Play is considered central to early childhood development, and has been an activity fascinating to me personally as a childcare provider of many years. Seminal scholars Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky still inform much of the current understanding and practice of play as a process, or tool, aiding the linear progression toward adulthood. Yet, my own experiences in returning to academia later in life have unexpectedly ushered me into exploring the intricacies and implications of play as an adult learner, and in cultivating a framework for play that is less linear, and more holistic. My interdisciplinary research began in the 2016 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, and proposes four interconnected components of play (mindfulness, cues of resonance, vitality, and metastability), reframing play as a capacity of attending to possibility, rather than an activity or behavior of childhood. My current research expands upon my assertions of play, designing and implementing a qualitative pilot study exploring if these elements of play are present during interactions of play, and how they manifest in contexts of adult-child interaction. Situating my understanding of play in the scholarly literature of both Early Childhood Development and Anthropological perspectives grounds my theory and expands my assertions to stretch beyond a singular approach. Through observation of adult-child interactions in existing video footage I seek to test the veracity of play as a mindset, and analyze interpersonal contexts play happens within. The broader implications of my assertions of play may offer the reframing of playfulness as an important tool for adults as facilitators, and proponents of play, across childhood learning environments. While play itself is a highly studied activity, I challenge theoretical perceptions of play in the hopes of better supporting playful minds across the early years of human development.