Voces y Silencios. Revista Latinoamericana de Educación

Voces silec. rev. latinoam. educ. | eISSN 2215-8421

Learning Experience in Mathematics through Play and the STEAM Approach in Early Childhood Education

No. 1 (2026-02-28)
  • Elvia Alicia Cadena Ojeda
    Instituto Técnico La Cumbre, Floridablanca (Colombia)
    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3066-5758
  • Adriana Yaneth Rodríguez Pabón
    Instituto Técnico La Cumbre, Floridablanca (Colombia)
    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2878-0030
  • Mariana Padilla Rincón
    Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga (Colombia)
    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3046-5162
https://doi.org/10.18175/VyS17.1.2026.11

Abstract

Mathematics is present in early childhood everyday activities, and learning it requires the development of several types of thinking and skills, which ought to be strengthened through efficient and innovative educational practices. However, at the official educational institution in Santander (Colombia) where this experience took place, located in a vulnerable social context, persistent difficulties in mathematics were identified, reflected in low results on external tests, student demotivation, and negative attitudes toward the subject. In this context, the research, developed within the framework of the Ondas Primera Infancia Program, aimed to design and apply teaching strategies based on the STEAM approach integrating playful and exploratory experiences with the use of concrete materials to enhance the logical-mathematical thinking of kindergarten children. The methodology was framed within a qualitative action-research design, which included systematic observations, classroom records, and ongoing dialogues with teachers, students, and families, allowing for a reflective analysis of pedagogical practices and their impact. The results showed that the manipulation of concrete materials, child protagonism, active family participation, and cooperative play favored the development of logical-mathematical skills such as seriation, classification, correspondence, comparison, sequencing, counting, and estimation, by generating meaningful learning linked to everyday life and positive transformations in teaching practices.

Keywords: didactic material, early childhood, mathematical logic, play, STEAM

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