Corporate Challenge Events has been announced as the exclusive Australasian partner of the National Institute for Play (NIFPlay), marking a significant step in how play science is translated into everyday workplace practice across Australia and New Zealand.
Founded by globally recognised play researcher Dr. Stuart Brown and led by CEO Mia Sundstrom, the National Institute for Play has spent decades advancing research that positions play as a biological necessity across the human lifespan. Through this partnership, Corporate Challenge Events will work with NIFPlay to bring credible play research into workplaces in practical, accessible ways that support connection, adaptability, and performance beyond one-off experiences.
The partnership aligns with Corporate Challenge Events’ long-held promise of delivering serious fun with lasting impact. Rather than treating play as a momentary boost or morale activity, the collaboration focuses on helping leaders and teams understand why play works, and how it can be applied intentionally in modern work environments.
Why this partnership matters now
Across Australasia, leaders are navigating increasing pressure on teams, often visible through rising burnout, reduced energy, and difficulty sustaining collaboration under load. At the same time, many organisations continue to view play as incompatible with productivity, despite growing evidence that connection, adaptability, and cognitive flexibility are essential to performance under pressure.
NIFPlay’s research reframes this tension. By positioning play as foundational rather than optional, the Institute highlights the role play supports in helping people regulate stress, connect socially, and adapt to change. When play is consistently absent, individuals and teams can become more rigid over time, making collaboration and innovation harder to sustain.
This partnership is grounded in a shared belief: if play supports human functioning across the lifespan, then workplaces have a role to play in restoring it responsibly, using credible evidence rather than trends or surface-level activities.
What the partnership will deliver
The partnership will roll out in phases, beginning with evidence-led play education embedded into Corporate Challenge Events’ existing workplace programs and leadership touchpoints. This initial phase is designed to help teams understand the role play supports in performance, wellbeing, and connection, using clear language leaders can repeat and apply.
Future phases will introduce deeper interventions that support sustained culture change. These include facilitated workshops and frameworks that help teams challenge traditional assumptions about professionalism and productivity, replacing them with play-informed behaviours that strengthen collaboration, adaptability, and long-term engagement.
Throughout the partnership, Corporate Challenge Events will continue to share insights drawn from NIFPlay’s research, supporting organisations and communities across Australasia to approach play as a measurable, intentional lever for healthier and more capable teams.
Our belief has always been that teams don’t build trust, energy, and momentum by pushing harder. They build it by reconnecting as humans, and play is one of the most reliable ways to do that. We’ve seen the impact serious fun can unlock in a room, but lasting impact means it has to carry into the everyday rhythm of work. Partnering with the National Institute for Play strengthens the evidence behind what we do and helps us translate play science into practical strategies leaders can apply with confidence.
The research shows play is foundational to our cognitive, social, physical, and emotional health, and therefore to our success in the workplace. This partnership with Corporate Challenge Events represents the kind of translation we need: taking rigorous science and making it accessible and practical. We’re thrilled by the work Corporate Challenge Events has been doing across Australasia and the synergy we’ve found in our shared mission. Together, we have an incredible opportunity to reach more people with the powerful science of play and to help leaders create innovative, successful workplaces where employees thrive.
About the National Institute for Play (NIFPlay)
NIFPlay is a global leader in the science of play, curating and interpreting research that reveals how play shapes cognitive, emotional, physical, and social development to unlock human potential. Founded by Dr. Stuart Brown, the Institute has revolutionised our understanding of play as a biological necessity, not a luxury.
NIFPlay’s insights have captured worldwide attention, with research featured in major media including National Geographic, BBC, NPR, PBS, and TED Talks. Through rigorous scientific research, NIFPlay demonstrates how play activates essential pathways for creativity, resilience, productivity, wellbeing, learning, purpose, and connection. Play is not only important for children. It is vital for adults too. In a time of widespread disconnection, loneliness, burnout, and polarisation, play offers a path toward thriving.
As a predominant voice in play science, NIFPlay bridges the gap between cutting-edge neuroscience and practical application, empowering individuals and institutions worldwide to break through misconceptions about play and harness its transformative power.
About Corporate Challenge Events
Corporate Challenge Events is Australasia’s leading provider of play-based team building, with over 30 years of experience delivering purposeful programs that transform teams. With a clear purpose to inspire others on the power of play for team success, Corporate Challenge Events has delivered experiences to more than 750,000 participants across Australia and New Zealand.
With over 40 programs and workshops, Corporate Challenge Events designs experiences to suit every team, from high-energy challenges that spark collaboration to charity team building that creates meaningful community impact. Every program is delivered through the Trusted Play Process, providing a seamless client journey and outcomes that translate back into the everyday rhythm of work.
Grounded in the neuroscience of play, the approach supports connection, strengthens culture, and lifts performance under pressure. Corporate Challenge Events is leading a movement with a bold mission of one million people playing by 2030, creating stronger teams, better workplaces, and impact that lasts.
Media Contact: Rachael Ziccone
Marketing and Communications
rachael@corporatechallenge.com.au
+61 422 265 633
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