Open Access

This article explores educational media pedagogies that are predominantly non-digital, but nonetheless timely and influential. Design Thinking, Making, and Serious Play are three distinct yet interrelated approaches to problem-solving, resilience and innovation that have gained increased traction in education over the past decade. We explore the similarities and differences between these playful, experiental pedagogies and provide an overview of how these approaches can be integrated effectively into education settings. Finally, we provide transferable examples, including evaluation results, from a weeklong workshop series at Muenster University of Applied Sciences conducted in Spring 2022. The article serves as a theoretically informed practical guide for educators and practitioners seeking to select, implement and evaluate playful pedagogies. It contributes to the understanding of underlying principles, characteristics, potential impact and limitations.