Promoting a game culture within care services for young people

The Domus Ludens Project is run by 5 organisations, among which Fundació Resilis, partner of Eurochild member FICE Spain.

Play is an unquestionable right for all children and young people and is a basic activity in the life and global development of people. Play is in its essence an end in itself. In a secondary level, play can also be a tool with which to work cross-cutting skills. Through play and concretely through board games, cognitive and social development is fostered: rules are learned and assimilated, thought and strategy are stimulated, decisions are made, conflicts are resolved, and interaction is carried out. Play has a decisive role in the integral development of children and young people from an emotional, physical, intellectual and social well-being perspective.

The project, funded by Erasmus+, will produce the following materials: 

• The Guidelines on board games. They provide information and guidance on 20 games that besides being utterly fun, have been specifically selected to impact on the acquisition of skills and the emotional well-being of  young people  living in  the protection system and concretely in residential care services.
• The “Ludic Agent Manual” will include methodologies and contents which address youth workers in residential centers,  to effectively use board games to improve the skills and well-being of young people in care.
• Evaluation of the impact of participation in play spaces in a regular and systematic way on the acquisition of skills and the well-being of young people in residential care”. This study includes the results and conclusions of a pilot project conducted within the partnership of the Domus Ludens Project.  Youth workers trained as ludic agents applied their knowledge in 8-month pilot experiences in their organizations in which they implemented structured board games spaces with a minimum of 100 young people in care. The results and conclusions of the evaluation can be found in this document.

Project target groups:

• Youth workers providing services in residential care facilities. 
• Youngsters in residential care aged 13-17 years old.

Further information:

• Visit domusludens-project.com
• Email Cristina González