The game Closes the Box: a proposal for teaching Probability

Mathematical games play a significant role in teaching mathematics and statistics as they offer a practical and engaging approach to learning often complex statistical concepts, such as the study of probability. Given this scenario, this article aims to present and discuss the potential of using the game, called Close the Box for teaching notions of probability. This is a qualitative research that was developed in a class made up of 25 students in the 2nd year of elementary school at a public school in São Paulo. The results show that students understood some basic aspects such as random, unlikely and very likely events and developed signs of probabilistic literacy. In short, we conclude that working with games provides students with fun and stimulating moments and can help them to understand in an informal way probabilistic aspects necessary for decision making.