In a world where biomaterials—like bacteria, yeast, mushrooms, and plants—are often treated simply as “resources,” PLAY‑BIO invites us to imagine a different relationship with them. Instead of seeing these materials as things we extract and use, the project looks at them through more‑than‑human (MtH) perspectives, which encourage us to view nonhuman life as active participants in our world that we are connected to. Although designers and researchers have already explored biomaterials in many ways, we still get to understand more about how everyday engagements with them might support relations of care, connection, or kinship.

PLAY‑BIO is funded by the Research Council of Finland and explores how play can help us build these new relationships. By focusing on fun, imagination, and joyful hands‑on engagement—not just utility—the project investigates how play can help people notice, care for, and relate to living materials as something more than objects “for us.”

To do this, PLAY‑BIO uses a hands‑on, design‑led approach that works directly with materials such as SCOBY (a culture of bacteria and yeast), mushroom‑based mycelium, and plant‑based biomaterials. As a result, the project aims to create a practical guides that help designers and the other individuals explore how play can support more caring, imaginative, and respectful ways of living with the more‑than‑human world.