Playing in Pediatric Physical Therapy: Literature Review

ABSTRACT The child develops motor, cognitive, emotional and moral behavior through play and social interaction, which continue throughout life. The variety of games and/or games contextualizes and provides adequate motor development, and is fundamental for motor learning. The present study aimed to investigate the use of play as a therapeutic resource in the practice of pediatric physical therapy, through a bibliographic review in the indexed databases: PubMed, Cochrane, Medline and Lilacs, using the keywords "Child", " "Play and Playthings", "Physical Therapy Modalities" with the Boolean operator "and". A total of 15 studies were collected including five on the use of play activity through games and play, and nine through electronic games and virtual reality, and one involving both modalities. The categories showed benefits and good acceptance by the involved children: improved posture and body balance, motivation, bond strength, greater mobility, reduction of pain symptoms, fatigue, anxiety and sleep disorders; improvement of pelvic floor function, improvement in physical performance, balance, dexterity, grip strength and upper limb movement, and greater satisfaction with therapy.