Features of play activities of senior preschool age
At this stage of development of the game, word and deed come together, and role-playing behavior becomes a model of relationships between people that are meaningful to children. The stage of the actual role-playing game begins, in which the players simulate the labor and social relations of people familiar to them.
A scientific understanding of the stage-by-stage development of play activity makes it possible to develop clearer, systematized recommendations for guiding the play activities of children in different age groups.
In order to achieve a genuine, emotionally rich game, including an intellectual solution to a game problem, the teacher needs to comprehensively guide the formation, namely: purposefully enrich the child’s practical experience, gradually transferring it into a conventional game plan, and during independent games, encourage the preschooler to creatively reflect reality.
The game is dynamic where the management is aimed at its gradual formation, taking into account those factors that ensure the timely development of gaming activity at all age levels. Here it is very important to rely on the child’s personal experience. Game actions formed on its basis acquire a special emotional overtones. Otherwise, learning to play becomes mechanical. Emotions cement the game, make it exciting, create a favorable climate for relationships, increase the tone that every child needs - a share of his mental comfort, and this, in turn, becomes a condition for the preschooler’s receptivity to educational actions and joint activities with peers.
All components of a comprehensive guide to the formation of play are interconnected and equally important when working with children. As children grow older, the organization of their practical experience also changes, which is aimed at actively learning the real relationships between people in the process of joint activities. In this regard, the content of educational games and the conditions of the subject-game environment are updated. The emphasis of activating communication between adults and children shifts: it becomes businesslike, aimed at achieving joint goals. Adults act as one of the participants in the game, encouraging children to engage in joint discussions, statements, disputes, conversations, and contribute to the collective solution of game problems that reflect the joint social and labor activities of people.
So, the formation of play activities creates the necessary psychological conditions and favorable soil for the comprehensive development of the child. Comprehensive education of children, taking into account their age characteristics, requires systematization of the games used in practice, the establishment of connections between different forms of independent play and non-play activities that take place in a playful form. As you know, any activity is determined by its motive, that is, by what this activity is aimed at. Play is an activity whose motive lies within itself. This means that the child plays because he wants to play, and not for the sake of obtaining some specific result, which is typical for everyday life, work and any other productive activity.
Article:
In play activities, the mental qualities and personal characteristics of the child are most intensively formed.
The game develops other types of activities, which then acquire independent meaning. Gaming activity influences the formation of arbitrariness of mental processes. Thus, in play, children begin to develop voluntary attention and voluntary memory. During play, children concentrate better and remember more than in laboratory experiments. The very conditions of the game require the child to concentrate on the objects included in the game situation on the content of the actions and plot being played out.
The gaming situation and actions in it have a constant impact on the development of the mental activity of a preschool child. In the game, the child learns to act with a substitute object - he gives the substitute a new game name and acts with it in accordance with the name.
Gradually, playful actions with objects are reduced, the child learns to think about objects and act with them mentally. Thus, the game contributes to a greater extent to the child’s gradual transition to thinking in terms of ideas.
Role-playing play is crucial for the development of imagination. In play activities, the child learns to replace objects with other objects and take on different roles. This ability forms the basis of imagination. Children learn to identify objects and actions with substitutes and create new situations in their imagination.
The influence of the game on the development of a child’s personality lies in the fact that through it he becomes acquainted with the behavior and relationships of adults, who become a model for his own behavior, and in it he acquires basic communication skills and the qualities necessary to establish contact with peers.
Within the gaming activity, educational activity also begins to take shape, which later becomes the leading activity. The teaching is introduced by the adult, it does not arise directly from the game. But a preschooler begins to learn by playing - he treats learning as a kind of role-playing game with certain rules. However, by following these rules, the child unnoticeably masters basic learning activities.
The game has a very great influence on the development of speech. The game situation requires from each child included in it a certain level of development of verbal communication. The need to communicate with peers stimulates the development of coherent speech.
Play as a leading activity is of particular importance for the development of the sign function of a child’s speech. In the game, the development of the sign function is carried out through the replacement of some objects with others. Objects are substitutes as signs of absent objects. A sign can be any element of reality that acts as a substitute for another element of reality. In addition, the substitute object mediates the connection between the missing object and the word and transforms the verbal content in a new way.
In play, the child comprehends specific signs of two types: individual conventional signs, which have little in common in their sensory nature with the designated object, and iconic signs, the sensory properties of which are visually close to the replaced object.
Play as a leading activity is of particular importance for the development of reflective thinking. The game leads to the development of reflection, since in the game there is a real opportunity to control how an action that is part of the communication process is performed. Thus, when playing hospital, a child cries and suffers like a patient, and is pleased with himself as a good performer of the role.
In play, children acquire a variety of knowledge about the phenomena of social life, the activities and relationships of adults. But all these qualities are formed not by the game itself, but by one or another particular content that is specially introduced into children's games. In this case, the game often turns into a gaming technique that has didactic purposes. Important is the idea of L.A. Wenger that the specific impact has the greatest value and it is this that should be used to the maximum for pedagogical purposes. The game fully fulfills its functions only when it is an independent activity of children.
In order to achieve a genuine, emotionally rich game, including an intellectual solution to a game problem, the teacher needs to comprehensively guide the formation, namely: purposefully enrich the child’s tactical experience, gradually transferring it into a conventional game plan, and during independent games, encourage the preschooler to creatively reflect reality.
Emotions cement the game, make it exciting, create a favorable climate for relationships, increase the tone that every child needs - a share of his mental comfort, and this, in turn, becomes a condition for the preschooler’s receptivity to educational actions and joint activities with peers.
All types of games can be combined into two large groups, which differ in the degree of direct participation of an adult, as well as different forms of children's activity.
The first group is games where an adult takes an indirect part in their preparation and conduct. The activity of children (subject to the formation of a certain level of game actions and skills) is of an initiative, creative nature - the children are able to independently set a game goal, develop the concept of the game and find the necessary ways to solve game problems. In independent games, conditions are created for children to show initiative, which always indicates a certain level of intelligence development.
Games of this group, which include plot and educational games, are especially valuable for their developmental function, which is of great importance for the overall mental development of each child.
The second group is various educational games in which an adult, telling the child the rules of the game or explaining the design of a toy, gives a fixed program of actions to achieve a certain result. These games usually solve specific problems of education and training; they are aimed at mastering certain program material and rules that players must follow. Educational games are also important for the moral and aesthetic education of preschool children.
The activity of children in learning games is mainly reproductive in nature: children, solving game problems with a given program of actions, only reproduce the methods of their implementation. Based on their maturity and skill, children can start independent games that will have more elements of creativity.
The development of the game with the inclusion of various roles in it: from different spheres of social life, from different literary works, fairy tales, as well as the combination of fairy-tale and real characters helps stimulate the creative activity of children in the game. For example, a kindergarten teacher and police officers, a fireman and Baba Yaga, Pinocchio and a doctor.
The inclusion of such roles in the overall plot activates children’s imagination, their imagination, encourages them to come up with new unexpected turns of events that unite and make meaningful the coexistence and interaction of such different characters. A. N. Leontyev, in his work “Psychological Foundations of Preschool Play,” describes the process of the emergence of children’s role-playing play as follows: in the course of a child’s activity, “a contradiction arises between the rapid development of his need to act with objects, on the one hand, and the development of the operations that carry out these actions (i.e. methods of action) - on the other. The child wants to drive a car himself, he wants to row a boat, but cannot carry out this action... because he does not master and cannot master those operations that are required by the real objective conditions of this action... This contradiction... can only be resolved in a child in one single type of activity, namely in play activity, in the game.
Only in a game action can the required operations be replaced by other operations, and its objective conditions by other objective conditions, while the content of the action itself is preserved.”
In this regard, improving the pedagogical guidance of role-playing play as the most developed form of preschool childhood is of particular importance. In our opinion, one of the ways of such improvement is a socio-psychological approach to role-playing game as a certain type of joint activity, during which participants communicate, aimed at coordinating efforts to achieve a common result.
Almost all authors who describe or study role-playing games unanimously note that its plots are decisively influenced by the reality surrounding the child. The question of what exactly in the reality surrounding the child has a decisive influence on role-playing play is one of the most significant questions. Its solution can lead to clarification of the actual nature of role-playing play, to resolving the issue of the content of the roles that children take on in the game.
The child’s activity in the game develops in the direction of depicting various actions (swimming, washing, cooking, etc.). The action itself is depicted. This is how action games arise. Children's activities take on a construction character - construction-constructive games arise, in which there are also usually no roles. Finally, role-playing games stand out, where the child creates one or another image. These games follow two distinct channels: director's games, when the child controls the toy (acts through it), and games where the role is played personally by the child himself (mother, pilot, etc.).
The development of the game depends on many circumstances. The first is the proximity of the theme of the game to the child’s experience. Lack of experience and ideas becomes an obstacle to the development of the game's plot. Also, the development of the plot is determined by how consistently the roles develop in the game.
Usova notes that children’s games already at the age of three are of a plot nature, and in this direction the game develops intensively until the age of seven. Establishes that the driving principles that determine the game consist in the child’s gradual mastery of the role played in a group of children. Initially, the game consists of everyday activities performed by children: cooking, washing, transporting (3–4 years). Then role designations appear, associated with certain actions: I am a mother, I am a cook, I am a driver. Here, in these notations, along with role-playing actions, role-playing relationships appear, and finally the game ends with the appearance of a role, and the child performs it in two ways - for the toy and for himself.
Principles of organizing a role-playing game (concept of N. Ya. Mikhailenko - N. A. Korotkova):
1. The teacher must play with the children. He should take the position of a “playing partner”. The teacher's strategy should be to expose children to the need to use a more complex, new way of constructing the game.
2. The teacher should play with children throughout preschool childhood, but at each stage the game should be developed in such a way that the children immediately “discover” and assimilate a new, more complex way of constructing it.
3. At each stage of preschool childhood, when developing gaming skills, it is necessary to simultaneously orient the child both to the implementation of a gaming action and to explaining its meaning to partners - an adult or peers.
At the stage of formation of conventional game actions, an adult must develop predominantly “one-volume and one-character” plots, as a semantic chain of actions.
At the stage of formation of role behavior, the support for the teacher should be a multi-character plot as a system of interconnected roles, which unfolds through the interaction of characters.
At the stage of developing the ability to build new story games, the teacher must develop “multi-volume” stories that involve combining various events.
In the pedagogical process in relation to the game, there are two interrelated components:
1. joint play between an adult and children, during which new skills and abilities are formed.
2. an independent children's game in which the teacher is not involved, but only provides the conditions for its activation
The development of play is associated with the logic of mastering objective actions and identifying an adult as an example and bearer of human forms of activity and relationships. All this does not happen spontaneously, but under the guidance of adults.
Children's play is not a homogeneous activity. And the leading game in preschool age is not considered to be a game in general, but only one, its special variety - the plot-role-playing game. Its value lies in the fact that it influences the process of formation of individual mental functions (thinking, memory, speech, imagination, attention), certain types of activities (constructive, visual, cognitive, communication), and the development of the personality of a preschooler as a whole.
The role of toys in the mental development of a child
Content
Introduction.
1. What is a toy? History of the toy.
2. The importance of toys in the mental development of a preschool child.
3. Basic psychological and pedagogical requirements for the toy.
Conclusion.
List of used literature.
Introduction
Of the many things that surround a child, the most important thing for him is a toy. It is in it that impressions about the world are reflected, which have a great influence on the child’s future life and his character.
A toy is one of the important means of education and learning. She must develop cognitive abilities, imagination; help you get comfortable in the adult world; to form in a child a love of work, curiosity, observation, to cultivate the child’s artistic taste, to encourage him to be creative.
The toy has many sides - pedagogical, aesthetic, moral, production, economic, cultural, social, psychological, etc. All these are different aspects of such seemingly simple objects, but are they so simple? In many ways, we adults often have a frivolous attitude towards everything that concerns childhood. Adults may not even think about what toys they buy, what they give to children, what toys they bring to kindergarten.
For a child, a toy is an integral part of his life and therefore requires the most serious attention!
The purpose of the study is to show the importance of toys in the mental development of a child.
Research objectives:
— define the concept of a toy, highlight its history;
— characterize the significance of toys in the mental development of a preschool child;
— describe the basic psychological and pedagogical requirements for the toy.
Research methods – analysis of scientific and theoretical literature on the research problem, comparative analysis, synthesis of research results.
1. What is a toy? History of the toy
Toys are specially made items intended for games, providing play activities for children and adults. The main feature of the toy is that it presents in a generalized form the typical features and properties of the object.
A toy, in the figurative expression of A. S. Makarenko, is the “material basis” of the game; it is necessary for the development of play activity. K. D. Ushinsky was one of the first to draw attention to the fact that a toy is a kind of school for educating a child’s feelings. A new toy does not immediately win a child’s heart. It all depends on the games and life situations in which the baby will include her as a partner. Favorite toys teach a child kindness and empathy [1].
The meaning of a folk toy is to develop, entertain, amuse, and please a child. The first toys were hung over a shaky structure. These were bells, pendants with noise, colorful rags, rattles.
In the early stages of the primitive communal system, there were no toys. This was associated with primitive means and forms of labor that allowed children to take part in the simple work of adults: collecting edible plants and roots, fishing, hunting small animals and birds, and farming. With the transition to higher forms of production and the division of labor, the nature of children’s participation in its various types also changed. The task arose of teaching children to master complex tools as early as possible in order to introduce them to more important activities. For this purpose, a smaller copy of the tool was created. With their help, children practiced in conditions close to real life. But the reduced copies could not perform the intended functions in full. It was during this period that toys began to appear.
The toy only externally reflected household items. Over the millennia, the toy has changed. The change primarily concerned production: from artisanal to industrial. The development of science and technology influences the technology of creating toys. More complex tools, equipment, paints and materials appeared. Under the influence of the dominant ideology, the content of the images changed (at the beginning of the century - dolls of ladies, maids, monks, angels, policemen, kings; later - boys - kibalchishi, dolls - Red Army soldiers, pioneers). Under the influence of social policy of society and scientific and technological progress, the range of toys and their quality are changing. This is evidenced by the appearance in our time of computer toys, space-themed toys, and Barbie dolls. Over the centuries, the functions of toys have changed (once to scare away evil spirits, as protectors of the clan, a symbol of prosperity and productivity) [2].
XVI-XVII centuries During this period, folk wooden and pottery toys developed.
Industrial production of toys began in the German city of Nuremberg in the 19th century. Here, in 1880, stamping began to be used in the manufacture of toys, which made it possible to produce cheap mass products.
Since the time of F. Froebel, much attention has been paid to building materials for children's games. There were a lot of them produced - of various sizes and designs. In 1901, the first metal construction set was created in Great Britain.
In general, anything can become a toy. The property of being a toy is not strictly tied to the externally material characteristics of a particular object. Its inclusion in the class of “toys” is determined by the attitude of the person playing towards it. It is a person who turns an object into a true toy in the process of playing with it.
Any item can become a true toy if it:
- attractive - causes a desire to communicate with the object, look at it and manipulate it;
- available for mastery - determined by the player’s ability to integrate this object into his living space;
- is not perceived at the moment as a “serious thing” - that is, the generally accepted rules for handling “serious” objects do not apply to it.
— Satisfies the age-related developmental needs of the child;
- Capable of becoming a symbolic object for personal projections - when it is possible to transfer one’s experiences, feelings, thoughts and actions to one’s toy both consciously and on a subconscious level [3].
The word “toy” for many is synonymous with trinket and fun. While this is a special subject that has enormous power, has the ability to teach. And the future of our children depends on how we approach the choice of toys for our child, whether we know how to properly organize the game, direct his actions, and develop the plot.
2. The importance of toys in the mental development of a preschool child
The importance of games and toys for the development of a child in preschool age is often underestimated even by teachers. Most parents do not understand how important the right toys are for shaping a child's personality.
How and what games should a child play? Parents receive information about this mainly from advertising, which reflects the interests of manufacturing companies, which do not always coincide with the interests of the child.
The lack of a general and legal culture in the formation of a child’s play environment in Russia leads to an aggressive attack on our market of gaming products from both the West and the East [4].
In preschool age there are sensitive periods in the development of a child’s abilities, when the correct selection of educational games and playing them with the child determine a lot. Instead of taking into account the characteristics of the psychophysical development of children, especially preschoolers, the development of the toy market occurs according to trends introduced from outside. Let's highlight two of them.
Cheapness combined with loud brightness and noise is the calling card of toy companies from Southeast Asia. Much more expensive naturalistic models of people, animals, cars, airplanes, cartoon and movie characters (everything that surrounds us in everyday life) are products of Western companies. Modern Western toys are increasingly moving away from children's play towards consumerism and the mechanical use of operations laid down by the manufacturer. It seems to the child that he is manipulating the toy, but in fact the toy itself imposes certain actions on him, developing the little person’s emotional dependence on the electronic device.
The main qualities of a children's toy: freedom of action, emotional richness, creative activity, ingenuity - are not at all required and are not developed.
The obviousness of the problem is clearly expressed and the relevance of finding a solution to this issue is undeniable. Whether it’s worth thinking about how and what our children play with and trying to understand this issue is up to you to decide.
A toy is a constant companion of a child from the first days of his birth. This is not only joy and fun, designed to captivate the baby, but also an excellent educator, preparing the child for life in society and acting as a means of his mental development [5].
The first toys that come into the life of a newborn are rattles. This happens primarily because in the first month of life the baby develops auditory reactions. Parents attract the baby's attention by talking, facial expressions and stroking, and the rattle is able to maintain the baby's involuntary attention. During the game, the rattle in the hands of parents becomes attractive in itself. And by five months, when the child has formed hand-eye coordination and developed a grasping reaction, he happily takes and shakes the rattle, listening to the sounds and focusing his eyes on the toy. As a result of such manipulations, by the end of the year of life, the first cause-and-effect relationships are established in the child’s brain - if you shake a rattle, it will create a sound.
Musical toys attract the baby's attention throughout the preschool period. He happily plays with children's harmonicas, drums and bells, and the child is no longer attracted by the sounds as such, but by the various melodies that he tries to extract, and then includes them in his role-playing games. The baby adjusts his movements to the musical rhythm, thereby improving his ear for music and sense of rhythm.
In the second year of life, the baby becomes acquainted with educational toys. They are created on the principle of autodidactism, which means they contain a method of use. These are primitive prefabricated and disassembled toys, objects for stringing. The task of adults is to show the child their method of action and explain how they can get the result. Often, this is the assembly of various fragments of a toy in accordance with size, shape and color. The baby masters sensory standards and learns independence, trying to achieve results with his own efforts. By regularly playing with a toy, the baby’s actions become purposeful and effective [6].
For the development of a preschool child, imaginative toys are also necessary, which participate in the child’s mental development. They give the child positive emotions and pleasant experiences. These include everyone's favorite cars and soldiers and dolls. Such toys allow the little ones to engage in various types of games: construction, plot, director or didactic. In this case, playing with a doll is indicative.
When playing with a doll, a child gives it thoughts and feelings. The toy in his hands comes to life and does everything he wants. The child himself constantly takes care of the doll, raises it, feeds it, puts it to bed and passes on knowledge to it, that is, performs all the functions that an adult performs in relation to his child. During the game, the baby evaluates the doll’s behavior, conveys his moral and emotional experience to her, thereby realizing and reinforcing it. With a toy, a child has the opportunity to model and play out all forms of behavior. It is in this game process that moral assessments are formed, moral and emotional identification appears, a range of emotional experiences develops, which means that moral qualities are formed in the child.
Imaginative toys help to master the gender role, because in the third year of life, boys become more interested in soldiers, pistols and cars, and girls become more interested in dolls. However, both of them like soft fluffy toys. Children especially love soft bears, cats and dogs, because they are so similar to real four-legged friends. Children hug these toys, caress them, and even sleep with them in their arms, and it seems that the toy reciprocates the child’s affection.
Around this period, around the age of 3, the child begins to show interest in tool toys. These are buckets, spatulas, molds and other objects that are smaller copies of the tools of an adult, with the help of which the baby develops objective actions. He learns to pour sand into a bucket with a spatula, build various sand molds, thereby developing and consolidating his understanding of work activity.
More complex technical toys such as airplanes, tanks, lunar rovers and cars open up the world of technology to the baby. Such toys help to awaken interest in how the toy moves, what is inside it, why the wheel spins, etc. This is an excellent stimulation of technical thinking, and in addition, the baby gains an understanding of the activities of adults [7].
Theatrical toys, both on strings and bibabo dolls, that is, worn on the hand, are suitable so that the child can participate in the play, act out the actions of a specific character according to a learned role, or improvise during the performance. Children especially like to play with toys created in the image of characters from well-known and beloved fairy tales. By playing with them, the baby develops correct speech, facial expressions and pantomime, as well as theatrical and speech abilities.
As the child grows up, he begins to gravitate toward sports and motor toys. He strives to learn how to ride a bicycle, roller skate and ski, enjoys playing ball and picking up a badminton racket, which helps the formation of his basic movements, teaches him to navigate in space, and develops such strong-willed qualities as courage, organization, endurance and initiative.
Homemade toys should be included in a special group, because the child creates them himself, for a specific play purpose. This helps children develop their imagination, teaches them to finish what they start, allows them to learn the properties of the material, and even forms social motives in the child’s behavior. For example, a child can make a gift for mommy. In addition, such toys are also a way of self-expression, because the child is incredibly proud of his creation. And since these toys are multifunctional, they are especially interesting for kids [8].
Parents should understand that what is important for a child is not the number of toys, but their variety, appropriate to the child’s age. The task of parents is to introduce the child to the toy and teach how to use it.
3. Basic psychological and pedagogical requirements for the toy.
A toy brings maximum benefit if it is culturally appropriate and contributes to socially accepted norms and spiritual and moral values[9].
A toy is harmful if it:
— Provokes a child to aggression and cruelty;
- Causes fear or anxiety;
- Has a rough naturalism;
— Degrades human dignity;
— Causes psychological dependence to the detriment of the full development of the child;
— Distorts the perception of the surrounding reality.
A toy is useful if it:
— Safe;
- Attractive;
- Aesthetic;
— Corresponds to the age capabilities of the child;
— Multifunctional (provides an opportunity for the development of the child’s abilities: physical, spiritual, moral, etc.);
— Made from environmentally friendly materials;
- Packed.
Conclusion.
A toy, as a special object of play, as one of the manifestations of culture, appeared in the course of the historical development of society.
A toy, despite its high didactic properties and artistic and figurative merits, by itself, without the active participation of an adult, cannot educate a child. Thanks to education, in particular through toys, the child develops ways of acting with objects and knowledge of the purpose of these objects. In this process, the toy acquires enormous pedagogical significance.
Toys are an integral part in the mental, physical and aesthetic development of a child. Based on the history of the creation of toys, we understand that they did not arise unexpectedly. Toys were created in the course of a whole historical development, reflecting the life and atmosphere of the time in which they were created. So, based on the fact that children are the most important and precious thing in our lives, we would really like to see toy manufacturers treat their work with the highest quality possible, appreciating the joy that they bring to children. And so that they pay attention not only to the appearance and color of the toy, but also to the safety and positive impact of the toy on the child. Because the child still has toys in second place after his parents. And children also take their example from them.
List of used literature:
1. Boyko, S. Essays on the history of toys / S. Boyko // Home education. - 2001. - No. 1. - P. 52. 2. Boyko, S. Essays on the history of toys / S. Boyko // Home education. - 2001. - No. 1. - P. 52.
3. Toys: history, the role of toys in the development of a child // Russian Pedagogical Encyclopedia: in 2 volumes. T.1: A-M / ch. ed. V.V. Davydov. - M.: BRE, 1993. - P. 338.
4. Vargasova, E. This dangerous toy life / E. Vargasova // Evening Novosibirsk. - 2006. - No. 225.
5. Loseva, V. Toy in child development and play correction / V. Loseva, A. Lunkov // Home education. - 2000. - No. 1. - P. 28-31; No. 2. - P. 118.
6. Panina, G. Games and toys for our children / G. Panina. // Elementary school: methodological newspaper for teachers. - 2004. - No. 30-31. — P. 15.
7. Matveeva, M. Games of tender age: toys in different periods of childhood / M. Matveeva // Health. - 2006. - No. 12. - P. 70.
8. Osorina, M. Psychological concept of a toy: what object can become a toy? / M. Osorina // Kindergarten from all sides. - 2004. - No. 7-8. — P. 2.
9. Reshetnikova, O. Everyone plays! : psychological concepts of toys and problems of examination of toys / O. Reshetnikova // School psychologist: methodological newspaper for teachers. - 2003. - No. 37-38. — P. 14.
