords: collaborative play; flow; ludic third; play cycle; potential space; third area Introduction The play cycle was first introduced to the play and playwork field in 1998 by Sturrock and Else at the International Play Association (IPA) triennial conference in Colorado. The play cycle focuses on the process of play (King and Sturrock 2019; Sturrock and Else 1998) and consists of six elements: precue, play cue, play return, play frame, flow, and annihilation (King and Newstead 2020; King and Sturrock 2019). We now have a method for recording four of the elements of the play cycle (play cue, play return, play frame, and annihilation) called the play cycle observation method (PCOM) (King 2020a, King, Atkins, and Burr 2021). The two elements that are not recordable are the precue and flow because they are not observable. The precue constitutes the internal conscious or unconscious intent (the thought or idea) to play (King and Newstead 2020; King and Sturrock 2019). Flow forms a “dynamic state”(Csikszentmihalyi 1975, 36), 179 American Journal of Play, volume 15, number 2 © 2023 by The Strong [Contact Pete King at p.f.king@swansea.ac.uk](Contact Pete King at p.f.king@swansea.ac.uk) and it is only possible to infer that a child (or group of children) has an intent to play or is in a state offlow. Although we cannot observe the precue, some play scholars have proposed that the objects (both human and nonhuman) in the environment can simulate in children a conscious or unconscious intent to play, that is, it can stimulate the precue. We call these objects or loose parts (Nicholson 1971) from the environment that may stimulate the precue the “external perceptual cue”(King 2022) . We can only infer the precue, however, from the number and quality of loose parts, the opportunities, and the affordances that exist to stimulate it (Gibson 1986). In this instance, affordance refers to the relationship between an organism and the environment—for example, a child and the available play space. (See King [2022] for a more detailed explanation of affordances and play space.) The more objects or loose parts available, the more opportunities the play environment can afford for children to play. When the precue emits a play cue, the signal to the child’s outer world to play, this may provoke a response—the play return. This cue and response will create the play cycle. In such an established play cycle, play cues and play returns continue to take place among those involved in the play, and these cues and returns can be recorded using the PCOM (King 2020a; King, Atkins, and Burr 2021) . We term the play cues and returns in the established play cycle “flow.”Although flow can only be inferred (as with the precue), we offer a theoretical consideration of the importance of flow for those involved in the established play cycle based on Csikszentmihalyi’s (1975) flow theory and Winnicott’s (1971) concepts of potential space or third area. Although in the original “Colorado Paper,” flow was termed as “loop and flow”(Sturrock and Else 1998), and Else (2009, 2014) furthe

FAQs

What are the six elements of the play cycle discussed in the paper?

The six elements are precue, play cue, play return, play frame, flow, and annihilation. The paper explains how they relate to the overall process of play.

Why are flow and precue not directly recordable or observable?

The precue is an internal intent to play and is not observable, while flow is a dynamic state inferred from the ongoing cues and responses within established play cycles.

How does flow connect to Winnicott’s potential space or “third area”?

The paper frames flow as important for established play cycles by relating it to Winnicott’s concepts of potential space/third area, using Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory as theoretical grounding.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel