Even if you don’t have the time or the desire to get on the floor and play for hours on end, you can still be a playful parent by incorporating playfulness into your day. Try these quick and easy ways to be playful, and everyone can have some fun.

• 1. Sing. Get playful singing songs with motions or just singing along to classics or new hits. Music is a great way to get playful at any age — just singing and dancing and letting go. Or try singing instead of talking, like our beloved Music Together teacher taught us to do when my oldest was a toddler. In Arioso Land, she said, you sing instead of talk. Trips to Arioso Land are fun.

• 2. Get physical. Physical touch is essential for most typically developing kids (and adults) to feel connected, but even when kids aren’t feeling cuddly, they can benefit from playful touch. Try having a tickle fest or pillow fight on a lazy morning when the kids try to wake you up earlier than you’d like. Lift smaller kids into the air like a rocket or throw them over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes. My husband delights my younger daughter with giggles when he throws her over one shoulder, her head behind his, and then walks around pretending to look for her. It never gets old! Be respectful of kids’ boundaries, of course. Not everyone enjoys being tickled or carried up high.

• 3. Make it a game. There’s a reason for the timeless appeal of “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” It turns the mundane task of getting from one place to another into a game. You can make (almost) any task fun by getting playful. March to the car, chanting “Left! Right!” as you go, or pretend you’re on a cooking show as you prepare a snack or a meal.

What other easy ways have you found to become more playful? Let us know in the comments.