The author discusses the process of play in terms of six elements in the play cycle first introduced by Sturrock and Else in 1998 and revised by King and Newstead in 2020--precue, play cue, play return, play frame, flow, and annihilation--and their relation to Winnicott's concepts of "potential space" or the "third area," which Sturrock referred to as the "ludic third." Claiming that, although four of the six elements can be observed in actual play, two--flow and precue--cannot, the author focuses on the importance of flow in established play cycles enabling the sharing of children's inner and outer worlds with other children and adults during their play. He also considers the implications of such play cycle flow in both therapeutic and learning contexts.