Como brincam?: Perfil de utilização de dois parques infantis na cidade de Parintins/AM

Abstract

Playgrounds are places designed and planned for children. They are the ideal places for playing. These spaces provide several benefits and contribute to the integral development of children. It is worth noting that play has great importance for the learning process of children. Therefore, it is relevant to understand the context of play in these environments. This study aimed to understand the profile of use of two playgrounds in the city of Parintins/AM. This is a descriptive and exploratory study that had as question: How have children played in the playgrounds of Parintins? For this, the objective was to characterize the profile of use of municipal playgrounds, Benedito Azedo and Pichita Cohen by children up to 12 years of age. The research was carried out through a systematic observation with the use of instruments that allowed the collection of data, being used sheets of records of the observations, field diary and photography. These instruments made it possible to have an estimate regarding the different types of games practiced and also the variables related to the use profile. The data were searched for two weeks, one in each park, at the time of 16 to 20h. From the analysis and discussion of these results, it was noticed that in total about 1172 children and 3086 play events were recorded during the two weeks, the Pichita Cohen park is the most frequented and used. In the two playgrounds it was recorded that the preferred games were those of physical exercise, but it was also noted that children practice these games differently. They also occurred in the way children play and use toys or spaces, in Benedito Azedo the most used toy was the pula-pula and in Pichita Cohen was the free area. Therefore, it is concluded that there are many factors that contribute to these differences, but the main ones were the space, the quantity and quality of toys and the possibilities of play. This study has some limitations, as it focused only on discovering the way children play and use space, without going deeper. Future studies can improve their research tools so that they can fully understand these environments. Keywords: Playgrounds; Children’s Play; Childhood; Toys.