Introduction:

Play is strongly related to learning, especially during the early years of a child's life and evidence shows that the child discovers and explores the world that surrounds him as he uses his toys and takes part in different types of games. Play assumes then a fundamental pedagogical function and represents an innate way of learning that allow children to develop their own ability to explore and master their surroundings in such a simple and formative way.

Objectives:

We designed the corpus of the study that included the following objectives: (i) to learn more about the participants’ perspectives on the role played by playful activities and school recess in the learning of primary education children; (ii) to identify the activities that children enjoy the most during recess; (iii) to understand how schools conceive their recreational spaces and facilities.

Methods:

The research instrument of choice was the semi-structured individual interview. This instrument was based on a set of sixteen questions given to primary school teachers who were teaching in two school groupings located in the district of Viseu. The target population of our study is composed of six primary school teachers whose career span ranges between 10 and 30 years of professional activity in this particular educational stage. A three phase content analysis was then carried out to process the amount of data obtained.

Results:

The participants realize that playing is strongly connected to learning and that the child discovers the role he will play in the world as he engages in different playful activities. School recess is one of the children’s favourite school settings as it offers them moments of joy and social pleasure. This is a place where socialization takes on great significance, both through peer-to-peer interaction and through the interaction that the children will develop with the adults who are responsible for them.

Conclusions:

Recess and playful moments benefit all children and will play a decisive role in their overall development. In this case, teachers claim to know the children's favourite free time activities and use outdoors space to implement some activities for some of their classes, especially when it involves experiences in which contact with nature will facilitate the students’ learning. The importance of such activities seems to be gaining more and more recognition among experts.

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