GAMES, TOYS AND PLAYS AS ANTI-RACIST PRACTICES IN EARLY EARLY EDUCATION

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of games, toys and games as pedagogical devices for promoting anti-racist early childhood education. The discussion is based on Brazilian educational legislation, especially the Federal Constitution of 1988, the Child and Adolescent Statute, the National Curricular Guidelines for Early Childhood Education (2009), the National Common Curricular Base (2017), as well as Laws nº 10,639/2003 and nº 11,645/2008 and on theoretical references that understand childhood as a time of symbolic construction, identity and social. The research adopts a qualitative approach, supported by academic studies, official documents and experience reports, seeking to understand how playful practices crossed by African and Afro-Brazilian ancestry can contribute to strengthening self-esteem, valuing diversity and confronting structural racism from the first years of life. In addition to reviewing the theoretical foundations, the work presents detailed pedagogical proposals, traditional toy workshops, African board games, cultural circles, storytelling, interdisciplinary projects and literary collections, and discusses challenges and possibilities for teaching practice. It is concluded that playfulness, understood as a cultural, political and pedagogical practice, is a strategic path to consolidating an inclusive, democratic early childhood education committed to racial equity and social justice.