This chapter introduces the Play-Ritual Creativity Model, a conceptual framework that repositions creativity as a culturally embedded and pedagogically situated process situated within a continuum between play and ritual. By drawing on and adapting Wallas’ and Sadler-Smith’s phase models of creativity, alongside the folkloristic insights of Bronner, Dundes, and others, the chapter proposes a synthesis that integrates psychological and social dimensions of creative practice. It foregrounds the interplay between individual cognition and collective tradition, exploring how creativity functions not only as a mechanism for individual innovation but also as a tool for cultural continuity and transformation. Anchored in the pedagogy of be-longing, this model reimagines creativity as a force negotiated within performative cultural frames—frames that oscillate between structured ritual and improvisational play. The model is contextualised within wider socio-political structures, engaging with the work of Graeber and Wengrow to explore how ritual and play act as laboratories for imagining alternative social realities. In doing so, the chapter positions creativity as essential to educational practice and socio-political adaptability, offering a lens through which folklorists, educators, and creativity researchers alike can interpret the evolving dynamics of tradition and transformation.