Recreational activities for socio-emotional development in children

Socioemotional development in childhood is of utmost importance, as it provides the basis for children to establish relationships with their environment, enabling them to succeed in the various social contexts in which they operate. In this context, recreational activities emerge as an effective strategy for contributing to their development. Therefore, this article aims to systematize the theoretical and methodological assumptions regarding recreational activities for children's socioemotional development. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol was used for the review. The databases Scielo, Dialnet, Redalyc, Latindex, and institutional repositories, as well as academic search engines such as Google Scholar, were considered as the main sources of information based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty studies were ultimately selected for the review. The results reveal that integrating different types of games, recreational activities, and artistic activities into the educational process, whether as strategies, methodological guides, or play-based intervention programs—opens new possibilities for learning and developing children's communication and social-affective skills.