Play, of varied type and form, provides opportunities for children to acquire a sense of competence and belonging when engaging in classroom life. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways that the inclusion of play as a curricular component eased academic stressors and supported motivation during the transition to kindergarten. In this qualitative case study, the researcher documented the within-classroom play of one child who had no prior-to-kindergarten schooling experience during her transition. Four months of ethnographic data collection (e.g., participant observation, artifact collection) allowed for a strong narrative to emerge that showed changes and progressions in the child over time. (author abstract)