Games and the health of children with Down Syndrome

Playing is universal and its thematization is essential. Lived, explored and felt, they are present mainly in childhood as fun, favoring the exploration of imagination and creativity, social interaction, learning, the expression of feelings and emotions. For children who are born with Down Syndrome and present characteristics such as cognitive impairment, delays in neuropsychomotor development and limitations in communication, playing is a powerful strategy for their development. From this perspective, the present study aims to systematize the knowledge published in Brazilian magazines on the use of games with children with Down Syndrome. This is a bibliographical review of the literature whose data collection was carried out in the following databases: Scielo, Lilacs and Google Scholar. The time frame was the years 2018 to 2023 and the language selected was Portuguese. Eight original articles were selected for qualitative analysis. We conclude that there is concrete and positive evidence about the importance of using games in the cognitive, motor, learning and socialization development of children with Down Syndrome.