How do children relate in game context? a study of primary school children

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5335/rep.v27i2.11430

Keywords:

Play. Interpersonal relationships. Children.

Abstract

Play is a typical behaviour of any child and a promoter of their development, through which they interact, along the play, and learn to negotiate, cooperate and work in teams. Objective: Understand how children relate in a context of game. Methodology: 35 students (19 boys and 16 girls), 18 from the 1st year and 17 from the 3rd year aged between 6 and 9 years (7.2 ± 1.1) participated. A purpose-built observation guide was used with 3 subcategories for the category “interpersonal relationships”: 1) Being able to work in a team; 2) Be sociable, easily relate to others; 3) Consider the ideas and goals of the group members. A game was held between two teams with the objective of covering one of three courses scored according to the degree of difficulty. Results: In the 3 subcategories it was verified that the majority of students, despite the gender and grade, showed this positive behaviour, without a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusions: Most children have shown to relate to peers throughout the game, and it is essential to promote in children these skills, essential for their emotional and social development.

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Author Biographies

  • Inês Peixoto Silva, Universidade do Minho, Portugal

    Doutora em estudos da Criança, Universidade do Minho. Professora convidada da Universidade do Minho, Portugal e membro do Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança.

  • Ana Isabel Silva, Universidade do Minho, Portugal

    Doutora em estudos da criança e membro do Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

  • Beatriz Oliveira Pereira, Universidade do Minho, Portugal

    Doutora em estudos da criança e membro do Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

Published

2020-07-28

How to Cite

How do children relate in game context? a study of primary school children. Revista Espaço Pedagógico, [S. l.], v. 27, n. 2, p. 406–419, 2020. DOI: 10.5335/rep.v27i2.11430. Disponível em: https://ojs.upf.br/index.php/rep/article/view/11430. Acesso em: 16 oct. 2025.