Play holds a precarious status in early childhood education curriculum and even more so in pedagogy. Misaligned with adult-ceatred discourses that seek to name and frame learning according to established curriculum ideals, the educators’ quest is to capture evidence of leaving in an ontologic trap that binds teachers in the service of the state and its priorities. Yet, an increasing body of dialogically inspired research seeks to suspend such authoritative strongholds by revealing the nuanced state of play that exceeds such framings. In this paper the dialogic notion of visual surplus is specifically exploited through the deployment of 360 degree footage filmed in an ece centre, and dialogues about what is seen, generated as part of a larger study. Through such excess playful encounters with and about young learners - often in spite of, not because of, well-meaning adult interventions - make a mockery of those claims that are made by adults through their play. Instead, a democratic agenda is set for play as a series of alteric as well as agentic events that lay bare the trap and attempt to escape it.
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