Mathematics is one of the fundamental academic skills for schooling and professional outcomes in adulthood. However, in developing countries like Brazil, the teaching of mathematics in elementary education has been neglected, and students have shown significantly lower performance compared to countries in the Global North. This situation worsened after the pandemic, as revealed by both Brazilian and international assessments, with a decline in math performance compared to pre-pandemic levels. To address this issue, it is essential to have a solid theoretical foundation for teaching mathematics as well as strategies to engage students in learning. In the present study, a mathematics intervention program was implemented for the early years of elementary education. The activities are based on cognitive sciences theory and cover three aspects of numerical cognition: number sense, numerical processing, and calculation. All activities are structured in a playful format, using games for students to engage in. A total of 15 activities were compiled. Given that in Brazil, 85.4% of students attend public schools, which have limited financial resources and infrastructure, the activities were organized in a non-digital game format using inexpensive materials accessible to students in socioeconomically vulnerable contexts. The study involved 202 students and six teachers from the 1st to the 3rd grade of a public school in Greater São Paulo. After an initial teacher training, a group of three teachers implemented the mathematics activities with their classes (a total of 101 students), while a control group of three teachers conducted executive function activities (a total of 101 students). The activities were applied three times a week over six school months. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted to measure arithmetic skills, executive functions, and IQ. ANCOVA analyses were performed to compare post-test performance in each instrument between the groups (mathematics or executive functions), controlling for pre-test performance in the respective instruments and IQ scores. The results showed that the mathematics intervention group had better performance in arithmetic tasks as well as in digit span tasks. Meanwhile, the executive functions intervention group performed better in attention tasks. Interviews with the teachers revealed that students were more engaged in the mathematical activities through games, compared to traditional activities that lacked a playful element. These results suggest that interventions based on the use of games, with a solid theoretical foundation and inexpensive, accessible materials, can be effective in supporting the development of mathematical skills.

Acknowledgement:
Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa e Inovação – MACKPESQUISA, Mackenzie Presbyterian University; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001; research grant number 12/2021 PDPG Impactos da Pandemia, establishing “Rede RecuperaBR”.

Keywords: Education, mathematics, games.