Influence of active games and play on children’s cognition: A systematic review

Abstract

Play and games are a strategy to assist in the cognitive development of children. However, there are still gaps about the effects and associations of active play on children's cognition. Thus, the goal is to synthesize the influence of active games and games on the cognition of children. The databases were: Lilacs, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Scielo and Scopus. Articles with observational or experimental design were included. The quality of the articles was evaluated with RoB 2. Five studies were included following the eligibility criteria. All studies had an experimental design, two performed chronically and three acutely. Three studies showed positive effects of games on attention, reaction time and executive functions: inhibitory control, logical reasoning, verbal factor, numerical factor, spatial factor and general intelligence. Regarding the methodological quality of the studies, it is necessary to better describe and use the randomization allocation process, be more careful in data analysis and avoid multiple evaluations for one variable. It is concluded that active games and games can generate a positive effect for the attention and executive functions of children. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship of parameters such as intensity, duration and types of activities with cognition.