Play: educational nursing strategy to stimulation of children's development

The general objective of this study is to contribute to the adequate stimulation of development, in children aged 18 to 48 months, who attend the program of growth and development of a health institution through play therapy aimed at children, parents and other caregivers. It is a descriptive study, based on the nursing process, carried out with 14 parents and their children aged between 14 and 48 months of the growth and development program. Four educational sessions on child stimulation were developed. The results show that parents and caregivers increased their knowledge about the importance and different methods of stimulating child development, going from a scarce knowledge (initial NOC of 2.19) to moderate knowledge (final NOC of 3.17) with a difference of 0.98. It is concluded that the game favors the adequate stimulation of the development of children and contributes to the strengthening of the affective bond between parents and children. The role of nursing is important in the development of educational strategies that encourage stimulation for an adequate child development.