Playful intervention program for executive functions: strategies based on games at school

Abstract

Executive functions integrate skills related to cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects and are in full development in childhood. There are some early intervention programs, aimed at children inserted in the school context, which aim to exercise and improve these functions. Thus, the objective of this article is to describe, test and validate the Playful Intervention Program for Executive Functions - PRÓ-LIFE, detailing the process of development and creation. Therefore, the study has a qualitative bias with field testing and highlights the process of creation, development and systematization of PRÓ-LIFE. The program is presented with its components and strategies for application in school contexts, highlighting the interventions in general. In addition, the results of the pilot project carried out with children aged between 4 and 5 years are presented, which reveal the need to change the age group of the program's target audience, promoting reflections on the number of activities, as well as making it possible to test the dynamics of understanding of psychological tests used to measure children's cognitive abilities.