Children's experimentation as a means of developing cognitive activity in children of senior preschool age

MAGAZINE Preschooler.RF

Preschool age is one of the most important periods in a child’s development. Cognitive activity is clearly visible in children of this age; they can be characterized as born researchers. This confirms their curiosity, constant desire to experiment, and desire to independently find a solution to a problem situation. The teacher’s task is not to stop, but rather to actively help.

The modern education system on an ongoing basis includes the use of new technologies that are aimed not only at the development, but also at the education of preschool children. At the moment, preschoolers live and develop in the world of information technology. Such rapidly changing living conditions require both children and adults not only to possess certain modern and high-quality knowledge, but also to think independently, creatively, and also to obtain certain knowledge without the help of a teacher or parent and operate with it in everyday life.

At the moment, the priority direction in the development of preschool children is an active approach to the development of the child’s personality. Among the large number of means for developing the research activity of younger preschoolers, children's experimentation deserves attention.

Experimentation is an activity that allows a child to create a certain model of a picture of the world in his mind, based on his own experience, observation and patterns.

Experimental activities are interesting for children of all ages. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that they are characterized by visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking. It turns out that experimentation corresponds to these age characteristics and is not at all difficult for the child. This method is leading especially in early preschool age. The method of experimentation has its roots in the manipulation of things and objects.

One of the most important advantages of the experimentation method is that it provides opportunities for obtaining real ideas about the various aspects of the object being studied, as well as its relationships with other objects and with the environment. The experiment helps to enrich the child’s memory and activate thought processes, since there is a constant need to perform operations of analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison and classification.

It is worth noting the positive impact of conducting experiments on one of the most important areas of a child’s life - emotional, as well as on the development of creative abilities, the formation of work skills and the promotion of health by increasing the general level of motor activity. The knowledge that students receive in classes is constantly in their free time, and the results are repeated. In this case, the mastered techniques and materials of the completed classes are used.

When conducting experiments, children talk through the process of activity and put forward many hypotheses - guesses, making attempts to predict the expected results. The above activities contribute to the development of speech, improving the ability to construct complex sentences, and form conclusions. Frequently conducting experimental activities helps children develop a certain algorithm of actions, clarity in performing work, and accuracy, otherwise the experiment may not live up to expectations.

Such famous teachers as: Ya.A. Komensky, K.D. Ushinsky and many others also advocated the mandatory implementation of this method in the education and training of preschool children.

When planning an experiment, use the following sequence of actions when working with children:

• Inventing a problem situation
• goal setting
• making assumptions
• testing of the put forward hypotheses.

If the hypotheses are confirmed, the process of formulating conclusions based on the work done takes place.

In case of refutation of preliminary data, new assumptions are put forward, after which the process of verifying or proving it takes place, and then confirming the correctness of the assumption and formulating the necessary conclusions based on the results of the work done.

Methods for recording research results:

1. Visualization of experiments in the form of graphic diagrams
2. writing stories;
3. creation of creative applications.

At the end, a process of summing up general results is carried out.

Thus, children develop an interest in experimentation, develop experimentation skills, and children become more confident in using research materials.

Students independently select equipment for experiments and learn basic rules for conducting experiments.

When conducting experiments, children are more attentive, their horizons expand, and their preferences for the objects being examined appear.

There is a desire to conduct experiments independently, outside of organized educational activities. Children proactively unite in groups and try to independently plan their work using diagrams and algorithms. At the moment, it is important for the teacher to observe their activities and provide them with all possible assistance at the right time.

The level of assimilation of the material increases, as the child hears, sees and performs activities independently, consciously.

List of references and sources:

1. Evsyukova E. A. Experimentation as a means of developing cognitive activity in children of primary preschool age // Current research. 2022. No. 11 (38). pp. 70-73, — Access mode: https: //apni. ru/article/2050-eksperimentirovanie-kak-sredstvo-razvitiya (date of access: 08.11.2021)
2. Ruleva A. A. Experimentation as a means of developing cognitive activity in preschoolers // Modern lesson, - Access mode: https: //www. 1 lesson ru/categories/19/articles/24654 (date of access: 08.11.2021).

Development of children's cognitive activity through children's experimentation (from work experience)

Author: Nekrasova Irina Vasilievna

Development of children's cognitive activity through children's experimentation

(from work experience)

Nekrasova Irina Vasilievna

Teacher of MDOBU No. 53 “Ryabinka”

P. Chunsky

In accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard for Educational Education, the focus of teachers’ attention should be on the orientation of the educational process towards the cognitive capabilities of the preschooler and their implementation. It is necessary to organize interaction with the child in such a way that it is aimed at developing cognitive interest, cognitive independence and initiative.

Cognitive development involves the cognitive activity of a preschooler. And in order to support cognitive activity, it is necessary to rely on the cognitive interest of children.

The baby is a natural explorer of the world around him. The world opens up to the child through the experience of his personal feelings, actions, and experiences. An unquenchable thirst for new experiences, curiosity, a constant desire to observe and experiment, to independently seek new information about the world, are traditionally considered as the most important features of children's behavior. Satisfying his curiosity in the process of active cognitive and research activity, which in its natural form manifests itself in the form of children's experimentation, the child, on the one hand, expands his ideas about the world, on the other hand, begins to master the fundamental cultural forms of ordering experience: cause-and-effect, genus-species, spatial and temporary relationships that make it possible to connect individual ideas into a holistic picture of the world.

The development of children's cognitive activity is one of the pressing problems of our time. By developing cognitive activity in preschool children, we develop children's curiosity and desire to engage in search activities, namely experimentation. The more varied and intense the search activity, the more new information the child receives, the faster and more fully he develops.

Children's experimentation is quite easily integrated into many types of children's activities.

A decisive role in working with children is played by organized educational activities with a clearly defined problem or “solving problem situations” or elements of experimentation. This allows children to develop cognitive activity, the ability to put forward hypotheses, compare, and draw conclusions independently or with the help of an adult; ideas about objects and phenomena are also specifically formed and, through experience or an experiment, proves the authenticity of the knowledge and ideas acquired by children.

I use thought experiments (or games) quite widely in children’s research activities. Such games help children acquire skills in exploratory behavior and development of thinking: the ability to see problems and put forward hypotheses for their solutions.

I implement one of the interesting ways to develop children’s research activities in artistic and productive activities, namely in the use of non-standard drawing techniques (with fingers, with a brush, with cellophane, on wet paper, with air through a straw), and experiments with various materials. In the process of such activities, children learn and better remember the properties of these objects and substances. Applique allows you to use threads, fabric, cotton wool, natural materials, which at the same time allows children to study their properties, composition, and capabilities.

In musical activity, the process of experimenting with sound material develops children's initiative, arbitrariness and creativity of the child's personality, and contributes to the development of intellectual competence. Children learn to find sound associations, group sounds based on common features, and match sounds with verbal definitions. Experiments are carried out in search of the sounds of the city and countryside; searching for associations when working with the sounds of nature (the rustling of leaves is reproduced by rustling paper, the singing of a tit by tapping on a crystal glass), in the sound of musical works, when making sound toys, noisemakers. All this activity is playful and entertaining in nature.

Experimental activity during observations of natural phenomena or objects involves consolidating knowledge or understanding the connections between what is happening. Observing on walks, in a corner of nature, in the surrounding reality, I plan short-term experiments relevant to the topic. For example, if there is hail, you and your children should definitely check whether these are really pieces of ice, how quickly it will melt on our palms, and whether the water will be clean. In some cases, the opposite happens, we first set a search task, and an observation follows from it: find traces of autumn, find the lowest place on the site

As part of my work, I carry out the main work on studying the conditions necessary for plant life. I continuously and gradually increase this amount of knowledge through experiments and observations in nature and in corners of nature. Children develop stable knowledge about the connection between plants and human care for them. From this point on, experimentation with plants begins. Individual experiments help you remember what the soil consists of and why it needs to be loosened; how plants depend on heat, light (during growing seedlings, germinating seeds). In winter, while clearing snow, we talk with preschoolers about the protective properties of snow. In autumn, during leaf fall, children find out how the weather affects its intensity, and while harvesting leaves, they can find out why the leaves rustle and sometimes not.

To develop children's cognitive activity and maintain interest in experimental activities, the group has an ecological corner and a mini-laboratory, which is constantly replenished with materials and equipment in accordance with the age of the children and the number of experiments performed.

The mini-laboratory has the necessary equipment for conducting experiments and research activities:

Ø assistant devices: magnifying glasses, scales (scales), hourglasses, compass, magnets;

Ø a variety of vessels from various materials (plastic, glass, metal) of different volumes and shapes;

Ø natural material: pebbles, clay, sand, shells, bird feathers, cones, saw cuts and tree leaves, moss, seeds, etc.;

Ø waste material: wire, pieces of leather, fur, fabric, plastic, wood, cork, etc.;

Ø technical materials: nuts, paper clips, bolts, nails, cogs, screws, construction parts, etc.;

Ø different types of paper: plain, cardboard, sandpaper, copy paper, etc.;

Ø dyes: food and non-food (gouache, watercolors, etc.);

Ø medical materials: pipettes, flasks, wooden sticks, syringes (without needles), measuring spoons, rubber bulbs, etc.;

Ø other materials: mirrors, balloons, butter, flour, salt, sugar, colored and clear glass, nail file, sieve, candles, etc.

When equipping the mini-laboratory, the following requirements were taken into account:

Ø safety for the life and health of children;

Ø sufficiency;

Ø accessibility of location.

It is necessary to train children to act in the experimentation corner; experiments are organized according to the wishes of the children, but at the same time they clarify what they want to get, but do not interfere with the course. Let the child try and make mistakes, but independently find a solution and achieve results.

Gradually, elementary experiments become experimental games, in which, like didactic games, there is an educational part and an entertaining one.

In the book corner there are children's reference books, encyclopedias on various topics, beautifully illustrated, with good, concise and informative texts accessible to children, and children's fiction.

A card file of tasks and exercises aimed at developing children’s ability to see a problem, put forward a hypothesis, ask questions, define concepts, draw conclusions and conclusions.

Properly organized experimental activities make it possible to satisfy children’s need for new knowledge and impressions, and contribute to the upbringing of an inquisitive, independent, successful child.

The gaming environment gives children the opportunity to freely express their inclinations without violating the norms of generally accepted behavior. The group has created play “centers” that promote full communication between children, satisfying each child’s need for movement, the desire to play, draw, and sculpt.

Children's experimentation is the basis of search and research activities of preschoolers. The main advantage of using the experimentation method in kindergarten is that during the experiment:

· Children get real ideas about the various aspects of the object being studied, about its relationships with other objects and with the environment.

· The child’s memory is enriched, his thought processes are activated, as the need constantly arises to perform operations of analysis and synthesis, comparison and classification, generalization and extrapolation.

· The child’s speech develops, as he needs to give an account of what he saw, formulate discovered patterns and conclusions.

· There is an accumulation of a fund of mental techniques and operations that are considered as mental skills.

· Children's experimentation is also important for the formation of independence, goal setting, and the ability to transform any objects and phenomena to achieve a certain result.

· In the process of experimental activities, the child’s emotional sphere and creative abilities develop, work skills are formed, and health is improved by increasing the overall level of physical activity.

I am conducting experimental work in three interrelated areas:

· wildlife (characteristic features of the seasons, diversity of living organisms as adaptation to the environment, etc.);

· inanimate nature (air, water, soil, light, color, heat, etc.);

· man (functioning of the body, man-made world: materials and their properties, transformation of objects).

Pupils of the group enjoy creating various compositions and decorations from pebbles, building fairy-tale palaces, while studying the properties of stones and their diversity.

When working with soil, children become real soil researchers. They study why people and plants need soil, how to make it soft and fertile. They curiously look into a special glass house in the hope of seeing an earthworm chewing leaves.

Also, the necessary conditions have been created to study such a phenomenon as air. Here preschoolers study air: they learn to blow bubbles and catch them in bags, and explore its properties.

Children enjoy experimenting with water. They especially like to change its color, taste, and conduct experiments with snow and ice.

The most interesting experiments for children were such experiments with water as: “If you freeze water in a bottle”, “Why do icicles grow upside down? How do they grow?”, “Which ice melts faster: crushed ice or sheet ice?”, “Why does dirty and colored ice melt faster?”, “Not all substances dissolve in water.”

In the course of conducting research with air, children gain knowledge about the properties of air, discover it in space, inside a person, in surrounding objects; consider the need for air for all living things; they learn that air takes up space and has power; They find out how wind is formed, that warm air is lighter than cold air and rises.

When learning about the properties of sand, children examine the sand through a magnifying glass, observe and describe the grains: they are round, yellow, some are transparent, as if made of glass, all the grains lie separately from each other. Then they create a “desert storm” by blowing through a straw into a jar of sand. Children come to the conclusion that the grains of sand are not connected to each other, so the sand is loose and crumbly.

Children also really enjoy experiments that introduce them to magnets and their properties. Thus, during the educational activity “This Amazing Magnet”, children identify materials that interact with magnets, get acquainted with the properties of a magnet - the passage of magnetic forces through various materials and substances; reveal such a feature in the interaction of two magnets as attraction and repulsion, the ability of metal objects to be magnetized.

In order for the child, after conducting experiments together with the teacher, to be able to independently continue research on the topic being studied, the group has everything for experimentation in a place accessible to children.

It is known that not a single educational or educational task can be successfully solved without fruitful contact with the family and complete mutual understanding between parents and teacher. Therefore, we work in close cooperation with the parents of the pupils.

Long-term observation of a child in a new environment allows parents to take a different look at him and at raising him at home. Parents are also provided with consultations on research activities; advice to parents on “How to help a little researcher” has been developed.

After experimentation classes, children are happy to tell their parents about their discoveries, perform the same and more complex experiments at home, learn to pose problems, put forward hypotheses and solve them independently. Many of them began searching for interesting materials for carrying out experiments. Experimenting at home with your child has become a fun activity for the whole family.

Used Books:

1. Dybina O. In The unknown is nearby: entertaining experiences and experiences for preschoolers /Text/ O.V. Dybina, N.P. Rakhmanova, V.V. Shchetinina. –M.: Sphere shopping center, 2005.

2. Ivanova A.I. Natural science observations and experiments in kindergarten. Plants. /Text/: children's encyclopedia/ A. I. Ivanova – M.: Sphere shopping center, 2004.

3. Prokhorova L. N. Organization of experimental activities of preschoolers. Guidelines. – M.:ARKTI, 2004.

4. Ryzhova N. A. Sorceress – Water /Text/ N. A. Ryzhova. – M.: Linka-Press, 1997.

5. Ryzhova N.A. Games with water and sand // Hoop, 1997. - No. 2. 8. Ryzhova N.. Experiments with sand and clay // Hoop, 1998. - No. 2.

6. Tugusheva G.P., Chistyakova A.V. Game-experimentation for children of senior preschool age // Preschool pedagogy, 2001. - No. 1.

7. Internet resources
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CHILDHOOD GUIDE

Pedagogical find on the topic

“Experimental activity as a means of development

cognitive activity in preschool children"

Gosteva Natalya Vladimirovna,

teacher at the Zakharovsky Kindergarten No. 1,

With. Zakharovo, Ryazan region.

Good afternoon, dear colleagues, today I want to share with you my pedagogical discovery on the topic “Experimental activities as a means of developing cognitive activity in children of senior preschool age.

From birth, a child is a discoverer, an explorer of the world that surrounds him. And especially a preschool child. A Chinese proverb says: “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, let me try and I will understand.” This is how a child learns everything firmly and for a long time when he hears, sees and does it himself. The more actively a child touches, smells, explores, reasons, compares, that is, actively participates in the educational process, the faster his cognitive abilities develop and cognitive activity increases. The teacher’s task is not to suppress the desire for discovery, curiosity, and the need for mental impressions, but, on the contrary, to actively help him in this, which in turn will lead to intellectual and emotional development.

Based on the relevance of this area of ​​children's activity, I set a goal for myself - to develop in children the ability to explore objects, substances, and materials.

To achieve this goal, I set the following tasks:

— expand children’s understanding of the physical properties of objects and objects in the surrounding world through experimentation;

— develop cognitive skills (ask search questions

character, put forward hypotheses and assumptions, draw conclusions,

it’s easy to predict the consequences);

- develop personal qualities: activity, initiative, curiosity and cognitive interest in children in the process of organizing

elementary research, experiments, observations and experiences;

— to develop experience in complying with safety regulations

when conducting physical experiments;

- cultivate the desire for independent cognitive

activity, ability to interact with peers.

I decided to enrich my knowledge and experience on this issue, for this I studied the works of such authors as Olga Vitalievna Dybina “Technology of Experimental Activities”, Lidia Nikolaevna Prokhorova “Organization of Experimental Activities of Preschool Children”, Alexandra Ivanovna Ivanova “Naturally - Scientific Observations and Experiments in kindergarten" and other authors; I took part in several webinars on this topic and studied the experience of colleagues on Internet sites.

Conducted diagnostics of children according to criteria that are important specifically for the process of experimental activities and the expected results. For diagnostic research I used the technique (L.N. Prokhorova, T.I. Babaeva, O.V. Kireeva)

Determined methods and forms of work with children, parents, colleagues:

role-playing game, viewing, observation, conversation, construction, experimentation, research activities, entertainment, competitions, project activities.

As part of my educational and research activities, I developed the “Laboratory of Amazing Sciences” project.

The following materials were selected for the project:

— card index of experiences and experiments;

— card index of didactic games on experimental activities

— GCD notes on experimentation;

— consultations and reminders for parents on this topic.

Throughout my work, I collected material that arouses great interest among children. These are crosswords, exercises and problem situations, logical tasks. Interesting, entertaining exercises were compiled into the album “School of Science”.

To develop creative and research activity, as well as for cognitive motivation in the group, an experimentation corner was equipped together with the children. It contained assistant instruments, natural materials, different types of paper, and other items.

Together with the children, they created their own mini museum of collections, where children display various items they have collected: shells, stones, pine cones, buttons. Our collection is constantly updated, the topics depend on the interests of children, and the materials they collect motivate them to research and help maintain interest in this activity.

In the process of working with children, multimedia teaching aids are successfully used, which stimulates the cognitive interest of children. It is much more interesting not just to listen to the teacher’s story about the objects and phenomena being studied, but to see it with your own eyes.

And only through the joint efforts of parents and teachers can a sustainable positive result be achieved, so we involved parents in active assistance (arranging collections: exhibits were collected during vacation - pebbles, shells; on walks - seeds, cones).

We recommended that parents conduct experiments at home. And this was another motivation for children to conduct research activities.

Everyday affairs, routine moments, and different types of activities provide a large field of activity for research.

I selected a series of experiments with inanimate objects “Search for Air”, “Tight Bottle”, “He’s in a Bag”, in these experiments the children and I explored the air.

Experimenting with paper gave children the opportunity to identify new properties of paper (“Record weight”, “Transparent paper”).

Water exploration allowed children to compare different properties and states of water. (The water is clear; water has no taste or smell.

ice is solid water, steam is also water, some substances dissolve in water and some do not, ice is lighter than water.)

Our research activities did not stop during the walk. My children and I conducted a number of experiments with snow: “Warm Snowdrift”, “Clean Ice” and many other experiments with other objects of living and non-living nature.

Together with the children, I spent an evening of entertainment “In the World of Tricks”, where we conducted various experiments with different objects.

Of course, work did not always go smoothly. For example, not all children followed safety rules, the necessary literature and video materials were not always available, and there was not enough equipment. With the help of our parents, we coped with these problems.

I shared my work experience with colleagues. Conducted a consultation for all age groups on the “Experimentation Corner in Kindergarten.”

Developed a booklet: “Technology of research activities.”

Conducted a “Master Class” on the topic: “Experimental activities as a means of developing cognitive activity in children.”

After analyzing the results of my teaching activities, I came to the conclusion that thanks to systematic work on children's experimentation, children developed:

- active cognitive interest and cognitive activity;

— the horizons have expanded: in particular, knowledge about living and inanimate nature, about the relationships occurring in it, about the properties of materials, about their use by humans;

- acquired skills in planning your activities, the ability to put forward your hypotheses and confirm them, and draw conclusions;

— personality qualities have developed: independence, initiative, determination.

I am sure that only through their own actions will a preschooler be able to understand the diversity of the world around them and determine their own place in it.

Used Books:

1. Dybina O. V., Rakhmanova N. P. The unknown is nearby: Entertaining experiences and experiments for preschoolers. - M.: TC Sfera, 2005.-192 p.
2. Dybina O.V., Rakhmanova N.P. Shchetinina V.V. The unknown is nearby: Entertaining experiences and experiments for preschoolers / O.V. Dybina (responsible editor). M.: TC Sfera, 2005. – 192 p. 6.
3. Nikolaeva S.N. Familiarization of preschoolers with inanimate nature. Nature management in kindergarten. - M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2003. - 80 p.
4. Organization of experimental activities for preschool children. /Under general ed. Prokhorova L.N. - M.: ARKTI, 64 p.
5. Childhood: Approximate basic general education program for preschool education/T.I. Babaeva, A.G. Gogoberidze, Z.A. Mikhailova and others - St. Petersburg. : PUBLISHING HOUSE “CHILDHOOD-PRESS” LLC, 2011.-528 p.
6. Ivanova I.A. Naturally - scientific observations and experiments in kindergarten. Man. - M.: Sphere shopping center, 2004. – 224 p.
7. Organization of experimental activities for children 2-7 years old: thematic planning, recommendations, lesson notes / author - comp. E.A. Martynova, I.M. Suchkova. – Volgograd: Teacher, 2011. – 333 p.
8. Internet resources.

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