The play in early childhood education: an experience report in light of Waldorf Pedagogy

Abstract

This article aims to analyze play in Early Childhood Education from the perspective of Waldorf Pedagogy, based on an experience report of an extension project developed in public schools, with emphasis on Escola Dendê da Serra, located in Serra Grande, Bahia, Brazil. This is a qualitative study, characterized as an experience report, grounded in participant observation e field diary records, conducted over six meetings, including moments of teacher training. The extension action was primarily guided by Waldorf Pedagogy, in dialogue with authors such as Kishimoto, Montessori, Pikler, and Steiner, as well as normative documents such as the BNCC and the RCNEI. The results indicate that play, when understood as a structuring axis of pedagogical practice, promotes children’s integral development by respecting their rhythms, and individual processes, and also contributes significantly to teacher education by enabling the articulation between theory and practice in real educational contexts.