Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

DOI https://doi.org/10.31876/er.v6i44.832

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic

construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony.

El juego en el ser humano como herramienta para su construcción holística

para una concepción integral de su cosmogonía

Nancy Esther Anachury*

Shirley Yojana Junco*

Juan Gabriel Castañeda Polanco*

Received: July 13, 20212

Approved: September 12, 2022

* Msc. Universidad Ibero Americana, Bogota,

Colombia, nancyanachuryvega@hotmail.com,

https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6162-3047

* Msc. Universidad Ibero Americana, Bogota,

Colombia, shirlyjuncojaraba@gmail.com,

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2591-8830

* Dr. Universidad Ibero Americana, Bogota,

Colombia, jugacaspo@gmail.com,

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7632-7526

Abstract

With respect to the upbringing of children, customs have advanced

significantly. In ancient times it was conceived that children should be

ignored and that they did not begin to be taken into account until

very late in childhood; gradually society has evolved and with it the

approaches to a humanized relationship between adults and children.

It is becoming more and more constant and at the same time relevant

the actions that lead to enjoy the child-adult relationship. Propitiating

a pertinent emotional and social development, not only in the family

environment but also in the educational spaces; spaces where specific

cultural and social pillars are cemented that effectively contribute to

a better progress in the individual. The games strengthen the roles

and position the individual in the most characteristic aspects of his

personality.

Keyword:

Games, tradition, development, school

Cite this:

Anachury, N., Junco, S., Castañeda,

J. (2023). The game in the human

being as a tool for its holistic

construction for an integral

conception of its cosmogony.

Espirales. Revista Multidisciplinaria

de investigación científica, 7 (44),

1-16

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

Introduction

From birth and throughout his existence, the human being develops different skills and

functions that lead to the deployment of all its capabilities and the strengthening of

their emotions; among the actions that the human being develops in their daily life from

birth are identified eating, sleeping, crying and among others receives its first

encounters with the game. As human development progresses, play supports, like no

other activity, the maturity of thought, the acquisition of knowledge and the gradual

adaptation to social roles and the preconceptions of adaptation and coexistence.

Regarding body development (Gallo, 2017) indicates that playing also contributes

significantly to growth, since a baby by itself could not prepare for transcendent

functions such as the use of its limbs to develop motor skills and displacements; but the

gradual stimuli of external agents and factors induce it to coarse and sometimes

uncontrolled movements make its muscles strengthen significantly. (Zaragoza Ramos et

al., 2016). Therefore, it can be deduced that without play, human development,

especially muscular development, would be diminished, delaying growth and mobility;

a vital function in the evolutionary process of man and the acquisition of autonomy.

Subsequently, the human being needs the game to learn about their customs and be

inserted effectively in different social roles; it is easy to incorporate eating habits, sleep

regulation, motivation to the manifestations of affection characteristic of the stage of

development in which it is found, games and toys become precious assets and

invaluable spaces in individuals.

The games are the pretext for mother and child or caregivers to develop, in an

imperceptible way, the language and the whole communicative process. (Elsy L. Gómez

& Héctor A. Guerrero, 2013) language and the whole communicative process, the

transfer of customs of the region of origin and even in the case of displacement, the

enrichment of the cultural heritage with games and songs that interweave the

development of the individual. Socialization is being expanded as children are

Resumen

Respecto a la crianza de los niños y niñas, las costumbres han

avanzado significativamente. En la antigüedad se concebía que los

niños y niñas debían ser ignorados y que no empezaban a ser tenidos

en cuenta hasta muy avanzada la niñez; paulatinamente la sociedad

a evolucionado y con ello los acercamientos a una relación

humanizada entre adultos y niños. Cada vez es más constante y a la

vez relevante las acciones que conllevan a disfrutar de la relación

niños-adultos. Propiciando un desarrollo emocional y social

pertinente, no solo en el entorno familiar sino en los espacios

educativos; espacios donde se cimienta pilares culturales y sociales

específicos que contribuyen de forma efectiva a un mejor avance en

el individuo. Los juegos, afianzan los roles y posicionan al individuo

en los aspectos de su personalidad más característicos.

Keyword:

Juegos, tradición, desarrollo, escuela

Nancy Esther Anachury, Shirley Yojana Junco, Juan Gabriel Castañeda Polanco

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

incorporated into family and social activities of which they are the object: children's

parties, meetings with neighbors and little by little the incorporation to school activities

are squeezing the agenda of young children, to the point that the true essence of human

development can be put at risk: to be an eminently social individual. Play is often

confused with a state of leisure, a waste of time, ignoring the social, emotional and

physical benefits that it entails.

In the school stage, according to (Parra Ramírez & Cámara Vallejos, 2017).the individual

faces a rupture of the habits acquired in his first environment, generating in him possible

fears and insecurities, as well as a relative loss of identity; being exposed to the

interaction with individuals of the same age group and even substantial differences, but

in reality it is not bad before on the contrary the possibilities of a greater development

of their capabilities, habits, adaptations and emotions are expanded. The encounters

and misunderstandings that this new socialization entails, constitute the greatest

gamification in which one can be involved. According to the philosopher and

pedagogue Francesco Tonucci, gamification allows to acquire the most significant

learning of the being. Building mentally and emotionally indelible experiences, through

creative and fun encounters that support the incorporation of significant knowledge and

skills.

For Tinoco & Lugo (2015) in a fickle, disrupted and even confused universe in the face

of social and ethical changes, children are precisely the ideal social element to

demonstrate how strong and necessary it is to assimilate the context and let our actions

permeate according to our culture and society.

Early childhood is perhaps the stage of life where the human being has the greatest

capacity for astonishment, but also the greatest capacity for apprehension of knowledge

and adaptation to any social situation; with a wonderful capacity that allows

humanization in every act and resilience in the face of every difficulty. It is at school

where the individual will find an oasis to his need for knowledge and socialization or it

can become an unknown universe that pushes him to relate to traumatic and

incomprehensible experiences.

Although home and school should be the safest environments and full of positive

experiences for the being, this is not always the case and individuals can be immersed

in a sea of confusions and exposures in both environments, far from the true purpose

that should be found in such environments. This can only be possible when at school or

in the family, and perhaps in both at the same time, children do not receive the

adequate stimulus for their emotional, cognitive and social development; it is common

the overexposure to the so-called new technologies, which take away and usurp the

value of dialogue, toys and physical spaces of interaction as well as the overexposure

to images, sounds, songs and information of all kinds that distorts not only the

environment but also the natural learning environments.

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

The game once valued, Arias et al. (2019). axis of afternoons of laughter and indelible

moments of sharing has been relegated to virtual emulations that ensimisman the

individual and turn him into a social hermit, since he is locked up in himself, although in

a physical way he is related to other individuals. It is common to see mothers and

caregivers in any space dedicated to the interaction with electronic devices and leaving

aside the children not only to supply their basic needs but also denying the precious

moment of encounter with affection, culture and primary knowledge. Gone are the gifts

where the child made possible the interaction with him, printing with his hands and

voice movements and fake words to show that the toy was his playmate; always and at

all times the dolls received during the game the same actions of which he was the

object: feeding, games, cuddles, kisses, hugs and other actions. Gradually the

sexualizing toys were displacing the common, simple children's toys that allowed the

achievement of knowledge, emotions and more appropriate actions. As well as toys

that influence the construction of a wrong self-esteem and self-image, distorting human

realities and transfiguring the human dimensions that should be strengthened through

playful activity.

In Colombia, an intercultural country par excellence given the vast territory it possesses

and the diversity of its natural landscape, coupled with the reality of the encounter of

the multiethnicity that was found in a fortuitous and random way allowing the

construction of a population as heterogeneous as it is interesting. But even so, little by

little the cultural gaps, intolerance and dissimilar forms of assimilation of any external

influence that substantially modifies the very essence of the individual have become

more and more evident. Institutionality and sovereignty are lost when society allows

elements that do not belong to it to become part of its identity, the school must be that

point of convergence where the native culture and the incorporated elements of the

new and denied miscegenation flow in an imminent way; within its socializing dynamics

it is evidenced as the propitious space to reorganize society from the new social

elements. All this without forgetting that the school must stand out for the preservation

of customs and the achievement of individual elements of behavior that promote

healthy coexistence in all the environments where the individual develops.

(Nelson et al., 2007) indicates that the emerging culturality allows the creation of new

social perspectives, where the concept of society and culture is more universal; the

research projects that are developed within the educational institutions should aim at

the construction of a society that is procedent, diverse and inclusive; with glimpses of a

more humanizing and resilient society.

Society needs to refresh the collective memory to preserve its customs and promote

the rescue of customs that promote the formation of better social actors, better human

and cognitive perspectives away from cybernetic interactions, which, although

necessary and important, have diminished natural human interactions. From the active

perspective of the school as a social transformer and therefore transmitter of culture,

early childhood teachers should focus their pedagogical actions in a more playful, less

rigid and more relevant context. Contagious to the student population and the different

Nancy Esther Anachury, Shirley Yojana Junco, Juan Gabriel Castañeda Polanco

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

actors to propitiate encounters and misunderstandings that return laughter and face to

face conversations, propitiating the cultural rescue of the regional children's games;

which can be incorporated in the institutional dynamics not only in the moments of rest

or recess within the school day, but as a pretext of interaction and construction of

knowledge.

For years, generations have longed for the clothes, the songs, the gastronomic dishes

that are shown in an attractive and natural way in any context and by any means. For

Sánchez (2006) Children are no exception because they are consciously and

unconsciously guided towards positions, preconceived concepts and even social

bombardments that confuse and saturate them in front of the surrounding social and

cultural information. It is only a matter of finding the relevance of the games and the

propitious spaces to encourage them are in the common areas and in the rest spaces.

It is possible to be in front of the formation of updated beings, avant-garde and in

harmony with the technologies, but at the same time to lower the levels of stress, the

distortion of the communications and the preservation of emotions and simple

regulations and somehow more natural to learn to unlearn the isolation and

individualism, propitiating the healthy coexistence.

All children are born in a specific cultural context: according to the geography of the

country and the customs of the regions and sub-regions, they constantly receive

information and stimulus through their senses and their holistic interaction, taking root

in a specific and enriching time and space. Colombia offers a range of cultural

possibilities, during the 20th century there was a proliferation of movements in favor of

the rights of the different ethnic and therefore social and cultural groups in the country;

the school even in its pedagogical advances is still in debt to work in favor of this

culturality and proof of this is the scarce directed activity that children have during

breaks, this space has become a breeding ground for harmful, aggressive and even

disturbing interactions because it is a space full of freedom, with few restrictions and

little construction.

Camacho & Vega (2016) recess or rest should become a space that under the pretext

of recreation are a space for training and social construction, with cultural and fun

interaction; demystifying the fact that children are increasingly technological and that

the games of yesteryear have become obsolete. Knowing that unlearning is not an

immediate or obligatory process, it is necessary to interact and promote interaction by

contagiously filling the spaces with board games, pirinola tournaments, ludo or

playgrounds, playing dolls again, group games that allow laughing while looking at the

eyes and reinventing the rules and the fulfillment of them.

Materials and methods

The preponderance of an explicit curriculum that favors the restitution of the

forgetfulness of the construction of classroom and research projects for and with the

children and not for the teacher, education continues to be in black and white and not

in third dimension and in color, the projects should yield results of permanent

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

transformation and not mediatic, since the creation of the General Law of Education in

Colombia it is customary to speak of projects, research, activities and classroom

management plagued with technicalities but with few results of social transformation.

A true construction of society includes the construction of spaces and policies respectful

of the characteristics of each environment. Facilitating the construction of knowledge

through cultural manifestations and not the other way around: native lullabies,

regionalized children's rounds, toys, word modeling for initial education, children's

stories and other lyrical elements and cultural managers should have a preponderant

element for initial education and not as something completely foreign and based on

foreign cultures: children's songs to the sound of porro, bullerengue, with touches of

marimba, more native and less universal dresses with fashion.

Early education claims its privileged position in educational institutions, the construction

of elements of value within the formation of individuals so that they are the ones who

shine within the impacting results of education and not the results of state tests; early

education claims to be formed with the elements that continue to build their world of

colors, which allows them to naturally and affectively build the image of their own

universe. Rescuing the preponderance of the plastic arts as the fundamental axis of the

construction of knowledge, to speak of the universe, of the earth without the child

knowing the importance of the environment where he/she is developing. This can be

the same environment where he/she was born or it can be an environment where

internal or global migration has led the individual and his/her family. It is the children

who can give a lesson on how to solve conflicts in seconds to continue enjoying a game

or a snack, based on the fact of cultural interweaving, early childhood needs to

permeate its curricular structure in numbers and letters, but from its own context, either

through play or visual arts. We privilege academic processes and not the construction

of identity and society, it is important to educate from the privilege of knowing the

social origins and the environment where they develop today.

For Lago de Vergara et al. (2014). Early childhood deserves a formidable encounter with

guidelines congruent with the real behaviors and interests of children. A contextualized

learning environment favors the deployment of thought processes and the construction

of effective communication links, a true education tending to inclusion and

interculturality must have present multiethnic elements and allow within the rights of

students to be able to bring elements of their culture with them to strengthen the

holistic formation of the individual: a learning environment decorated with our elements

and not with the elements of inherited cultures such as children's stories. From the

guidelines for this level, from the educational point of view, the importance of the

construction of the self is not recognized, but of knowledge.

The bet is on the construction of dynamic, fluctuating and society-building spaces,

projects for the use of free time that tend to root culture and allow adaptation according

to the different contexts that are experienced. Marrying the school with autochthonous

positions that permeate the construction of being and doing. A listened early childhood,

Nancy Esther Anachury, Shirley Yojana Junco, Juan Gabriel Castañeda Polanco

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

with dynamic formation and with the vision from the infantile to build happier and fuller

human beings.

For Sampieri et al. (2014). the expeditious method for transformation of school spaces

is definitely through play as a dynamizer of coexistence and social development, using

not only an investigative method but promotion and prevention through concrete

actions during break times; with the promotion of directed recreational spaces and

making traditional games an important element of it. Not only during academic times

but also during the use of common spaces.

There are multiple factors that affect educational practice and consequently are

involved in its improvement, no factor should be disregarded, since from the selection

of contents, their integrated use, the spatial and temporal organization, the didactic

materials and resources, the relation and relevance between tasks and students'

interests, the social function of curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as school

tasks and commitments, the diversity of students itself has led to the imminent

expansion of the concept of inclusion, the rhythms and rhythms of school activities, the

rhythms and rhythms of school commitments, and the diversity of students, the social

function of curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as school tasks and

commitments, the diversity of the student body itself has led to an imminent broadening

of the concept of inclusion, the rhythms and ways of learning, the organization of the

teaching staff to respond to all these aspects, teamwork, high expectations or the

promotion of the desire to learn; constitute valuable elements within the educational

function as such. Schools are the most real exercise that man has of the dynamics of life;

roles and social concepts are integrated into the academic world and that makes the

school an environment sometimes equally rigid and even full of frustrations for the

individual.

At present, education is in a stage of revolution, of constant change and adaptation to

the needs of the modern and progressive society of the present century; without

ignoring the common aspects of the different contexts, therefore, many of the

postulates of the different pedagogical theories are reconsidered and interwoven with

the informal curriculum of the idiosyncrasy in which the individual develops.

Throughout this article the importance of play for the development of the individual is

highlighted, but is it really of vital importance to address issues as concrete as human

formation through actions full of informality and absent of any scientific rigor play? If it

is taken into account that most of the human being's time since birth is focused on the

satisfaction of his basic needs and that these in turn are linked to play, songs and

popular customs, it is imminent to recognize that this is where the essence of being and

primary socialization are centered; therefore, having play as a preponderant axis within

the relevant formative actions constitutes a true communion of being with knowledge,

but above all with knowing how to know how to do.

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

Within this scope it is pertinent to mention that for a more effective design of the

educational project of any institution it is appropriate to define the paths to impact

society through meeting the needs of the individual at a formative level, because it is

the individual who projects the relevance of the pedagogical actions according to the

needs of the society of impact, highlighting the interrelation of his learning action with

the interaction with the different existing resources, to convert any space into a relevant

environment for learning and in turn the game as the means to achieve such learning.

Focusing on the possibility of mediating in situations of coexistence through activities

that resort to play, it should be noted that the teacher, in designing activities, should

consider the interests, needs and above all the characteristics of the individuals who are

an active part of the educational process, because in this way he/she will obtain optimal

results. For this author, the child is the center of the whole training process, defining

that throughout the individual's life not only the school is the expeditious space to be

trained and instructed, because it is by him and for him; but all possible scenarios

become in turn training and learning environments, besides, this knowledge that he

acquires through play will allow him to make decisions freely; and thus be able to

actively participate in society. It is important to point out that, in order for the child to

acquire the necessary maturity, we must start from the child's naturalness, that is, from

what the child lives and how he/she lives it; as well as the knowledge he/she needs to

acquire to overcome the adversities of his/her life. Also, when children enter school,

they carry with them four innate impulses: expression, communication, inquiry and

construction (Esquivel, 2008), and it is the teacher's primary task to ensure that these

impulses continue to develop over time; these impulses are currently considered skills,

and is one of the fundamental purposes of education, as well as one of the features

considered in the graduate profile (especially in primary education). The assertive

management of these impulses depends on how the character and individual

perspective of learning is forged.

Pedagogues of the stature of John Dewey demand that educators incorporate the

topics contained in the study program with experience; that is, to link the theoretical

support with the current situation of human beings, since this will allow a better

understanding, in order to then formulate their concepts, which will allow them to

provide solutions to problems; it is very recurrent to mention within schools the need

for contextualization of the curriculum and therefore of the activities that materialize it.

But curriculum without didactics is neither consistent nor pertinent. The relevance of the

so-called ludic applied to pedagogy presents the appropriate innovation for the

convergence of knowing and doing, printing a dynamic that favors fun and training. It

is necessary to refute the later practices where attending educational institutions

constituted an imminent rupture of the pleasant and flexible actions that offer meetings

with friends and family where the game, the company and the fun are fundamental axes.

Dewey mentions in his text, "My Pedagogical Creed" that education goes through two

moments: psychological, which is when the child begins to show his abilities and skills,

and social, when he appropriates the knowledge and manages to face the life he is

Nancy Esther Anachury, Shirley Yojana Junco, Juan Gabriel Castañeda Polanco

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

presented with. "The educational process has two aspects: one psychological and the

other social, of these two aspects; the psychological is the basic one, it is when the child

performs on his own initiative, independently of the educator. The social aspect is the

adaptation to civilization, to society (Dewey, 1967)". This leads to a construction of

school eventualities that tend to improve the processes of interrelation in the school. It

was not possible to establish which of the two moments is of greater weight because

both are intertwined and separated by an almost imperceptible thin line; which pours

boldness and differentiation from the static, repetitive and frustrating moments of a

dehumanized formation, plagued by actions that recurrently cut off human nature and

its interstitial focal points such as play.

At the same time, the individual, based on his or her interests and the environment,

should pose problems of social relevance, formulate hypotheses and apply them,

construct explanations and develop practical solutions to these problems, but this is

achieved with the guidance and orientation of the teacher. It is common to think that

certain types of processes such as those described above cannot be easily evidenced

in young children, but on the contrary, infants stand out for the naturalness of their

concepts, the spontaneity of their actions and the courage to carry out almost

everything in their daily lives. Children who find in the ladder game obstacles and

uncertainty that will be solved within the logic and prior knowledge of what is expected

in it. Board games, children's rounds, songs gather a series of constitutive, normative

and formative elements. Even more than the so-called manuals or school regulations. A

child will understand the need to be honest in a game when the captain or his friends

notice the bad moves he makes and shout at him in a natural way, joining efforts to

show him that because of his disloyalty he will not play anymore and probably will not

be chosen for a new round. Unwritten rules, only implicit in the secret codes of the

game, whatever it is.

It is easy to observe how children through play imprint characteristics and

personifications to most inanimate objects, pretend voices and use them as valuable

elements to strengthen and self-recognize themselves. Leaves of trees and plants as

money, but at the same time can be as food for surreal preparations that make them

the best chefs in the roles of the playful and integrative exercise with their peers, any

element becomes relevant and paradoxically the adults around them minimize the

importance of them and focus on restricting the natural processes of achieving habits

and elements of social construction.

The cultural heritage is a determining factor at the moment of strengthening behaviors

and knowledge through games; games as well as the so-called ancestral concepts and

oral management through songs, myths and legends allow us to positively intermingle

the regions of the same country that are represented in a classroom and even bring us

closer to an inclusive project according to international migrations.

The game in the human being as a tool for its holistic construction for an integral conception of its cosmogony

Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 7, No. 44

January - March 2023. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-16

Results

It is motivating to be able to build a curriculum that approaches the construction of a

more universalizing citizenship through play, listening to customs and approaches of

different regions or countries allows opening to a positive culturalization, which allows

understanding the dialects and customs in the other without fuss, without ridicule and

without discrimination; this last aspect would be nothing more than an action coming

from ignorance and the feeling of being destroyed or invading what for the individual

is everyday and is very much his or her own.

It is easy to observe different postures of individuals during moments of interaction in

the common areas of an institution. By analyzing these individual postures, we perceive

what is part of the family collective: aggressions, vocabulary, feelings, frustrations, as

well as the positive feelings and actions that take place in more favorable situations.

It is necessary to incorporate through underlying methodologies, the concepts and

perceptions of each individual. The game is a transcendent element in society; the

preservation of the being and its integrality depends on its consolidation, evolution and

sustainability.

A true construction of society includes the construction of spaces and policies respectful

of the characteristics of each environment. Facilitating the construction of knowledge

through cultural manifestations and not the other way around: native lullabies,

regionalized children's rounds, toys, word modeling for early education, children's

stories and other lyrical elements and cultural managers should have a preponderant

element for early education and not as something completely foreign and based on

foreign cultures: children's songs to the sound of porro, bullerengue, with touches of

marimba, more native and less universal dresses with fashion.

An institutional educational project really thought for the society of impact must include

the characterization of its population not only from the obvious elements that interest

the society but from elements extracted from the society itself; if pedagogical models

collected from foreign thinkers and turned into a patchwork quilt, where different

thinkers are taken to satisfy the adult-centric position of the school approach.