Cheeky kid given teddy occasionally played around (8)
I believe the answer is:
tinkered
'played around' is the definition.
(to tinker with something is to play around with it)
'cheeky kid given teddy occasionally' is the wordplay.
'cheeky kid' becomes 'tinker' (tinker can mean a mischievous child).
'given' says to put letters next to each other.
'occasionally' means one should take alternating letters (letters taken at regular intervals or occasions).
The alternating letters of 'teddy' are 'ed'.
'tinker'+'ed'='TINKERED'
(Other definitions for tinkered that I've seen before include "Fiddled with, trying to repair" , "Fiddled trivially (with)" , "Was meddling" .)