LUDIC STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL EDUCATION IN CHILDHOOD: AN EXTENSION EXPERIENCE REPORT IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL

Abstract

Socioemotional development during childhood is an important dimension of comprehensive development, particularly in the school environment, where children experience situations that require recognition and expression of feelings, self-regulation, empathy, and social interaction. This article aims to report and analyze the extension experience “The Colors of Emotions”, developed with approximately 35 first-grade elementary school students at a public school in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. This is an experience report developed within the Integrated Research and Community Extension Projects course and structured according to the Maguerez Arch. The intervention was carried out through four visits and included playful activities aimed at recognizing, understanding, and expressing emotions, including the use of characters from Inside Out, the “Emotions Traffic Light”, storytelling based on Pipo e Fifi: Prevention of Sexual Violence in Childhood, and the “Emotions Dance”. The experience was systematized based on observations made by the extension team and reports from the classroom teacher. Active participation by the children, greater organization during the activities, and subsequent incorporation of the “Emotions Traffic Light” into the school routine were observed. For the medical students, the experience contributed to the development of communication, planning, teamwork, and health education skills. It is concluded that playful strategies were appropriate resources for creating opportunities to discuss emotions and social interaction in the school context, although the absence of standardized assessment instruments and longitudinal follow-up limits inferences regarding lasting changes.