Playing as a synonym for trying

Hello! Please, if I want someone to freely experiment with something (such as in an artistic exercise, for example: experimenting with colors, to better understand how they work, etc.), can I say: "In the next exercise, just PLAY with these colors "?
Or maybe I should say "try out these colors" or "experiment with these colors"?
The goal is to motivate the students to use colors the way they want, without any specific result in mind (not a context for judgment; nothing to be "right" or "wrong").