Introduction. Against the background of the interpretation of the term play and its various classifi cations, creative play has been characterized. The author has presented the source, essence, and typology of creative play. Creative play results from imagination and differ signifi cantly from real ones. They constitute a whole, which consists of three correlated elements: operations (i.e., mental activity, which can be either creative or standard), material (which is used during them), methods (manners of conducting a play session, i.e., heuristic, or algorithmic). Therefore, the author’s classifi cation of creative play into seven types was made, which was discussed and illustrated. In creative games, children have freedom of movement, gesture, facial expression, words, plot, material, etc. They pose a way of expressing children’s experiences and thoughts and at the same time a natural way of their intellectual, emotional, motivational, and skills development. Aim. The purpose of this paper is to present the author’s concept of creative play and its exemplifi cation in the comfort of the family home. Results and conclusion. During creative play a child acts, manipulating a spatial object (material), produces new words, verbalizes created situations and new interpersonal arrangements, and takes on new roles. Thus, operations, as mental ability, are creative, on open material using heuristic methods, although one of these elements may be algorithmic.