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This paper aims to discuss the parental care and the role of the father in child development in early years, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. The parental care was discussed emphasizing its characteristic of interaction, with respect to biological and cultural aspects. In addition to the role of parents in parental behavior, it was discussed the characteristics of children that influence the parental care. In the last section of the article, the focus was on the role of the father in parental care and its influence on child development. It has been concluded that parental care is specific to the behavior of the mother and father, which can be explained by biological and cultural perspectives. In this way, to understand the parental behavior is necessary to consider both the phylogenetic history of human species and also the socio-historical context where the family is inserted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The play behavior is an activity that is present in children's life in many cultures, having an important role in child development. However, such importance sometimes is not recognized by adults, who prioritize in children education formal cognitive aspects, and have difficulties in visualizing the relation between play and development. Evolutionary Psychology views play as a behavior that has evolutionary and ontogenetic aspects. Such approach intends to study the possible relations between culture and evolution in the development of this behavior. The objective of this paper is to present the play behavior based on the theoretical framework of Evolutionary Psychology, as well as its concept and characteristics. Moreover, the relations between playing, types of play and gender differences are discussed. The toy library is presented as a possible space in which this behavior can be stimulated and valued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]