In an enclave of the iconic FAO Schwarz toy store in New York, workers donning aprons and paper hats take customers’ orders for typical popular diner items.
Burgers, hot dogs, pizza and more are offered at a hefty $45 each. But the items aren’t edible — they’re plushies. And Jellycat, the company behind the popular toy, is behind the activation.
On TikTok, millions have watched videos about the “Jellycat Diner,” helping turn it into a destination for tourists of all ages in the city. The activation, which opened last September, has also served as a window into the type of experience more and more adults are gravitating toward.
After surviving a pandemic, inflation and environmental crises, many adults, particularly Gen Zers and millennials, appear to be leaning into a nostalgic form of escapism: play.
“In generations before us, I feel like a childlike essence was taken away really early,” said Taylor Sailsman, 21, who works at the Jellycat Diner. “You had this idea to get out of high school, go to college, go to work, start your family, whatever. But you know, you can still be a professional and love plushies. I feel like we’re getting out of older ideas of what it is like being adults.”
Sailsman said she thinks that a lot of people in her generation need “something to be happy about.” She said stuffed animals like Jellycats or Squishmallows have brought a lot of comfort to young people, including herself.
The desire for adult play goes beyond just toys, though. Some experts say that people have returned to activities, such as sports or crafts, that encourage this sense of fun.
Pickleball, for example, a mix of tennis, racquetball and pingpong, has been embraced by millions of American of all ages in recent years.
Lisa Forbes, an assistant clinical professor in the counseling program at the University of Colorado Denver, said that this is because people are realizing “life is more than work” and that they shouldn’t have to wait for retirement to have fun.
Play is often misunderstood as “silly, frivolous, something that kids do,” Forbes said. However, it has proven benefits for adults, like helping them cope with anxiety and boost their moods. It doesn’t have to involve certain activities, she said; rather it is a mindset.
Forbes defines play as a “lighthearted approach to life where you can reframe a situation so it’s experienced as interesting or entertaining.”
“People that are playful tend to be more flexible, and creative, and just have the ability to find more joy in life, even in the mundane things that people kind of take for granted or see as negative,” she said.
Andi Davids, global head of strategy at the branding agency Bulletproof, credits the “Barbie” movie with helping to reinspire adults to return to interests they liked as children.
The 2023 film, which received critical acclaim and was a massive box office hit, helped kick off a slurry of “girlhood” trends that women engaged in to recapture the joys of their youth. Audiences dressed up in all pink and bought Barbie-themed memorabilia, unlocking a child-like joy that had been dormant for many.
Play is a way to kind of even that out so we don’t get to a point of burnout and where our health is taking the toll
-Lisa Forbes, an assistant clinical professor in the counseling program at the University of Colorado Denver
“It was engaging in conversations in interesting ways,” said Davids. “There’s a huge benefit not only to the escapism that play provides, but the ability [to go] back to that notion of childhood, of being able to explore things that are uncomfortable.”
Play also serves as a tool to help people understand and cope with difficult topics, Davids said. “Barbie," she said, allowed some viewers to explore issues of feminism, patriarchy and adulthood through a playful story and cinematic world, and gave some women the space to feel and discuss these issues at a time when women’s rights have been “challenged in the public sphere.”
Playfulness can also bring people together and develop a community. Many adults showed up in large groups to see concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and trade friendship bracelets with fellow attendees.
According to Forbes, adults across generations need to lean into playing even more.
She suggested that people start developing a playful mindset by having a more fun approach to tasks such as meetings or daily commutes. One way Forbes does this is by challenging herself to avoid cracks in the sidewalk on her walk to her office.
“Adult life is really stressful and really serious,” she said. “Play is a way to kind of even that out so we don’t get to a point of burnout and where our health is taking the toll.”
