Abstract:

Playing a game and joking around are inseparable in any child's imagination. Games are seen as a form of play that provides the development of reasoning and basic procedures.

School cannot ignore this reality and, in the classroom or outside the classroom, games are a motivating methodology that can be used with the aim of developing mathematical skills, but also skills for social coexistence between players and a way for children to deal with failure. Furthermore, through play, pupils develop a positive predisposition to learn mathematics and relate productively to this subject in the various contexts where it is necessary. In this way, children and young people learn mathematics with pleasure and develop a growing sense of self-confidence in their ability to deal with this subject autonomously. This self-confidence is an essential factor that interferes positively with the predisposition to learn, and its development should be strategically cared for, in a continuous manner, during the mathematics teaching process.

Obviously, the use of games has many advantages, but there are also some disadvantages. In fact, if the use of games is not well planned in advance by the teacher, taking into account the objectives to be achieved, one can fall into the error of allowing the students to play, without them knowing the reason for doing so, as well as implying the occupation of much of the available time, sacrificing some content. It is important to always maintain the nature of the game, i.e. constant intervention by the teacher may destroy its playfulness. On the other hand, forcing pupils to play when they don't want to, cancels out the voluntariness that characterises the game situation. In this way, children and young people learn mathematics with pleasure and develop a growing sense of self-confidence in their ability to deal with this subject autonomously. This self-confidence is an essential factor that interferes positively with the predisposition to learn, and its development should be strategically cared for, in a continuous manner, in the course of the mathematics teaching process.

In this work, we present an intervention proposal in primary school using a board game which we call "Ball in Water" in a sequence of tasks. In this game, a group of a maximum of 3 elements plays by answering mathematical questions written on cards. It can be played in a classroom context or in a leisure context in the playground. The only difference is the arrival at the last square. If it is played outside the classroom, the player (pupil) finds a ball and must hit a bucket of water with it. This game can be both a diagnostic tool, in that, through its execution, gaps in reasoning, mathematical techniques and difficulties in decoding concepts are detected, and a tool for consolidating the learning of mathematical concepts.

Keywords:

Mathematics teaching and learning, didactic sequence, games, mathematics concepts.