PLAYFULNESS AS A PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE: THE ROLE OF PLAY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY AND IMAGINATION IN CHILDHOOD

Abstract

This article discusses playfulness as a pedagogical practice, highlighting the role of play in the construction of autonomy and imagination in childhood. It is based on the understanding that play is not a secondary activity in school life, but an essential formative experience through which children participate, create, interact, make choices, and attribute meanings to the world around them. This is a bibliographic study with a qualitative approach and descriptive-analytical character, developed from normative documents and academic productions focused on Early Childhood Education and child development. The results show that play promotes autonomy by expanding children’s initiative, participation, and decision-making capacity, while also strengthening imagination through pretend play, symbolic creation, and the experimentation of social roles. It is concluded that valuing playfulness in pedagogical practice is fundamental for a more sensitive, meaningful, and development-oriented Early Childhood Education.