The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health among children and youth include activities involving play, learning, family life and education in different domains (ICF-CY, WHO, 2007). Thus, it takes into account the issues of learning to play and involvement in the game.

This is because playing is one of the essential activities for the motor, emotional and social development of the human being. Through it the child learns to know, learns to do, learns to live and, above all, learns to be – being one of the most common forms of human behavior (especially during childhood).

Through play and games, children can learn who they are and what they are capable of doing (Bunker, 1991, p. 468).

It is through play that children begin to comprehend reality and organize their actions, intentionally coordinate movements, develop autonomy, create their identity, give them meaning, which will lead to greater interaction and communication with the environment (Martini & Solomon, 2007).

It is in play that the child discovers themself and the outside world in an intelligent and reflective way, practiced with emotion and pleasure, developing effective cognitive and emotional capacities. Play activities should focus mainly on the intellect, the social and the body, bringing children into contact with the real world and developing their ability to create, relate and apply this knowledge through their language (Martini & Solomon, 2007).

Apart from the interaction that play provides, it is also of fundamental importance in the development of memory, language, attention, perception and creativity. The development of the playful aspect facilitates personal, social and cultural development, improving the processes of socialization, communication, expression, thus building the individual as a whole (Rezende, 2006).

Learning through games is one of the best ways for children to build their development (Martini & Solomon, 2007).

Games should have a range of effects on the child, an effect of enthusiasm, concentration, motivation, joy and other aspects of emotional involvement that help them acquire the desired skills. It should be noted that the game can be classified according to certain criteria. Piaget classified them based on the evolution of structures and phases of child development, identifying three distinct phases (Martini & Solomon, 2007):

• sensorimotor phase (up to 2 years), which calls for individual play with no sense of rules and the repetition of simple gestures and movements;
• preoperative phase (2 to 5/6 years), where the most collective game with the notion of rules and symbolic games, where there is greater assimilation of reality;
• phase of concrete operations (7 to 11 years), where collective games with groups (teams) and well-established rules can be verified, contributing to the individual’s learning.

This is because motricity is the set of mental and body expressions that involve tonic, postural, somotognosic and praxic functions (Fonseca, 2001). The body is the identity of each one, which is manifested and expressed through emotions, feelings and movement. This is then the point that allows the understanding of the outside, that is, of the world that surrounds it through gesture, movement (Fonseca, 2001).

Thus, understanding the body as a means of exploring the environment allows us to realize the importance of body and movement in human development. It is the first form of relationship with the environment that allows the identity of the individual to be built. Thus, movement is fundamental for the development of cognition, being the means of meaning production (Fonseca, 2001).

However, children with disabilities are often limited in playing activities (Carvalho, 1998; Missiuna & Pollock, 1991; cit in Cazeiro & Lomônaco, 2011) – because it is difficult to match play with functionality and / or because time available to play is used for therapeutic acts – which restricts the exploration of the environment and can have consequences on the cognitive, emotional and social development of the individual (Rodrigues, 1998). This may hinder the acquisition of basic concepts, the development of abstract thinking, the fostering of self discovery and involvement, as well as the stimulation of socialization and autonomy (Bruner, 1986; Carvalho, 1998; Ferland, 2006; Hartley, 1971 Piaget, 1945/1975; Vygotsky, 1976; cit in Cazeiro & Lomónaco, 2011).

Thus, playing and promoting it should not be limited to inclusive play, as it will play an essential role in improving motor coordination, cognition, socialization, attention and balance, strengthening the development of skills necessary to perform activities of daily living (Lorenzini, 1999; Peres, 2004; Sparling, Walker, & Singdahlsen, 1984; cit in Cazeiro & Lomónaco, 2011).

In order for playful activities to be developed and the opportunity given to play, it is necessary to structure the environment physically and socially, providing the child with possible contextual adaptations and strategies that favor the participation of the individual (Araújo & Galvão, 2007; cit in Carneiro, Santos & Zuttin, 2014); and the interests and needs of playing are similar between peers with and without disabilities (Gielen, 2005).

Thus, play should be adapted, with examples of suggestions that relate directly to the TREE model and its adaptation components – except that as a starting point play should be based on the child’s abilities, interests and needs; so that a fundamental task of human development does not become an unpleasant activity for the child (Gielen, 2005). So some examples:

• Through the ICF-CY (WHO, 2007) it is possible to fit into a social dimension of the different types of play, namely – using as a planning strategy the socio-emotional goals to be derived from the game:

d 8800 Solitary play: Occupying oneself in purposeful, sustained engagement in activities with objects, toys, materials or games

d 8801 Onlooker play: Occupying oneself by purposeful observation of the activities of others with objects, toys, materials or games, but not joining in their activities.

d 8802 Parallel play:Engaging in purposeful, sustained activities with objects, toys, materials or games in the presence of other persons also engaged in play, but not joining in their activities.

d 8803 Shared cooperative play: Joining others in sustained engagement in activities with objects, toys, materials or games with a shared goal or purpose.

• In terms of teaching style, it is important to promote: Experimentation, Exploration, Repetition, Imitation, Observation, Inventation, Imagination, Collaboration, Self-monitoring, Promotion of different senses (Listening, Touching, Feeling eg, with mouth) (Bulgarelli & Bianquin, 2017) and the exploration of play by different parts of the body, so that functionality (hands, feet, mouth, etc.) is discovered.