Social Development in a Game Context

Abstract

Social development is a fundamental subject that challenges professionals who work with children and teenagers. Questions such as how to behave adequately, what limits must be defined, and at the same time, how to stimulate autonomy and create a cooperative environment, are daily made, but solutions are not always satisfactory. The aim of this paper is to present a possible contribution to the discussion, describing highlights of a successful initiative. The practice in seeing children with learning disabilities at the Laboratory of Studies about Development and Learning (University of Sao Paulo), also identifies the same questions and there is a permanent search for creative solutions. For the last 25 years, groups of children from the Fundamental School were seen by professionals who organized activities in a game context, challenging them to play, develop reasoning and construct favourable attitudes. Results show that playing games in an intervention context stimulated changes in attitudes and social behaviour. As a consequence, it enabled children interact and establish a better quality of relation, based on cooperation and mutual respect.