Child's playtime revealed during therapeutic dramatic play session

Introduction: playing, as an activity inherent to childhood, enables the child to acquire new knowledge about the world and to come across their own individuality expressing the world that is meaningful to him. The child's temporality composes his existence and drives him in the search for authentic existence. Objective: To describe the child's temporality during the stages of bonding and stopping playing in dramatic therapeutic play sessions. Method: phenomenological study in the light of the Heideggerian philosophical framework, with 12 children, aged between three and 11 years. For data collection, phenomenological interviews were conducted, mediated by the dramatic therapeutic toy. Results: the following thematic axis emerged: - The child's play time: being open. Conclusion: play reveals existential aspects of the child in chronological time and it fosters the sharing of new possibilities of relationship, in a free way, with the world. However, playing time might be elastic and negotiable according to individual need, so that all the expressions of the child becoming in their facticity during play would be considered. Therefore, regardless of the way and time they play, this study highlights the importance of respecting the child's existence at that moment.