The playful approach to teaching and learning has generated significant interest among teachers and educators over the past decade for its positive impacts on students' engagement, creativity, and skill development. This approach even proves a favorable option for classes which have to be conducted online due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. This report describes how the researcher adopted playful learning in her two online English classes for first-year students at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education (FELTE), Universitỵ of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU), and how students perceived the playful learning experience. After partaking in simulated auctions aiming at providing the teacher's feedback on their writing entries, students were asked to reflect on the effectiveness of the activities by answering survey questions. Initial results showed positive reactions from the majority of students, with the most common reason being their having the opportunity to learn in a new and interesting way. The report suggests playful learning could offer several benefits to students in an online language classroom.