The state and the private market share the responsibilities of caring for the elderly with families. In this context, they are an alternative form of non-family care, Long-Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (ILPI), whether public or private. In this context, the objective of this study is to stimulate the development of social interaction activities among people living in a Long Stay Institution for the Elderly. Therefore, a qualitative, convergent study was carried out in the Community of Long-Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (ILPI), in Belém, northern Brazil, once a week, on Mondays, lasting 3 hours daily. Included in this study were elderly men, mean age 62.7 years, who performed approximately seven months of play activities that aimed to improve the autonomy of daily life activities, stimulating attention, memory, identity recovery and social interaction. The elderly was motivated and made available the activities proposed by the group, actively participating in all activities with enthusiasm. These activities were elaborated and performed at the ILPI, were in fact feasible to promote the health of the elderly, based on the postulates that support the strategies of play activities, considering the epidemiological and cultural reality of the elderly involved. In addition, we observed that play activities emerge as a technology that favors gerontological appropriation and is an adequate proposal to promote elderly health, since it provides a climate of motivation, interaction, relaxation and bonding (elderly-elderly, elderly-extensionist) and behavioral, becoming a facilitating tool for the care and promotion of active and healthy aging. Therefore, play activities are of great relevance for use with the elderly, and when used in ILPI are directly related to the health promotion of this population, providing very benefits. These benefits were evident during the performance of activities, such as interpersonal interaction, activation of cognitive and motivation. Therefore, the importance of the use of play strategies as a tool to promote improvements in the quality of life of institutionalized elderly people and the promotion of active and healthy aging should be reiterated.