What is a quest game?
Perhaps most of you have not only heard this word, but also practice quest games in your work. However, some people have no idea what this means and why it is needed. I'll try to explain briefly to get you up to speed.
I first heard about quests several years ago, when cities began setting up special rooms for quests, mainly for adults. It was necessary to complete certain tasks in a minimum amount of time. You could play for fun or compete in teams to see who is smarter and faster. It seems very interesting to me, to test my knowledge and ingenuity, but I never had to complete the quest. Have you done this?
Quest games for children follow a similar principle. They can be organized both for events, for example, for Cosmonautics Day, and during classes, organizing a trip on a specific topic. The game technique will allow children to be captivated and delve deeper into a specific topic. In the quest, it is important to select tasks taking into account the age of the children, so that they find it interesting and not too difficult.
In play, a child learns about the world, his capabilities, can express himself and engages in self-knowledge. The game acts as an excellent pedagogical tool, thanks to which it is best possible to solve educational and developmental problems. The child is socialized, develops and prepares for adulthood. Training and development with the help of quest games is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, therefore it is important for teachers and educators to conduct such games, engage in self-education, and expand their portfolio for certification.
A quest is primarily a team game that can be organized both outdoors and indoors. It is very important that the game has a spirit of adventure, and then success will be ensured. In addition, playing in a team unites children, which allows them to carry out an educational function.
Quest is a unique gaming technology that allows you to quickly involve students in different types of activities, which is what makes it unique.
Quest technologies in preschool educational institutions
In accordance with the law “On Education in the Russian Federation”
Preschool education has become an independent level of general education, which significantly increases the requirements for it. The developmental interaction of a child with adults and peers is the main didactic technology of the Federal State Educational Standard for preschool education. A preschool child is a person who plays, and therefore learning enters his life through the “gate of children’s play.”
Modern pedagogy invites us to shift the emphasis from passive
learning models (the child acts as an “object”, simply listens and
looks) at active (the child acts as a “subject” of learning, i.e. works independently, performs creative tasks) interactive (the child interacts with other participants in the educational process).
Educational activities in the quest format fit perfectly into
the concept set by the Federal State Educational Standard for Education. And it becomes an excellent opportunity for teachers and children to organize life in kindergarten in an exciting and original way.
So what is a “quest”? Where did he come to us from? And what are we
what do we mean when we talk about quest technology?
If we turn to the dictionary, then the very concept of “quest” can be interpreted as “search” or even “adventure”.
A quest is a form of interaction between a teacher and children that promotes
formation of skills to solve certain problems based on choice
options, through the implementation of a certain plot. The quest game involves the integration of various types of children's activities, which is one of the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for Additional Education to the structure of the educational program of additional education and its volume (chapter 2, clause 2.6)
This type of activity was developed in 1995 in the state
University of San Diego (USA) by researchers Bernie Dodge and Tom March. The ancestors of “real” quests are computer games. The first attempt to transfer a virtual computer quest to reality was made in Asian countries in 2007, after which it began to be introduced in Europe, and then in Russia (2013).
According to many scientists (Bykhovsky Ya.S., Bovtenko M.A., Sysoev P.V., B.
Dodge, T. March, etc.) the basis of quest technologies is the activity of
formation of information and communication competencies
preschoolers.
When using quest technology, children go through a full cycle
motivations: from attention to satisfaction, get acquainted with authentic
material that allows them to explore, discuss and consciously build new concepts and relationships in the context of real world problems, creating projects of practical relevance. Quest, as recently
defined pedagogical technology, combines elements
brainstorming, training, games, and accordingly, solves a number of problems,
assigned to the above technologies.
Irina Nikolana Sokol considers Quest as a technology that has a clearly defined task, a game plan, necessarily has a leader (mentor), clear rules, and is implemented with the goal of increasing children’s level of knowledge and skills.
When using Quest technology, children emotionally experience all stages of interest: from attention to satisfaction, get acquainted with the material in an unconventional form, which allows them to explore, discuss and consciously build new concepts and relationships in the context of real world problems, creating projects that have practical significance.
Quest technology is relevant in the context of the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for Educational Education;
promotes the development of an active, active position of the child during
solving game search problems. The content of various
educational fields, uses the capabilities of ICT and modern
educational technologies.
Quests have a large number of advantages for children
preschool age, which in many areas are completely
comply with Federal State Educational Standards for Preschool Education: quests are carried out naturally
integration of educational areas, combine different types of children's
activities and forms of work with children. Quests allow you to unite everyone
participants in the educational process (children, parents of students and
teachers) in solving educational problems in game plot and
in an entertaining way.
The main advantage of the quest is that this form of organizing educational activities, in an unobtrusive, entertaining way, helps to activate the cognitive and thinking processes of the participants. With the help of such a game, you can achieve educational goals: implement project and game activities, introduce new information, consolidate existing knowledge, practice children’s skills.
Thus, children's quests
help to achieve the following tasks:
educational
— participants acquire new knowledge and consolidate existing ones;
developing
– during the game, children experience an increase in educational motivation, development of initiative and independence,
creative abilities and individual positive psychological qualities, the formation of research skills, self-realization of children;
educational
– skills of interaction with peers, goodwill, mutual assistance and others are formed.
The following types of quests can be distinguished:
— linear, when problems are solved in a chain, one after another;
- assault, when participants receive a task, tips for solving it, but
they choose the solutions themselves;
- ring ones, when this is the same linear quest, but enclosed in a circle. In that
In this case, teams of participants start from different points, and each follows its own path to the finish.
By type of educational objectives
(classification by B. Dodge and T. March).
Quests can take the following forms:
— creating a presentation, poster, story on a given topic;
- planning and design - developing a plan or project based on
specified conditions;
— transformation of information received from different sources;
— search and systematization of information;
Any quest requires careful preparation of the teacher. Preparation
carried out in 3 stages:
— preparation of conditions, equipment, quest materials;
— development of a route and map, quest script;
- preparing children (familiarization with the topic, immersion in the topic, training,
a game).
Quest games in the educational process, which is built systematically, step by step in four directions:
- work with children,
- working with parents of students,
- methodological support,
- creation of a developing subject-spatial environment.
Quests are held in a variety of places: in a group, in a hall, in a museum, quests
in nature, on the site, on excursions.
Quest games are used as part of continuous educational
activities with children.
Quest - the game activates the active inclusion of parents of students in
educational process. Parents are active partners, and in
some quest games and participants, and this is one of the main tasks, which is prescribed in the law of the Russian Federation “On Education” and the Federal State Educational Standard for Education.
In the process of introducing quest technology into practice in kindergarten:
- is being created
an atmosphere of emotional uplift and emancipation for everyone
participants in the educational process;
— educators and specialists began to show sincere interest
in children's achievements;
- children develop confidence in themselves and their comrades;
- older preschoolers know how to listen and hear each other, express their
opinion, negotiate, come to an agreement; children have developed speech
interaction; a positive attitude towards the surrounding world has been formed,
to other people, to oneself, to peers; children know how to defend their
position, reasonable and kindly object to adults.
Thus, the quest becomes an excellent opportunity for a teacher and
children to organize life in kindergarten in a fun and original way. The quest, with its almost limitless possibilities, provides invaluable assistance
teacher, providing the opportunity to diversify educational
educational process, make it unusual, memorable,
exciting, fun, playful.
Goals, objectives and benefits of quests
The purpose of the quest in a group of preschoolers is to launch the process of activating the cognitive and thinking processes of pupils in a playful way, to implement game and project work, to give new and consolidate existing knowledge, to practice skills in practice.
The educational, developmental and educational objectives of the quest game are as follows:
- consolidating knowledge on the topic and learning new ones;
- development of such qualities as initiative, independence;
- increasing motivation for education;
- development of creative abilities and certain skills, including research;
- development of positive character qualities;
- developing skills of mutual assistance and interaction with classmates.
Quest games can be either single or group. But today we will only consider group games, since we need to keep the entire group of students occupied.
Depending on the nature of the plot, the quest can be linear, assault or circular. You will find below linear quest scenarios, they are the most common. A linear quest means that children will receive tasks sequentially along a chain as they solve them. Those. solved the first task, received the second, and so on.
What are the advantages of quests in a preschool educational institution?
- Children really like such games, which allows them to develop the cognitive interest of pupils in a relaxed manner.
- During the game, children receive the same impressions, which they can then discuss together.
- The gameplay makes it possible to present sometimes boring and uninteresting knowledge in such a form that children are happy to remember new material.
- They learn to work in a group harmoniously, because this is what the final result will depend on. And this contributes to the cohesion of a small team.
If you are not sure that you clearly understand the structure of quests and their purpose, then I advise you to take part in very interesting offline webinars on this topic:
- “Educational quest technology as a form of early career guidance for preschool children” (volume 4 hours)
- “Structure and content of ECD classes with preschoolers using educational quest technology” (volume 4 hours)
- “Formation of reading skills in preschool children using educational quest technology” (volume 4 hours)
- “Formation of elementary mathematical concepts of preschool children using educational quest technology” (volume 4 hours)
- “Introducing preschoolers to the world around them using educational quest technology” (volume 4 hours)
Quest technology in preschool education
Kozhina Yu.V., Kirchenko N.P. Quest technology in preschool education // Sovushka. 2021. N1(11). URL: https://kssovushka.ru/zhurnal/11/ (access date: 11/21/2021).
Order No. 50470
One of the tasks of the Federal State Educational Standard for Education is to create favorable conditions for the development of children in accordance with their age and individual characteristics and inclinations, the development of the abilities and creative potential of each child as a subject of relationships with himself, other children, adults and the world.
Currently, teaching teams of preschool educational institutions are actively introducing innovative technologies into their work aimed at implementing the state standard of preschool education.
One such technology is gaming technology.
Interest in it is associated with the recognition of the role and possibilities of children's play in solving the problems of comprehensive development and education of children at the stage of preschool childhood. Play for a child is the most attractive, natural form and means of learning about the world, their capabilities, self-expression and self-development.
Among the gaming technologies widely used in the practice of educating preschool children, one can highlight quest technology, which is only just beginning to be used by teachers.
The main advantage of the quest is that this form of organizing educational activities unobtrusively, in a playful, entertaining way helps to activate the cognitive and thought processes of the participants.
The English word quest itself can be interpreted as “search” or even “adventure”. Quest technologies in education and upbringing of children began to be widely used in 1995, when Bernie Dodge, a professor at the University of San Diego, proposed using a certain search system in the learning process, in which it was supposed to find a solution to a given problem with the passage of intermediate stages, at each of which it was necessary to complete some action or find the key to reach the next level.
“Quest game” is a team game in which players need to search for various objects, find a use for them, talk with various characters in the game, solve puzzles, etc., which is an effective means of increasing both motor activity and motivational readiness to knowledge and research.
This game can be played both indoors, or in a group of premises (moving from the group to the music or sports hall, swimming pool and other premises of the kindergarten), and outdoors.
Quests are tasked with implementing project and game activities, introducing new information, consolidating existing knowledge, and practicing children’s skills.
During the journey, children independently overcome obstacles to achieve their goals, develop team spirit, perseverance, and a friendly attitude towards each other, because only the team that has completed the task correctly can continue further.
In quest games there is also a process of integration. It represents the unification into a single whole of previously disparate components of the system on the basis of interdependence and complementarity and allows players to unobtrusively involve players in a variety of children's activities in a short time.
Quest, as a universal gaming technology, includes competitive mechanisms in the child, which also creates conditions for more active involvement in the game, to improve the quality of completing tasks and achieving results. After each game, the child analyzes his place in the team, team actions, plans and predicts the result of further games together with the teacher-mentor.
Those. Quest games are one of the interesting means aimed at self-education and self-development of a child as a creative, physically healthy individual, with an active cognitive position, which is the main requirement of the Federal State Educational Standard for Education.
The staff of our kindergarten works in the priority direction “Ecological education of preschool children” and is constantly searching for new forms of activities that allow us to expand our understanding of nature, and most importantly, the ecological culture of modern man. Therefore, this academic year we used a new form of organizing pedagogical activities - quest games on environmental topics.
We played the first travel game with children from older groups called “Visiting Autumn.” Group rooms and areas on the territory of the kindergarten were chosen as the territory for this game.
The tasks of the autumn quest game were:
- Consolidate knowledge about vegetables, fruits, berries, cereals, trees and shrubs.
- To form the cognitive activity of children.
- Reinforce the rules of behavior in nature.
- Increase physical activity.
- Foster a caring attitude towards nature and the environment.
- Skill to work in team.
The experience turned out to be very successful and educational.
In the process of preparing for the winter environmental quest, teachers from preparatory groups, specialized specialists and kindergarten staff joined us, since in this game they paid more attention to the basics of children’s safety and vital activity. We decided to expand the territory of the winter quest game, and the children completed tasks in all areas of the kindergarten: group rooms, medical office, winter garden, music and sports halls.
And now we present for you a photo report of the game. The name of the game is “In the footsteps of Baba Yaga.”
This quest had the following tasks:
- Expand children's understanding of the winter life of nature.
- To form the cognitive activity of pupils.
- Involve children in caring for wintering animals and birds to protect and protect nature.
- Increase the physical activity of preschool children using the multifunctionality of ice sculptures.
- Establish rules for safe behavior in winter.
In the group room, the guys were met by the Snowman, who told about his problem and asked the guys for the missing snowballs. And as expected, the guys got acquainted with the travel map (photo).
The children completed the first task in the medical office (photo), where they answered questions from the head nurse, conducted experiments with snow, and found out the causes of winter diseases. The guys got their first snowballs.
Next, the children identified the following point on the map: “Winter Garden” (photo). The task was to divide the species of birds into wintering and migratory; games were played to develop logic, thinking and attention “Feeding Trough”, “Find the Differences”. For the correct completion of all tasks, the children again received snowballs.
The next point of stay for the children was the music room (photo), where a music worker in the character of Winter conducted psycho-gymnastics “Bunnies” with the children and where the children took part in the theatrical performance “Wind and Snowflakes”. Zimushka rewarded everyone with snowballs.
Then the guys went to the gym (photo), where Vanya Zateikin met them. After playing with Vanya, the guys and Snowman came to a conclusion about his incorrect behavior in games in the winter season (photo) and gave the necessary advice to help him follow the rules of behavior on the street in winter. For their help, Vanya gave the children the last snowballs. The result of the entire quest game was the fun and playful game “Snowballs” (photo). Having complicated a number of tasks, the quest was also carried out with children from the school preparatory group.
We are now developing a spring quest, which we plan to conduct both in the kindergarten premises and in the areas and actively involve parents in it.
Quest game in a preschool educational institution: preparation plan for the event
A very interesting quest can be developed for Health Day. World Health Day is celebrated on April 7th. It was on this day in 1948 that the World Health Organization was created.
You can start the event by watching a short cartoon in a group. Then divide the children into 3-4 teams and send them to get the keys. It is best to divide into teams using multi-colored circles. They can be cut out of cardboard and turned over on a tray, colored side down. Four colors - four teams.
Next, you should consider the number of stations depending on the age of the children. I offer a general option for the middle group, and you can already modify the number and complexity of stations depending on what age you are preparing the holiday for.
So we will have four stations. You prepare route sheets for children in such a way that the order of their stations does not coincide. For example, the first team goes to station 1 first, then 2, and so on. And the next command - first on 2, then on 3, then on 4, then on 1. And by analogy for other teams. The pupils do not yet know how to read, so there should not be the name of the station, but a bright picture and an arrow to another station. It is clear that the teacher will help the teams move from station to station.
It is also necessary to prepare 4 maps with the place where the treasure will be marked in the room. You can do this in the room where the children sleep, placing it in a chest under the middle bed. You print out 4 of these room drawing cards, put a cross and cut them into 4 parts. Those in charge of the station will give these pieces of cards to the children to put in an envelope.
Then, when the children go to all four stations, they will have 4 pieces of map in their envelope. They will need to put together the puzzle, find the place where the treasure is hidden, and take it. You can put bananas, apples in the treasure chest, or negotiate with your parents so that they donate money for something tasty and healthy. By the way, at the station you can appoint a methodologist, a cook, a music teacher, and a physical education teacher as the main ones.
Quest as a modern pedagogical technique in older preschool age
A person is then in the full sense a person if he is a person who plays, and therefore creates, that is, creates his own world in the game.
F. Schiller
According to A. Gin, “Pedagogical techniques are the basis of successful teaching and the teacher’s ability to constantly improve a modern lesson, find new approaches to teaching students that allow them to increase cognitive interest in the subject being studied and the quality of students’ knowledge” [4]. The development of a child occurs due to his active activity. The basic principles of the educational program for preschool children are implemented during classes through methods and techniques for teaching preschoolers. In this case, the method should be considered methods of influencing or transferring knowledge. Techniques are implemented thanks to variants of application of a certain method. Therefore, methods and techniques for teaching preschoolers can be practical, visual, verbal and playful.
One of the most interesting and close forms of organizing the pedagogical process for students is play. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia notes: “Game is a type of meaningful unproductive activity, where the motive lies not in its result, but in the process itself” [5].
Through play, the teacher helps the child gain the necessary motivation, which should be based on individual needs, provide freedom of choice, and provide the opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills.
The role of play activity and children's play as such in solving problems of the comprehensive development and education of preschool children is indisputably recognized in pedagogy.
Play for a child is the most attractive, natural form and means of learning about the world, their capabilities, self-expression and self-development. For a teacher, a meaningful, properly organized game that meets the interests of children is an effective pedagogical tool that allows them to comprehensively solve a variety of educational and developmental tasks.
In the game, a child is comprehensively prepared for life, from which it follows that games are associated with all types of human activity and act as a specifically children's form of knowledge, work, communication, art, and sports.
The originality of the modern pedagogical process of kindergarten is predetermined by new requirements for preschool education. The Federal State Educational Standard states that pedagogical interaction between a child and raising adults should be focused on ensuring the development of each child, preserving his uniqueness and identity, creating opportunities for the development of abilities and inclinations.
But you should not reduce the importance of the child’s motor activity for his harmonious development. The integration of these types of activities makes it possible to successfully solve the problems of forming a motor culture, developing children’s physical abilities, introducing a healthy lifestyle, health preservation and health formation. These conditions are implemented most effectively during quest games.
In modern conditions and approaches to preschool education in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard for Preschool Education, quest games are quite relevant. According to the authors Gavrishova E.V., Milenkova.M. “Quest games are a new way of interaction in independent, playful activities of children, promoting cooperation between adults and children, their initiative and independence. Currently, a variety of innovative technologies are actively used in preschool education. It should be noted that the quest technology is relevant in the context of the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for Educational Education. This is an innovative form of organizing children's educational activities in preschool education, which contributes to the development of the child's active activity position in the course of solving game search problems. Thus, a quest - a game - is a child’s activity in which he, independently or together with an adult, discovers new practical experience and acquires knowledge” [3].
Quest technology in the educational and general educational process as a concept appeared relatively recently. It must be said that not only child psychologists played a big role in this, but also computer games of the quest genre that appeared a couple of decades ago. Let's try to consider the main aspects related to understanding this process, not from a scientific point of view, but let's talk about this topic in a universal human language, so that everyone can understand, for example, what quest technologies are in the education and upbringing of the younger generation.
It should be noted according to Bachurina. V., that “the modern world is very eventful and many different organizations are ready to offer the child interesting forms of pastime, which makes the already classic forms of organizing the pedagogical process less attractive and evoking less vivid emotions among students. And, as you know, without interest there is no result or it is achieved to a lesser extent” [2].
In this situation, the quest game acts as an assistant to the teacher in organizing the pedagogical process and implementing the assigned pedagogical tasks in a form that is unusual for students, thereby increasing their interest and emotional return.
““Quest” or “Adventure game” (translit. English: Quest - search, Adventure - adventure) is one of the main genres of games that require the participant to solve mental problems to advance through the plot. The plot can be predetermined or give many outcomes, the choice of which depends on the actions of the player.
The concept of “quest” in pedagogical science is defined as a specially organized type of research activity, for which the student searches for information at specified addresses (in reality), including the search for these addresses or other objects, people or tasks” [6].
The relevance of using quests today is recognized by everyone. The new generation Federal State Educational Standard requires the use of activity-type technologies in the educational process. Life shows that modern children better assimilate knowledge in the process of independently obtaining and systematizing new information. The use of quests contributes to the education and development of personality traits that meet the requirements of the information society, the discovery of abilities and the support of children's giftedness.
The concept of “quest” was first used as a literary term. This is the name of a method of constructing a plot, where the achievement of a goal by the main character occurs through overcoming numerous difficulties. For example, any work by Jules Verne or Robert Stevenson. The quest is also the basis of N. Nosov’s fairy-tale trilogy “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends.”
As the analysis of the terms showed, “quest (English quest), or adventure game (English adventure game) is one of the main genres of computer games, which is an interactive story with a main character controlled by the player. The most important elements of a quest game are the actual narrative and exploration of the world, and a key role in the gameplay is played by solving puzzles and tasks that require mental effort from the player. Quests are games in which the player needs to look for various objects, find a use for them, talk with various characters in the game, solve puzzles, etc.“ [7].
Quest game technology fits perfectly into the pedagogical process in preschool educational institutions. Quest - an activity can be intended for both group and individual work.
In the process of working on such a quest project, the student comprehends real processes, experiences specific situations, and becomes involved in penetrating into the depths of phenomena and constructing new processes and objects. From the point of view of information activities, when working on a quest project, its participant requires the skills of searching, analyzing information, the ability to store, transmit, compare and synthesize new information based on comparison.
But the highlight of this organization of play activity is that, having completed one task, children receive a hint to complete the next one, which is an effective means of increasing motor activity and motivational readiness for cognition and exploration.
The popularity of quest games and their success among children can be explained by two reasons. Firstly, this is an enjoyable activity for the child. Secondly, the player understands the significance of its immediate result for himself. It can satisfy personal needs for goal achievement, dominance, independence, and the desire to be in the company of others.
An open quest lesson is held in kindergarten in order to demonstrate to colleagues, as well as parents of their students, positive practical developments in the use of modern gaming technology. The teacher visually presents original ways of organizing and conducting a quest game, original scenario ideas and teaching aids, presents a set of interesting tasks, shares teaching experience, invites to discuss innovative methods and exchange opinions.
Choosing a topic for open display or the preparation process is no different from working on a regular activity in the quest game format, and yet an open quest activity must meet certain conditions:
High level of professional training of the teacher conducting the quest game.
Focus on educational work with teachers and psychologists, including methodological master classes and the transfer of innovative experience in the process of the final discussion of the quest methodology.
Presentation of the results of the teacher’s work within the framework of the topic of self-education on the use of interactive games in working with students.
Demonstration of the effectiveness of gaming technology that meets the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard.
The need for psychological preparation of children for the presence of a large number of strangers.
The main criteria for a quality quest are:
compliance with safety rules;
originality of the theme and script;
consistency of tasks and integrity of the plot;
creating an attractive and vibrant play space.
Quest game technology is constantly used by a physical education instructor and a speech therapist teacher in classes in kindergarten No. 14 “Spikelet” in the village of Bobrovy Dvory
During these games, a comprehensive solution to problems proposed by T. S. Ovchinnikova is provided, such as:
“Educational
‒ to expand and consolidate children’s knowledge about a healthy lifestyle from childhood, to bring them to the understanding that every person should take care of their health from childhood.
‒ teach, clarify and consolidate knowledge about sports, personal hygiene skills, healthy and unhealthy foods, knowledge of sports and physical education for a healthy lifestyle, form children’s ideas about the dependence of health on physical activity, hardening, and adherence to a daily routine.
‒ learning to solve educational problems by conducting experiments;
- training in independent inference;
- teach how to conduct sound analysis of a word;
‒ teach how to compose a story according to a diagram - strengthening the skills of working with non-traditional material;
- consolidation of temporary ideas.
Developmental
- develop the ability to communicate freely with children and adults,
‒ develop the ability to enter into dialogue, expressive speech, promote verbal communication in children;
- create an atmosphere of emotional comfort, improve the mood of children;
- development of imagination, attention, thinking, speech, memory;
- develop logical thinking, strengthen comparison and generalization skills;
- develop fine motor skills;
- develop communication skills, independence, and a friendly attitude towards peers.
‒ develop children’s aesthetic senses, artistic perception, promote the emergence of a positive emotional response to literary and musical works
Educating
‒ cultivate the will to win, curiosity, cognitive activity
‒ fostering positive moral qualities: kindness, responsiveness, desire to help.
‒ developing cooperation skills;
- nurturing independence, initiative, responsibility;
‒ to cultivate interest in creativity, the desire to give joy to others, collectivism, cultivate perseverance, and mutual assistance” [8].
All these tasks were carried out by us throughout the year at various quest games such as: “Healthy lifestyle - visiting the Borboskins”, “Travel to the country of Vitaminia”,
“Journey to the country of Sportlandia”, “Let’s help Smeshariki find treasures” - where children moved from one task to another, throughout the entire territory of the kindergarten building.
Many games were played outside, where tasks were located in all areas of the kindergarten. "In Search of the Mystery of Tortilla Turtle", "Hotel for Insects",
"Vegetable garden suffering."
In the quest game “Let's teach Dunno the rules of the road,” children consolidated their knowledge of traffic rules, played out various situations and found the right solution.
“Across the seas - along the waves” the guys happily went on a sea voyage with the captain.
In the games “My Motherland is Russia,” children from the preparatory group completed tasks related to knowledge of the country. And in the quest game “My Belgorod Region” with knowledge of the native land.
The children of the older group went on a journey to gain knowledge about animals and the place where they live in various regions of the planet: Quest games “Happy Jungle”, “The North Pole - what is it like”, “The hottest place on the planet is the desert”, “Four-story taiga” and etc.
We also visited outer space with our students, the trip - “Belka and Strelka need help”, “Parade of the Planets”.
In September 2021, a game was held with the invitation of first-graders from Bobrovodvorskaya secondary school. Where the total number of participants was 30 people, the children were divided into three teams. The duration of the quest was 1 hour, during which each team walked from station to station a certain route with a total length of 1.5 km.
Quest is an adventure game, a game with “secrets” and discoveries, so it is always emotionally rich and brings pleasure to preschoolers. Such a game involves the interaction of personality and situation.
It is worth noting that the tasks in the quest require intelligence and non-standard problem solving, which means that the game will develop the mental abilities of children. Overcoming the difficulties provided by the plot, they master a lot of new interesting information. A quest can be thought of as a process of cognitive processing of a situation that contains emotional components and pushes one to achieve a goal. There is always something similar to a “striving for completion” in it, that is, a desire that grows over time to bring the process to some conclusion.
As a result, I would like to emphasize the following: quests, as a rule, are a group game, which is also a big plus. To win, you need to learn interaction, mutual assistance, and the ability to make compromise decisions. In addition, if you have to be responsible not only for yourself, but for the victory of the entire team, the game becomes much more exciting. Such adventure games require a certain dexterity, endurance, and strength. It is better to play the game outdoors; it necessarily includes tasks related to running, climbing, throwing, jumping, and balance, thus improving the health of children. All together this creates an atmosphere of adventure, a fun game, is remembered with vivid impressions, and brings joy to preschoolers.
From the above, it becomes obvious that any quest technology is designed not only to improve the perception of, say, educational material or to contribute to the moral development of the child as an individual, but can also stimulate the mental and moral development of children. In addition, at its core, such a technique has a double meaning, oddly enough, from two mutually exclusive rules: the search for correct logical thinking and the use of non-standard methods to solve the problem. But if you dig into history, you can find a lot of individuals who used not only a purely scientific approach to solving a problem.
Literature:
- Andreeva, A. D. The problem of play motivation of modern children // Journal of practical psychologist. — 2008 — No. 5.
- Bachurina, V. Educational games for preschoolers. - M. LLC IKTC "LADA", 2007. - 176 p. — (Series “A talented teacher - a caring parent”).
- Gavrishova E. V., Milenkov. M. Quest - an adventure game for children // Directory of a senior teacher of a preschool institution. — 2015 — No. 10
- Gin. A Techniques of pedagogical technology (https://docplayer.ru/30465089-Priemy-pedagogicheskoy-tehniki-nekotorye-priyomy-pedagogicheskoy-tehniki-po-a-ginu.html)
- Game (type of activity) - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
- Quest - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest
- Quest game - https://ru-wiki.ru/wiki/Adventure_game
- Ovchinnikova T. S. Organization of health-preserving activities in preschool educational institutions - KARO, 2006–176p.
Quest script for Health Day
Now let’s look at the project of the quest itself. We need to determine what stations these will be, what they will be called and how long they will last. It is optimal that the duration of the event in the middle group is no more than 45 minutes.
- A maximum of 10 minutes is a cartoon. You can choose it yourself, for example, about vitamins, about fruits, about the dangers of fast food.
- The organizational stage, when children are divided into teams and listen to the rules - 5 minutes.
- Stations are 4-5 minutes long.
- Treasure, summing up and reflection - 10 minutes.
Now let's look at the stations in more detail.
- The first station is “Sportivnaya”. It can be held in the gym and instruct the physical training teacher to select interesting sports games, perhaps make an obstacle course. Do not forget to warn about the time that the entire task will take 3-4 minutes. We leave one minute to move from one station to another.
- The second station is “Healthy Eating”. Here you can tell children about the dangers of carbonated drinks and tell them that you can make delicious milkshakes with different fruits. And immediately beat the milk with a banana in a blender - it turns out very tasty and inexpensive. Do not hesitate to voice such a proposal to parents at the parent meeting. I'm sure they won't mind acting as sponsors. Alternatively, if suddenly there is no blender in the kindergarten and no one can bring it, then this situation can be played up. Give the children plastic glasses, and place fruits, berries, milk, yogurt, and oatmeal cut out of paper on the table. They will make their own cocktail and name what they choose for it. We have already done this, the kids really liked it too.
- The third station is “Hygiene”. It is important to remind children about the rules of daily hygiene. You can all go wash your hands together. You can prepare riddles on this topic.
- The fourth station is “Musical”. Sing interesting songs with your students. You can try to find a musical game song.
Using quest games in preschool educational institutions
Maria Korobeynikova
Using quest games in preschool educational institutions
quest game is becoming a popular entertainment for modern children . Today, events are held in this way in kindergartens, schools, and holidays are organized. What is the secret to the success of this form of leisure? In our material we will talk about what children's quests and share non-standard ideas for holding such an event for preschool children.
What is a quest ? “ quest ” actually means.
.
It is translated from English as “search”
. In a general sense, this concept denotes any plot that involves achieving a goal by overcoming any obstacles.
If we talk about a quest as a form of organizing children's events, then it is a game, most often a team one, including various tasks of a competitive nature and having a certain plot. Children's quests are distinguished by the presence of tasks that touch on a variety of areas of knowledge and skills - these can be both physical competitions (for example, relay races and intellectual quizzes. In addition, the scenario of such a game involves the use of complex decorations and musical accompaniment.
The main advantage of the quest is that this form of organizing a holiday unobtrusively, in a playful, entertaining way helps to activate the cognitive and mental processes of the participants. With the help of such a game, you can achieve educational goals: implement project and game activities, introduce new information, consolidate existing knowledge, practice children's skills. In addition, competitive activity teaches children to interact in a group of peers, increases the atmosphere of cohesion and friendship, and develops independence, activity and initiative.
Thus, children's quests help to achieve the following objectives: educational (participants learn new knowledge and consolidate existing ones)
;
developmental (during the game there is an increase in educational motivation, the development of creative abilities and individual positive psychological qualities, the formation of research skills, and self-realization of children); educational (skills of interaction with peers, tolerance, mutual assistance and others are formed). The essence of a children's quest Children's quest games are a form of entertainment that represents a set of problematic tasks set for a specific purpose. Such a holiday resembles a theatrical performance: an “adventure”
plot is drawn up with the participation of fairy-tale or cartoon characters popular among children.
Decorations and materials for tasks are being thought through. Often quests for children are held outdoors. Preschoolers take an active part in the game process; they become “seekers”
, heroes of fairy tales.
Principles of organizing quests In order to effectively organize children's quests , certain principles and conditions must be adhered to: all games and tasks must be safe (children should not be asked to jump over a fire or climb a tree); the tasks assigned to children must correspond to the age of the participants and their individual characteristics; under no circumstances should the child's dignity be humiliated in any way; It is necessary to introduce different types of activities into the content of the scenario, since children of the specified age, according to their psychological and age characteristics, cannot perform monotonous tasks; tasks must be thought out in such a way that they are consistent and logically interconnected; the game should be emotionally charged with the help of scenery, music, costumes, and equipment; preschoolers must clearly understand the goal of the game they are striving for (for example, find a treasure or save a good character from an evil one)
;
you should consider time intervals during which children will be able to complete the task, but will not lose interest in it; The role of the teacher in the game is to guide the children, “push” them
to the right decision, but the children must make the final conclusions on their own.
Quest ideas for preschoolers Preschool children take part in quests . For such kids, games based on a fairy tale plot are suitable. For example, you can create a quest for children in the younger group of kindergarten based on the fairy tale “Kolobok”
.
This fairy-tale character unexpectedly comes to visit the kids and asks the kids for help - he is lost in the forest, and he needs to find his way home to his grandparents. Children, together with Kolobok, go on a journey, where various obstacles await them in the form of sports and intellectual tasks. You can introduce other characters into the script: Wolf, Bear, Fox. For preschoolers of the middle and older groups, it is better to choose characters from popular cartoons - meeting your favorite character will increase educational interest, activate cognitive processes and simply leave an unforgettable positive impression on the kids. Thus, it is more effective for preschoolers to organize story-based, colorful children's quests .
Scenarios are developed taking into account the goals set, the number of participants and many other factors. If you are a creative person and conduct classes for children in an unconventional way, in your style, then of course you should try this technology in your work.
Quest script for Victory Day
A very interesting quest can be carried out for a significant holiday - Victory Day. You can choose a patriotic orientation - and you will immediately introduce children to the pages of history, but also perform an educational function - children will want to grow up as patriots of their country.
You can set up a headquarters on the street, gather children there, divide them into groups, and then send them to stations. Here you can do it as a linear quest, when teams are sent to stations, or you can do an assault one, when children are divided into several teams: anti-aircraft gunners, sappers, pilots, special forces, etc.
In this case, each team will perform tasks at only one station. At the stations they will receive pieces of the map, use the map to find a key, and use the key to open the chest in which the Victory Banner will be stored. But you can also add sweets for children's joy. This game will take less time and the children will not get so tired.
As for the stations, everything depends only on the flight of your imagination. You can make tanks out of cardboard and knock them down with a ball. Or bury balls (mines) in the sandbox and give the children shovels to search for. You can set up a nurse's tent where children can go if they are injured (for fun). The nurse will bandage the wound.
In general, there are a lot of ideas. This game is suitable for a preparatory group, and you will find even more ideas for celebrating the holiday in this manual “Scenarios for the Great Victory Holiday: matinees, projects, thematic tasks, sports events, quests, educational and historical games .
The City Day quest will also be an interesting highlight for your students. For example, in the UchMag store there is already such a ready-made quest for residents of Volgograd “Unravel the secrets of the city. Hero City Volgograd. Quest game: 4 route maps + a guide to the game with virtual excursions . What prevents you from developing the same quest for your city? If necessary, you can always turn to the library for help.
