Preschool childhood is the most important period in the development of a child’s personality, when he acquires the first basic knowledge about the surrounding reality, he develops his attitude towards people around him, towards work, develops skills and habits of correct behavior, and character.
The main activity in preschool age is play. Through play, a child develops physically, mentally and emotionally.
“For preschool children, games are of exceptional importance: for them, play is study, play for them is work, play for them is a serious form of education. Play for preschoolers is a way of understanding the environment”;
- from a child’s point of view, play is about getting maximum pleasure from life;
- from the point of view of a specialist, play is the leading type of activity in childhood, which gives the child the opportunity to develop;
- from the point of view of parents, play is anxiety, trouble and disorder in the room.
In play, a child develops as a personality; he develops those aspects of his psyche on which his success in educational and work activities and his relationships with people will subsequently depend.
To organize games, it is important to create a subject-specific gaming environment. An important requirement is the developmental nature and compliance with such principles as the child’s exercise of the right to play (free choice of toy, theme, plot of the game, place and time of its implementation). The subject-play environment includes: a large playground, play equipment, toys, a variety of play paraphernalia, and play materials. All these gaming facilities are located in the game room, gym, and on the playground. There should be nothing unnecessary in the interior; all play equipment should be safe for children.
When planning games, you should take into account the age characteristics of children, what interests them, worries them, what they are trying to reflect in their games. All this will help determine the content of game tasks and actions that are interesting for children. I would also like to note that play helps children develop a positive attitude towards work. Play and work are inextricably linked. Primary labor skills are developed in the play of early childhood, and at an older age children show an active interest in the work of adults.
Now let’s look at the traditional classification of games:
• Creative games: role-playing games, director's games, theatrical games.
• Games with rules: didactic, active.
- Creative games.
Role-playing games:
Role-playing game is a type of unproductive activity, the motive of which lies not in its results, but in the process itself. All aspects of the personality are involved in the game: the child moves, speaks, perceives, thinks; During the game, all his mental processes are actively working: thinking, imagination, memory, emotional and volitional manifestations are intensified. Each such game is characterized by: theme, game concept, plot, content and role.
The basis of the plot-role-playing game is an imaginary situation, which consists in the fact that the child takes on the role of an adult and performs it in a play environment created by him. But the most important thing in the game is the child embodying his view, his ideas, his attitude towards the event that he is acting out. The themes of role-playing games are different, the focus of the games is varied: family, where the heroes are mother, father, grandmother, grandfather and other relatives; educational (nanny, kindergarten teacher); professional (doctor, commander, pilot); fairy tale (goat, wolf, hare), etc.
Director's games: In director's games, as in all creative games, there is an imaginary situation. The child shows creativity and imagination, coming up with the content of the game, determining its participants (the roles that the toys “play”). The very name of the director's game indicates its similarity with the activities of the director of a play or film. The script is based on the child’s direct experience: it reflects an event in which he himself was a spectator or participant. Often the plot of the game becomes the knowledge gleaned by the child from watching a cartoon or reading a book. The plots of director's games are chains of actions. The peculiarity of the director’s game is that “partners are toys” - inanimate objects and do not have their own desires, interests, or claims.
Theatrical games: Theatrical games are the acting out of literary works (fairy tales, short stories). It is easy to see the peculiarity of theatrical games: they have a ready-made plot, which means that the child’s activity is largely predetermined by the text of the work. A real theatrical game is a rich field for children’s creativity. In a theatrical play, the image of the hero, his main features, actions, and experiences are determined by the content of the work. The child's creativity is manifested in the truthful portrayal of the character. To play the role, the child must master a variety of visual means (facial expressions, gestures, body movements).
2. Games with rules:
Didactic games: A didactic game has its own structure, which includes several components:
1. Educational (didactic) task. For children, the learning task is formed as a game task. The game task reveals the “program” of game actions. In addition, with its help, the desire to fulfill them is stimulated. The game task is often included in the title of the game: “Guess by the description”, “Say the opposite”, etc.
2. Game actions. Play actions are ways of demonstrating a child’s activity for play purposes: to feel a toy, describe it, etc. etc. In a didactic game, children are captivated by the process of the game, but are not yet interested in the result. Depending on the age and level of development of children, play activities also change.
3.Rules. The rules ensure the implementation of game action. They make the game democratic: all participants in the game obey them. Even within the same didactic game, the rules differ. There is a close connection between the learning task, game actions and rules. The learning task determines the game actions, and the rules help to carry out the game actions and solve the problem.
Didactic games are used in the classroom as an effective teaching tool and in children’s independent activities.
Outdoor games: Outdoor games are classified according to the degree of mobility (games of small, medium, large mobility) according to the predominant movements (games with a ball, with ribbons, with a hoop). Outdoor games are also distinguished: by the complexity of the movements; according to the content of the plot; by the number of rules and roles; by the nature of the relationship between the players; by the presence of competitive elements and verbal accompaniment.
The importance of outdoor games is great: they are both a means and a method of raising a child. Outdoor play is characterized by a variety of effects on the child due to physical exercises included in the game in the form of motor tasks.
Based on the general goals of physical education of preschoolers, we will highlight the main tasks that are solved when conducting outdoor games. These include: health, educational and educational.
Thus, the game, according to P. Lesgaft, is a means through which children demonstrate their independence during the distribution of roles and actions during the game. The child lives in the game. And the task of teachers is to become a guide and link in the child-game chain, tactfully supporting management to enrich children’s gaming experience.
Creative success to all!
The importance of play for the development of the personality of a preschool child
Long before play became a subject of scientific research, it was widely used as one of the most important means of raising children. The development of education as a social function is centuries old, as is the use of games as a pedagogical tool. In different education systems, the game has a different role, but there is not a single system in which the game is not given a place in one way or another.
Various functions are attributed to the game, both purely pedagogical and educational, therefore it is necessary to more accurately determine the characteristics of the play activity of preschoolers, its impact on the development of the child and find the place of this activity in the general system of pedagogical work of children's institutions.
It is necessary to more accurately determine those aspects of the child’s mental development and personality formation that develop primarily in play or experience only limited influence in other activities.
It is very difficult to study the importance of play for mental development and personality formation. Here, a pure experiment is impossible, because it is impossible to remove play activities from the lives of children and see how the development process occurs in this case.
The main thing is the importance of play for the child’s motivation and the area of his needs. Following the work of D. B. Elkonin, the problem of motives and needs comes to the fore.
The transformation of play during the transition from preschool to preschool childhood is based on the expansion of the range of human objects, the mastery of which is now the child’s task, and the world that he perceives in the course of his further mental development. It is based on the child’s “discovery” of a new world, the world of adults with their activities, their functions, their relationships. At the border of the transition from object-based to role-playing play, the child knows neither the social relations of adults, nor social functions, nor the social meaning of their activities. He acts in the direction of his desire, puts himself objectively in the position of an adult, and an emotional-actual orientation arises in relation to adults and the meaning of their activities. Here the intellect follows the emotional-factual experience. Play functions as an activity that is most closely related to the child's needs. There is a primary emotional and functional orientation in the meaning of human activity, there is an awareness of one’s limited place in the system of adult relationships and the need to be an adult. The importance of play is not limited to the child’s development of new motives for activity and related tasks. The important thing is that a new psychological form of motives arises in the game. One can hypothetically imagine that in the game there is a transition from immediate desires to motives in the form of generalized intentions that are on the verge of consciousness.
Before talking about the development of mental actions during the game, it is necessary to list the main stages that the formation of each mental action and related concepts must go through:
- the stage of formation of action on material objects or their material substitute models;
- the stage of forming the same action in the form of loud speech;
- the stage of formation of the mental action itself.
Looking at a child's actions in play, it is easy to notice that he is already acting with the meanings of objects, but still relies on their material substitutes - toys. If at the initial stages of development a substitute object and a relatively developed action with it are required, then at a later stage of the development of the game the object acts through words - naming as a designation of a thing, and action as abbreviated and generalized gestures accompanied by speech. Thus, play actions are intermediate in nature; they gradually acquire the character of mental actions with the meanings of objects performed in external actions.
The path of development to actions in the mind with meanings divorced from objects is simultaneously the emergence of prerequisites for the formation of imagination. A game is an activity in which the prerequisites are formed for the transition of mental actions to a new, higher level - mental actions based on language. The functional development of play actions permeates ontogenetic development and forms the zone of subsequent development of mental actions.
In play activities, a significant reorganization of the child’s behavior occurs - it becomes voluntary. Voluntary behavior refers to behavior that is carried out in accordance with an image and is controlled by comparison with this image as a scene.
A. Zaporozhets was the first to point out that the nature of the movements performed by a child in a game and in a direct task differs significantly. He also noted that the structure and organization of movements change during development. It clearly separates the preparation phase and the execution phase.
The effectiveness of the movement, as well as its organization, largely depends on the structural position of the movement in the implementation of the role played by the child.
The yoke is the first form of activity available to the student and involves conscious learning and honing of new actions.
Z. V. Manuleiko reveals the question of the psychological mechanism of the game. Based on her work, we can say that great importance is attached to the motivation of activity in the psychological mechanism of play. The performance of an emotionally attractive role has a stimulating effect on the performance of actions in which this role finds its expression.
However, mere indication of motives is not enough. It is necessary to find a mental mechanism by which motives can have such an influence. When playing a role, the pattern of behavior contained in the role simultaneously becomes the standard with which the child compares his behavior and controls it. A child performs two functions in play; on the one hand, he plays his role, and on the other, he controls his behavior. Voluntary behavior is characterized not only by the presence of a pattern, but also by the presence of control over the implementation of this pattern. When playing a role, a kind of split occurs, that is, “reflection.” But this is not yet conscious control, because the control function is still weak and often needs support from the situation, from the participants in the game. This is the weakness of the emergent function, but the importance of the game is that this function is emergent here. Therefore, the game can be considered as a school of volitional behavior.
Play is important for forming a friendly team of children, for developing independence, for developing a positive attitude towards work, and much more. The basis of all these educational effects is the influence that play has on the mental development of the child, on the formation of his personality.
Work experience on the topic: “Game methods and techniques in teaching children”
The game is a mechanism of child development (FSES DO), through which the content of five educational areas is implemented: “Social and communicative development”; "Cognitive development"; “Speech development”; “Artistic and aesthetic development”; "Physical development". Play is the main activity of children, as well as a form of organizing children's activities. The specific content of play activities depends on the age and individual characteristics of children, is determined by the tasks and goals of the Program, this is reflected in the Standard of Preschool Education.
A child needs games through which he can learn. The first skills in drawing, singing, dancing, reading, counting and writing will enter the child's world of knowledge through the gates of children's play and other age-appropriate activities. Through play, cooperation, and dialogue, children get to know the world around them.
A special role in teaching and raising children is given to didactic games. They help to achieve the desired result in children’s education, acting as a unique form of educational activity.
In my work, I use didactic games that contain questions, tasks, and a call to action, for example: “Who is faster?”, “Don’t yawn!”, “Answer immediately,” “Who is more correct?” etc.
In kindergarten, much attention is paid to literacy. It is very difficult for children to master such concepts as “speech”, “sentence”, “word”, “syllable”, “letter”, “sound”. To develop the practical skill of dividing words into syllables, I conduct didactic games with children: “Finish the word”, “Tape recorder”, “Who is bigger?” I pronounce the first syllable, and the children pronounce the second (SHI-NA, MI-NA, SHUT-KA, PE-NA, SUM-KA).
In the game "Echo" children repeat the second half of the word (NEZA-BUDKA, children - BUDKA, BUDKA; BALA-LAIKA, children - LAIKA, LAIKA, etc.) or pronounce the word, cutting off the first sound (LAUGHTER - FUR, SCREEN - CRANE, DEER - LAZY, TICK - BREAM, SPIT - WASP).
When establishing the sound being studied in words, I use games: “Where is the sound hidden?”, “Which sound got lost?”, “Whose voice?”, “Living letters”, “Who is bigger?”, developing phonemic hearing, memory, attention, observation, forming the ability to consciously perform sound analysis of a word.
To help children remember letters better, I invite them to imagine what it looks like, lay it out of counting sticks, sculpt it out of plasticine, draw it, pluck it out of paper, cut it out of a double-folded piece of paper, transforming already known letters (for example, zh (beetle) is made from k , f from p, t - g), find the letter in the box of letters, and then among the others scattered or turned over on the magnetic board.
Thus, the use of games and various tasks in the educational process, the creation of a gaming situation in the classroom leads to the fact that children, unnoticed by themselves and without much stress, acquire certain knowledge, skills, and abilities. Mathematics plays a major role in mental education and the development of intelligence, which contains enormous opportunities for the development of children’s thinking. To make the process of acquiring knowledge easier, I conduct the following didactic games; “Count, don’t be mistaken”; “Who will become an astronaut”, “Mathematical fishing”, “Name the neighbors”, “What number is missing”, “Confusion”. To consolidate the composition of the number, games are played: “Settle the house”, “Fastest postman”, “Number, what is your name?”, “Make up the number”.
Competition games are very popular among children. They are very simple, but they allow you to repeat counting skills in a playful way and introduce an element of competition into classes, which further promotes the activation of mental activity and makes children be clearer, more collected, and faster. For example, I give children independent work in the form of the game “Who will reach the finish line first?” And since this is a game, the children feel free, so they begin to work with confidence and interest.
When introducing children to time, I conduct didactic games: “Alive Week”, “Name It Quickly”, “All Year Round”, “Twelve Months”, “When It Happens”.
However, the game should not be an end in itself, but should serve as a means of developing interest in the subject, therefore, when organizing it, I adhere to the following requirements:
— simplicity and precise formulation of the rules of the game;
— ease of production and use of didactic material;
- participation of all children in the game;
— fair and clear summary of its results.
In early preschool age I actively use finger games.
Physiological scientists have proven that training fingers through certain zones in the cerebral cortex has a positive effect on the mobility of the articulation organs, which makes the child’s pronunciation clearer and more correct.
In addition, finger gymnastics undoubtedly helps the child with drawing, writing, modeling, and any play and household activities.
Consequently, work on training fine movements of the fingers is stimulating for the overall development of the child, and also contributes to the prevention and overcoming of speech disorders.
I work on fine hand movements in all age groups, with gradually increasing complexity of tasks. I carry out the exercises for 1-3 minutes. in frontal classes in the form of physical education minutes, as well as during walks, games, and other routine moments.
I start finger motor skills classes with simple exercises that are accessible to most children in the group. Anyone who finds it difficult to perform the movements on their own performs the movements with their fingers together with me. Later, as a result of training, finger movements improve, and the children no longer need my help.
If there are difficulties, I help you take the necessary position, allowing you to support and guide the position of the other with your free hand. At the same time, I constantly approve and encourage the children’s actions.
In classes and in everyday activities in junior and senior preschool age, I use cooperation games.
Collaboration games are, on the one hand, a fun, methodologically simple, entertaining form of working with children, and on the other, a kaleidoscope of games that outlines a very specific pedagogical position.
In cooperative games, everyone wins and no one loses. Children play with each other rather than compete. These games eliminate the fear of failure and defeat and strengthen the child’s self-confidence.
Games without competition are intended both for working with children who do not have problems, and for those children who, due to their personal characteristics, have difficulty communicating with peers and adults.
With the help of cooperation games, I teach children to participate and help others, to care about the feelings of others.
I always remember that children play for fun. In the absence of a feeling of cheerfulness, the child will face a joyless game. Cooperative games introduce an element of fun, but eliminate the elements of defeat and rejection.
In my work I use cooperation games for children from 3 to 7 years old:
musical hugs, musical cooperation hoops, balance with inflatable balls.
In older preschool age I use games with squares.
I prepare a set of square nets for each child. I start working with children by completing tasks in a square grid of four cells. We practice the concepts: top-bottom, left-right, up-down, left-right.
Gradually, the tasks become more complicated and square grids with a large number of cells are used.
In the pre-school group, we fill in the cells with letters and form words vertically and horizontally. Children complete tasks in the “square” with great interest.
According to my observations, by the end of training, preschoolers are well oriented on a piece of paper and master spatial concepts. In addition, the children's visual memory and attention have expanded, visual analysis and synthesis have developed, which in the future will undoubtedly help them in mastering school reading and writing skills.
Role-playing game in the mathematical development of preschool children:
- A means of deepening interest and need for mathematical knowledge.
- Child's zone of proximal development tool.
- Performing actions in an imaginary situation.
- A way to encourage creativity and independence.
- Comparison of objects according to various characteristics; comparison of groups of objects; counting skills, comparison of adjacent numbers.
- A means of forming the simplest geometric ideas about geometric figures; the relative arrangement of objects in space, the meaning of ordinal numbers.
Game activity “Build a house”
Game activity “Butterflies”
Game activity “Clapping”
Game activity “Compare and remember”
Conclusion: For children of preschool and primary school age; the game is of the utmost importance: for them it is study, work, a serious form of education. By playing, children better assimilate program material and correctly complete complex tasks, which increases the efficiency of the pedagogical process. The teacher’s task is to make a smooth, adequate transition for children from play activities to learning activities, so that the joy of play turns into the joy of learning.
Consultation “Tasks and methods of planning a game in different age groups”
Olga Sokoltsova
Consultation “Tasks and methods of planning a game in different age groups”
In preschool age , play is of utmost importance in the life of a small child. The need for play in children continues and occupies a significant place even during the first years of their schooling. In play, a child makes discoveries of what an adult has long known; play for them is learning, play for them is work, play for them is a serious form of education. Play for preschoolers is a way of learning about the world around them.
Second junior group .
Game planning problems
- develop interest in various types of games;
- maintain a cheerful and joyful mood, encourage active action, develop independence;
— help children, unite in groups of 2-3 people ;
- cultivate friendly relations with each other;
- encourage timid and shy children to join the game;
— teach to follow the basic rules of behavior in the game (do not break, do not push, do not take away)
;
- develop speech, enrich vocabulary.
Tasks of planning a role-playing game.
- develop the ability to come up with a simple plot; choose a role; perform several interrelated actions (treat, feed, etc.)
;
— teach interactions in stories with 2 characters (play roles for yourself and for a toy)
;
encourage children to try to independently select attributes and supplement the environment with missing toys and objects;
- to promote the emergence of games on the themes of observations of the surrounding life, literary works.
Middle group .
Game planning problems
- enrich the content of games, develop independence in choosing a game ;
- encourage independently emerging play groups , promote their greater stability and cohesion;
— develop active verbal communication;
- form positive relationships in the game;
- develop the ability to follow the rules of the game .
Tasks of planning a role-playing game.
- encourage children to independently create game ideas;
— improve the ability to unite in the game, distribute roles; perform game actions; act with a general game plan;
- learn to prepare the environment for the game , select objects and attributes; choose a convenient place;
— develop the ability to use buildings made from building materials in a role-playing game; encourage the creation of buildings of great structural complexity ;
— teach children to agree on what they will build; distribute work and material among themselves, coordinate their actions with the actions of other children and achieve common results;
- cultivate friendly relationships between children;
- develop the ability to take into account the interests of comrades and provide all possible assistance.
Senior group
Game planning problems
— continue to enrich the content of the game ;
- teach independently, organize games ; contribute to the strengthening of sustainable children's play associations;
- develop the ability to coordinate your actions with the actions of your partner;
— to cultivate fairness in assessing the actions of one’s comrades;
Teach in a calm, polite manner, express disagreement with the proposals and actions of peers;
— improve children’s verbal communication in play activities;
— consolidate the ability to follow the rules and regulations in a joint game.
Tasks of planning a role-playing game.
— continue to develop the ability to choose a theme for the game ;
- develop the plot based on knowledge obtained from the surrounding reality, fiction;
how to agree on the theme of the game , distribute roles, and prepare the necessary equipment before the game starts
- promote the establishment of role-playing interactions in the game;
- continue to teach children to collectively build buildings necessary for the game , jointly plan upcoming work , and carry out their plans together;
— learn to apply constructive skills acquired in the classroom.
Preparatory group .
Game planning problems
- develop initiative and creativity ;
- cultivate a sense of collectivism;
Tasks of planning a plot - role-playing game .
- encourage children to use their knowledge of the surrounding reality more widely and creatively;
- ensure the development of the game ;
- develop creative imagination, develop the game together, coordinating your own game plan with the plan of your peers;
— to form relationships of cooperation and mutual assistance;
- continue to teach children to perform various roles in accordance with the plot of the game , using attributes. Designers , building material;
— cultivate goodwill, the ability to take into account the interests and opinions of friends in the game, and resolve disputes fairly.
Ways to Plan a Game.
The organization of games by the teacher is carried out in three main forms: preparation for the game , its implementation and analysis.
Preparation for the game includes :
• selection of games in accordance with the objectives of education and training: deepening and generalization of knowledge, development of sensory abilities , activation of mental processes (memory, attention, thinking, speech)
and etc. ;
• establishing compliance of the selected game with the program requirements for the education and training of children of a certain age group ;
• determining the most convenient time for playing the game (in the process of organized learning in the classroom or in free time from classes and other routine processes);
• choosing a place to play where children can play quietly without disturbing others;
• determination of the number of players (the whole group , small subgroups , individually);
• preparing the necessary material for the selected game (toys, various objects , pictures)
;
•preparing the teacher himself for the game: he must study and comprehend the entire course of the game , his place in the game, methods of managing the game;
•preparing children for play: enriching them with knowledge, ideas about objects and phenomena of the surrounding life necessary to solve a game problem .
The games include:
• familiarizing children with the content of the game , with the material that will be used in the game (showing objects, pictures, a short conversation, during which the children’s knowledge and ideas about them are clarified);
• explanation of the course and rules of the game . At the same time, the teacher pays attention to the children’s behavior in accordance with the rules of the game , to the strict implementation of the rules;
• demonstration of game actions, during which the teacher teaches children to perform the action correctly, proving that otherwise the game will not lead to the desired result (for example, if one of the children is spying when they should close their eyes)
;
• determining the role of the teacher in the game, his participation as a player, fan or referee. The degree of direct participation of the teacher in the game is determined by the age of the children , their level of training, the complexity of the game task , and game rules. While participating in the game, the teacher directs the actions of the players (with advice, questions, reminders)
;
Summing up the results of the game is a crucial moment in its management, because based on the results that children achieve in the game, one can judge its effectiveness and whether it will be used with interest in the children’s independent play activities. When summing up the results, the teacher emphasizes that the path to victory is possible only through overcoming difficulties, attention and discipline.
