Street children are often constructed as fragile individuals who lose their innocent childhood since they have to work and do not have the opportunity to play like most of their peers. Using Bourdieu's concept of field, capital and habitus, this article seeks to go beyond the existing notion of play by exploring how street children in Bandung, Indonesia, understand and negotiate play with working as part of their everyday lives. The authors took an ethnographic approach to collect data from 14 street children and their guardians, mainly through observation and ongoing conversation. The findings suggest that the children are able not only to navigate the meaning of play, but also to negotiate their social position with adults on the street. This article serves as an invitation for educators and policymakers to develop educational programmes that are sensitive to multiple meanings of play, children and childhood.