Playing in the Street Life Experience of Children: Portrayal and Narratives from Drawing-Stories

Abstract

Playing is an activity that promotes the development of children, because on the basis of playing they will experience the world and communicate with it. Consequently, this study aimed to understand how children with street life experience face playing. For this purpose, a qualitative research was carried out, using the method of Drawing-Stories. The collection of data was conducted in a residential childcare institution. In the research, three children who have and/or had street life experience, from both sexes and that lived there, participated. The data were analyzed using the thematic content analysis. On the basis of the findings, it can be considered that playing can occur even in the risk and vulnerability of the street, although it displays some particularities. In addition, it was identified that, for the participants, playing prevails overdanger, since the latter showed less prominence when compared to the former. Therefore, the research has made possible a greater understanding of the studied phenomenon; besides it has promoted meetings in which the children could talk about their experiences and express their feelings.