Mini-laboratory "Get to know" - experimental research activities of preschool children

Mini-laboratory “Get to know” - experimental research activities of preschoolers

Relevance of the selected topic 2
The merits of experimental research activities 3
Current state of issue 4
Didactic meaning of design and research activities 5

II Systematic performance of work.

The pedagogical idea of creating a mini-laboratory "Find out
»,

characteristics of modules 6

Principles of building a mini-laboratory 7

Objectives of experimentation in early preschool age 9
Tasks of experimentation in older preschool age. 10
Safety rules when conducting experimental research activities 11

Application

List of equipment and materials for the laboratory. 13
The result of the pedagogical idea in using the mini-laboratory “Know-ka” 14
Literature 15

Experimental research experiments, experiments for children of primary preschool age. 16
Experimental research experiments, experiments for children of senior preschool age. 21
Algorithm for conducting experiments for preschool children 44

“Be able to open up to the child in the world around him

one thing, but open it so that a piece of life

played in front of the children with all the colors of the rainbow.

Always leave something unsaid so that the child

wanted to return once again to what he learned

(V. A. Sukhomlinsky)

How to bring children to a simple understanding of the elementary laws of the world around them, encourage them to draw conclusions and generalizations?

During the period of radical socio-economic and political transformations in Kazakhstan, the prestige of education in the public consciousness, society’s demands for the content of education, and the level and quality of training at all educational levels have increased.

One of such effective methods of understanding the patterns and phenomena of the surrounding world is experimental research activities

, which has long occupied a strong and fundamental place in higher and secondary schools.

Preschool childhood is a unique period in a person’s life, a time when his health is formed and the process of personal development intensively takes place: the formation of the basis of personal culture, moral and spiritual values, the development of the intellectual sphere, creative abilities and skills that a person will operate throughout his life .

It is known that familiarization with any subject or phenomenon gives the most optimal result if it is effective. It is necessary to provide children with the opportunity to “act” with the objects they are studying in the surrounding world. Specially organized research activities

allows our students to obtain information about the phenomena or objects being studied themselves, and for the teacher to make the learning process as effective as possible and more fully satisfy the natural curiosity of preschoolers.

The main advantage of experimental research activities

is that it is close to preschoolers (preschoolers are born researchers):

gives children real ideas about the various aspects of the object being studied,
about its relationships with other environmental objects.
During the experiment, in addition to the development of cognitive activity, there is a development of mental processes - enrichment of memory, speech, activation of thinking, mental skills, since the need constantly arises to perform operations of analysis and synthesis, comparison and classification, generalization and extrapolation, the need to give an account of what was seen, to formulate what was discovered patterns and conclusions; Not only does the child become familiar with new facts, but also the accumulation of a fund of mental techniques and operations.

It should be noted the positive effect of experimental

—
research activities:

on the emotional sphere of the child,
to develop creative abilities,
formation of labor skills, the ability to bring what is started to a victorious end.

Children love to experiment. This is explained by the fact that they are characterized by visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking. Therefore, experimental research activities, like no other method, satisfy age characteristics. In preschool age, experimentation is the leading one, and for the first three years it is practically the only way to understand the world. Experimentation has its roots in the manipulation of objects.

Experimental research activity is not something newly invented, but a way of teaching that was rarely or not used at all in the pedagogical process, and sometimes was simply forgotten.

To teach everything new, where children will be involved in research projects and creative activities in order to learn to invent, understand and master new things, express their own thoughts, make decisions and help each other, formulate interests and recognize opportunities.

The teachers of our kindergarten proposed one of the options for the “Get to Know” mini-laboratory for individual research activities in a preschool institution. To implement the State Educational Standard, each of the teachers, one way or another, understands that modernization in education and innovations that are already being introduced into the educational process are inevitable, since new educational standards cannot be achieved in any other way.

Today, it is clear to everyone that modern children need to be taught in a new way. This is dictated by the current socio-political situation, the rapid changes in the modern world, and our children must be prepared for this.

The didactic meaning of design and research activities is that

helps connect learning to life,

develops research skills,
develops children's cognitive activity,
teaches you to act independently
plan work, bring it to a positive result,
show initiative and creativity.

In the research project, thanks to our mini-laboratory “Get to Know”, children will be able to get to know an object from different sides, all its characteristics, i.e. a holistic vision of the picture of the object being studied is formed (which is what modern pedagogy requires of us).

And what satisfaction the child himself receives from having made a discovery for himself!

The mini-laboratory “Poznay-ka” is a specific module, with additional compartments designed for equipment during experimental research activities.

The purpose of creating the mini-laboratory “Get to Know”

— to form basic key competencies in preschoolers,

ability for a research type of thinking.

The module is divided into 4 sectors:

Natural, includes components of living and non-living nature. (Water, sand, stones, seeds, acorns, cereals, etc.)
Man-made, includes components created by human hands. (Paper, fabric, magnet, glass, chemical liquids, etc.)
Methodical, includes files of experiments, experiments, safety instructions, algorithms for conducting experimental activities, didactic games with elements of cognitive activity.
Sector-materials and equipment. (flasks, microscope, beakers, spatulas, magnifying glasses, spoons, pipettes, etc.)

Material selected

(concentrated according to a certain principle:

- according to the task (for example, modeling, accumulation of cognitive experience through visualization);

- by type of activity (experimentation, transformation);

— content and theme (“Autumn”, “Stones”...)

The principle of staticity - mobility.

On the one hand, the child is provided with the opportunity for free orientation in a familiar environment and, therefore, reliability, confidence and security, and on the other hand, he can change and introduce new things into the environment in accordance with his interests, tastes, and mood.

The principle of emotional well-being and comfort.

The content of materials and equipment, their placement, should evoke positive emotions.

The principle of closure.

The developmental environment helps to understand the distinction between the external and internal world (“me and others”, “one child - a group of children”, “a group of children - a kindergarten”, “kindergarten - the whole world”...), presupposes openness to nature, society, etc. d.

The principle of universality.

Provides the ability to independently or with the help of an adult change the subject-spatial environment, transforming both the equipment itself and its placement.

Multifunctionality.

It assumes the possibility of using the organization of children's activities to solve various problems.

Rationality.

It assumes ease of approach and free access to material and its use both in independent and joint activities, and repeated use of material.

Updateability of the material.

Variability

material to support children's interest and take into account their capabilities by creating different levels of difficulty for one type of activity and children's interests.

The objectives of research activities are specific for each age

Junior preschool age:

— children’s entry into a problematic play situation (the leading role of the teacher)

— intensifying the desire to look for ways to resolve a problem situation (together with the teacher);

— formation of initial prerequisites for research activities (practical experiments).

To use the mini-laboratory “Poznay-ka”, according to the State Educational Standard, we are applying experiments for the research activities of preschool children.

Appendix No. 1

(experiments for children of primary preschool age)

Senior preschool age.

— formation of prerequisites for search activity and intellectual initiative;

- developing the ability to identify possible methods of solving a problem with the help of an adult, and then independently;

— developing the ability to apply these methods to help solve the problem, using various options;

— development of the desire to use special terminology, the introduction of constructive conversation in the process of joint research activities, the ability to put forward hypotheses and independently formulate conclusions.

Appendix No. 2

(experiments for senior preschool age)

Safety rules when conducting experimental research activities in a mini laboratory

"Get to know"

When conducting experimental research activities, safety rules should not be neglected.

The responsibility for ensuring safety lies entirely with the teacher.

When organizing activities with children, it is necessary to consider the following:

1. Children must be taught how to conduct experiments; The more often a teacher uses the experimentation method in his work, the lower the likelihood of an emergency.

2. Work with children is based on the principle “from simple to complex”: the teacher must know at each stage about the level of students’ skills.

3. All unfamiliar procedures are mastered in the following sequence:

the action is shown by the teacher;
the action is repeated or demonstrated by one of the children, moreover, the one who will obviously do it incorrectly: this will make it possible to concentrate attention on a typical mistake;
sometimes the teacher himself deliberately makes a mistake: with the help of such a methodological technique, he gives the children the opportunity to concentrate their attention on the mistake, the probability of which is very high;
the action is repeated by the child who will not make a mistake;
the action is carried out all together at a slow pace so that the teacher has the opportunity to monitor the work of each child;
The action has become familiar, and the children perform it at a normal pace.

4. The teacher must thoroughly study the individual characteristics of children and be able to predict their behavior in a given situation, anticipating in advance undesirable reactions and behavior.

5. To exclude overprotection on the part of an adult, work should be based on the principles of personality-oriented pedagogy.

6. To ensure quick suppression of unwanted actions, it makes sense to develop in children a conditioned reflex to some short command, for example, to the “Stop!” signal. The development of the reflex is carried out outside of experimental activity and is usually carried out in the form of a game, when children, having heard the command, freeze and stop their actions, and turn their attention to the teacher. This signal should be used in extreme situations.

7. To successfully guide the experimental and research activities of children, the teacher must be able to see the entire team and distribute attention between individual children, as well as have a good command of the factual material and methodology for conducting each experiment.

8. There should be a calm atmosphere during classes.

List of equipment for the “Poznay-ka” mini-laboratory

Assistant devices: microscope, magnifying glasses, hourglasses, compasses and magnets;
Transparent and opaque vessels of different configurations and different volumes: plastic bottles, glasses, buckets, funnels;
Natural materials: pebbles of different colors and shapes, minerals, clay, earth, coarse and fine sand (different colors), bird feathers, shells, cones, nut shells, pieces of tree bark, dry leaves, twigs, fluff, moss, fruit seeds and vegetables, wool;
Waste material: pieces of leather, fur, scraps of fabric, corks, wire, wood, plastic, metal objects
Different types of papers: plain, landscape, notebook, tracing paper, sandpaper;
Dyes: berry syrup, watercolors;
Medical materials: pipettes, flasks, test tubes, beakers, cotton wool, funnels, measuring spoons;
Other materials: mirrors, balloons, wooden toothpicks, flour, salt, colored and transparent glasses, molds, steaks, threads.

The success of the pedagogical idea in using the mini-laboratory “Get to Know”

Anyone can work with this technology, as it is interesting for both children and adults.
A child is an explorer from birth, but consciously does something from the age of 5, and a child can be prepared for this activity from an early age. The ability for intellectual effort, research skills, logic and ingenuity will not become stronger on their own. Both parents and teachers can help here.
It is important that there is a laboratory atmosphere.
Form of work: classes with all children, with a subgroup, individually.

A competent combination of materials and equipment in the “Get to Know” mini-laboratory contributes to children’s mastery of the means of cognitive activity, methods of action, examination of objects, and expansion of cognitive and research experience.

Literature

State general educational standard of training of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Kulikovskaya I. E., Sovgir N. N. Children's experimentation. Senior preschool age: Textbook. Benefit. – M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2003. – 80 p.

Tugusheva G.P., Chistyakova A.E. Experimental activities of children of middle and senior preschool age: Methodological manual. SPb.: CHILDHOOD - PRESS, 2008. - 128 p.

Application

ALGORITHM - EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

Children's laboratories. Direction: “Experiments, games - experiments in the daily routine at a preschool educational institution”

Children love to experiment. This is explained by the fact that they are characterized by visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking, and experimentation, like no other method, corresponds to these age-related characteristics.

The main advantage of the experimentation method is that it gives children real ideas about the various aspects of the object being studied, about its relationships with other objects and with the environment. During the experiment, the child’s memory is enriched, his thought processes are activated, since there is a constant need to perform operations of analysis and synthesis, comparison and classification, generalization and extrapolation (a forecast that is based on forecasting events, taking into account the analysis of indicators that took place in the past) .

In addition to educational activities, educators plan educational activities during the day (in the morning and evening hours, while walking, during special periods). For this purpose, age-appropriate forms of organizing various types of children's activities are planned.

Particular attention should be paid to the priority solution of such problems and the implementation of the content of those educational areas that were not fully represented during the organization of educational activities. This is experimental activity. The experiences and experiments presented in the educational program are not able to cover the entire volume of material that is necessary for a complete study of this topic. Experiments are rarely carried out in kindergartens. Some experiments are contemplative in nature. The experiments carried out are often scattered, isolated, and cycles are not formed from them. The results of experiments are not always used in subsequent lessons. The connections between experimentation and other activities - drawing, modeling, mathematics, speech development, labor - are not sufficiently developed. Therefore, daily experimentation classes are an addition to the main classes in the educational program.

Experiments in the daily routine are a well-chosen form of work that combines educational requirements, contributes to the formation of a holistic picture of the world of a preschool child, and allows children to successfully develop curiosity.

The connection between children's experimentation and other activities

Children's experimentation is not an activity isolated from others. It is closely related to all types of activities.

Observation is an indispensable component of any experiment, since with its help the perception of the progress of work and its results is carried out.

Labor may not be associated with experimentation, but there are no experiments without performing labor actions.

Experimentation and speech development. This can be clearly seen at all stages of the experiment. The ability to clearly express one’s thoughts (i.e., sufficiently developed speech) facilitates the experience, while acquiring knowledge contributes to the development of speech.

Experimentation and visual activity . The better a child studies an object in the process of becoming familiar with nature, the more accurately he will convey its details during visual activity.

Experimentation and formation of elementary mathematical concepts. During experiments, there is a constant need to count, measure, compare, determine shape and size, and perform other operations. All this gives mathematical concepts real significance and contributes to their understanding. At the same time, mastery of mathematical operations facilitates experimentation.

Classification of experiments and experiments in the daily routine:

Experiments can be classified according to different principles:

1. According to the nature of the objects used in the experiment:

Experiments with plants.
Experiments with animals.
Experiments with inanimate objects.
Experiments in which the object is a person.

2. At the location of the experiments:

In the group room.
Location on.

3. By number of children:

Individual (1 – 4 children).
Group (5 – 10 children).
Collective (the whole group).

4. Due to their implementation:

Random (random experiments do not require special preparation. They are carried out impromptu in the situation that arose at the moment when the children saw something interesting in nature, in a corner of nature or on a site).
Planned (prepared in advance by the teacher).
posed in response to a child’s question (after listening to the question, the teacher does not answer it, but advises the child to establish the truth himself by conducting a simple observation: “Let’s see if you can move with your eyes closed”).

5. By the nature of inclusion in the pedagogical process:

Episodic (carried out from time to time).
Systematic.

6. By duration:

Short-term (from 5 to 15 minutes).
Long (over 15 minutes).

7. By the number of observations of the same object:

One-time use.
Multiple.
Cyclic.

8. By place in the loop:

Primary.
Repeated.
Final and final.

9. By the nature of mental operations:

Ascertaining (allowing one to see one state of an object or one phenomenon without connection with other objects and phenomena).
Comparative (allowing you to see the dynamics of a process or note changes in the state of an object).
Generalizing (experiments in which the general patterns of a process previously studied at individual stages are traced).

10. According to the nature of children’s cognitive activity:

Illustrative (children know everything, and the experiment only confirms familiar facts).
Search (children do not know in advance what the result will be).
Solving experimental problems.

11. By method of use:

Demonstration (observations and experiments in which there is only one object in the classroom, and this object is in the hands of the teacher. The teacher himself performs the experiment (demonstrates it), and the children monitor the progress and results).
Frontal (experiments and observations in which there are many objects in the classroom and they are in the hands of children. Observations of this type compensate for the shortcomings of demonstration observations).

A stage of reflection is required after summing up the results of the experiment: the guys share their emotions from the discovery process, tell them why they liked the lesson, and the properties of which objects they would like to study in the next lessons.

Children's laboratories. Direction: “Experiments, experimental games with younger preschoolers”

2nd junior group:

The purpose of creating a children's laboratory in the second junior group is to: form and expand children's ideas about the objects of the surrounding world through practical actions.

From an early age, children love to play in sand, water, snow, and play with cereals. By organizing games with these materials, the teacher not only introduces children to their properties, but also reinforces basic ideas about the shape, size, and color of objects, developing the child’s fine motor skills and sensory abilities. Kids really like these games. Sand and grains can be poured from palm to palm, from a sieve into a bucket, poured into different containers, you can bury various objects in them and dig them out, build slides, paths, and then destroy and build again. Water can be poured, painted in different colors, frozen, caught ice in the water, blowing bubbles in the water, checked which objects sink and which don’t, etc.

Such experiments can be carried out at different regime moments. The subject of the experiments is selected by the teacher in accordance with the calendar planning for educational activities. Lesson duration is no more than 15 minutes.

Types of children's experimentation in the second junior group can be distinguished by the nature of the cognitive activity of pupils:

Illustrative experimentation: children know the result of some process or action on an object, and experience confirms this. For example, children know that snow melts if you bring it home. Experiment “What is snow?” illustrates the transition of water from solid to liquid at positive temperatures.
Exploratory experimentation: when children do not know the result and are asked to obtain it experimentally. Children may not know which object will float and which will sink. The “Sink or Float” experiment will show that metal and stone products will sink, but wooden and plastic products can float.
Solving cognitive problems: during the lesson, educational conditions are created in which students select research methods to find answers. For example: the hero asks for help choosing a vehicle for transporting building materials to build a house. The guys should experimentally help you choose the right transport.

The very first and most interesting thing we do in the younger group is an introduction to properties. While washing, we invite children to watch the water and answer the question - “What is it like?” - liquid - flows, no color - colorless, no odor. Then, we bring to the conclusion that soap does not lather without water. And only with the help of water can we wash our hands with soap - we conclude that water dissolves soap.

In the warm season, children study the properties of water, air, sand, and plants. You can conduct the following experiments: “What kind of sand can we build a castle from?”, “Is it possible to carry water in a sieve?”, “What does it take for a ball to fly?”, “The sun dries objects,” “There is air in the soil,” “Street shadows”, “How do plants drink?” and etc.

In winter we study the properties of water and snow. So throughout the day (in the morning - on a walk - in the evening) you can observe how the state of aggregation of water changes. Conduct a series of experiments: “Why does water freeze?”, “Why does ice melt?”, “Where does ice melt faster?”, “Why does Santa Claus always wear a fur coat?”, “Ice is transparent,” “What is snow?”, “Blinds snowball”, etc.

In the spring, within 2-3 weeks we can observe changes in seeds placed in the ground or water. And find out what it takes for it to germinate? You can watch how primroses grow and change.

Children's curiosity is clearly evident. They begin to ask numerous questions, they accumulate a certain amount of knowledge, the ability to compare facts is formed, to establish at least the simplest relationships between them and to see gaps in their own knowledge.

We help the child gain knowledge on his own through a little experience. In this case, the child's question turns into a goal formulation. The teacher helps the child think through how he will conduct the experiment, gives advice and recommendations, and together with him carries out the necessary actions.

While working, you can sometimes offer to perform not one, but two actions in a row, if they are simple: “Pour out the water and pour new water,” “Take the spatula and bring the watering can.” It is useful to begin to involve children in predicting the results of their actions: “What will happen if we blow into a tube that is in a glass of water?” Children begin to develop voluntary attention. This allows you to make your first attempts to record the results of observations using ready-made forms: “Let's collect all the sticks of the same length.” This contributes to the development of the ability to analyze facts and give a verbal account of what was seen or done.

Middle group

The purpose of creating a children's laboratory in the middle group is to develop a research type of thinking in children through encouraging practical actions on objects and observation of physical processes.

In the fifth year of a child’s life, the number of questions increases, and the need to obtain an answer experimentally becomes stronger. Thanks to the accumulation of personal experience, the child’s actions become more focused and deliberate. Everyone has their own style of work.

Types of children's experimentation in the middle group can also be distinguished by the nature of the cognitive activity of pupils:

Illustrative experimentation: children know the result of some process or action on an object, and experience confirms this.
Exploratory experimentation: when children do not know the result and are asked to obtain it experimentally.
Solving cognitive problems: during the lesson, educational conditions are created in which students select research methods to find answers. If by this time the adult manages to take the position of an older friend and assistant, the child will begin to ask him more and more often the question: “How to do this?”

At this age, a child can follow not only two, but sometimes three instructions at once, if the actions are simple and familiar. The first attempts to work independently appear. The direct participation of adults in the work is no longer so important, unless, of course, the procedures are simple and not dangerous. However, visual control by an adult is still necessary - and not only to ensure the safety of experimentation, but also for moral support. When recording observations, they begin to use drawings that adults make in front of children.

The final stages of experimentation also undergo certain complications: when giving a verbal account of what they saw, children are not limited to individual phrases spoken in response to the teacher’s question, but utter several sentences that, although not a detailed story, are already approaching it in volume.

We do not forget that we need to patiently teach our child the skills of experimentation and not assume that he should master them just because he has reached a certain age. The degree of mastery of skills is determined not by age, but by the conditions in which the child developed and was raised, as well as by the individual characteristics of the child.

Children's laboratories. Direction: “Experiments, experimental games with older preschoolers”

The goal of the children's laboratory for older preschoolers is to form and expand children's ideas about objects of living and inanimate nature through practical independent knowledge. A preschool child by nature is characterized by an orientation towards understanding the world around him and experimenting with objects and phenomena of reality.

It is experimental activity that helps a preschool educational institution graduate meet the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, according to which a graduate today must have such qualities as curiosity, activity, which encourage interest in the new, unknown in the world around him. In the course of experimental activities, the preschooler learns to observe, think, compare, answer questions, draw conclusions, establish a cause-and-effect relationship, and follow safety rules.

Objectives of experimental activities of older preschoolers:

to develop in children the ability to see the diversity of the world in a system of relationships;
combine the display of an object with the child’s active action to examine it (touching, tasting, smelling, etc.);
teach children to compare facts and conclusions from reasoning;
use practical experience with gaming activities;
develop children's thinking, modeling and transformative actions.

Educational objectives:

introduce children to the properties of the subject of research;
develop the ability to make discoveries and conclusions;
teach smooth directed approach to an object.

Developmental tasks:

develop experimental activities;
develop children's speech;
develop sensory abilities, tactile sensations, fine motor skills;
develop attention, thinking, memory.

Educational tasks:

cultivate independence and activity throughout the lesson;
cultivate the ability to listen to each other, a sense of mutual assistance, the ability to work in a team, goodwill and responsiveness.

The impetus for starting experimentation is often surprise, curiosity, a problem or request put forward by someone. Therefore, in older preschool age, all existing types of experiments are used in their work:

Random observations and experiments do not require special preparation; they are carried out impromptu in the situation that arose at the moment when the children saw something interesting in nature, in a corner of nature or on a site. And for this, we adults need to be literate and have considerable biological knowledge ourselves. Otherwise, the most interesting events will pass by children incomprehensibly and unnoticed. It follows that preparation for random experiments is constant self-education in all areas of biology, geography, and agriculture;
Planned observations and experiments (pre-planned). During the lesson, children are interested in the content being studied in order to encourage the child to engage in independent activities.
Experiments as an answer to children's questions (conducted as an answer to a child's question). Either the child who asked the question or his comrades are involved in conducting such experiments. After listening to the question, I do not answer it, but advise the child to establish the truth himself by conducting a simple observation: “And you see for yourself what happens.” The fact that children are not given direct answers to questions stimulates their intellectual development, inquisitiveness of mind and helps them find the answer through experience.

Organization of work with children in this direction is carried out in all regime moments:

the use of experimental activities in educational areas (EDA);
free independent activity of children;
joint activities of an adult with children, as well as a child with peers.

In order for experimental activities to arouse interest in children, it is necessary to select content that is accessible to their understanding.

Therefore, this work is carried out in three interrelated areas:

— wildlife (observations of plants, insects, animals);

— inanimate nature (study of the properties of water, snow, air, wind, sand, clay);

— man (functioning of the body; man-made world: materials and their properties, transformation of objects and phenomena, etc.)

The structure of children's experimentation:

Identification and formulation of the problem (choice of research topic); For example, while drawing clothes for paper dolls, we thought - can people walk around in paper clothes?
Putting forward a hypothesis - does paper have the same properties as fabric?
Searching for and proposing possible solutions: Drawing up a research plan. Consider and conduct experiments. Having examined it, we found that paper and fabric come in different densities and colors; paper and fabric are easy to cut.
Collection of material: First we decided to find out where the paper and fabric came from. We looked at illustrations from the encyclopedia. We read the history of the creation of paper, the history of silk, and Ushinsky’s story “How a Shirt Grew in a Field.” We guessed riddles about fabrics and paper. We carried out experiments: they crumpled paper and fabric, tried to tear it, dipped it in water, and dried it.
Generalization of the obtained data.

Based on the results of the study, we draw a conclusion.

This algorithm of work allows you to intensify mental activity and encourages children to conduct independent research.

Experimentation is carried out in all areas of children's activity: eating, studying, playing, walking, sleeping, washing. To do this, we create special conditions in a developing environment that stimulate the enrichment of the development of research activities.

Senior group

With proper organization of work, children in the older group develop a strong habit of asking questions and trying to find answers to them on their own. Now the initiative to conduct experiments passes into the hands of children. The role of the educator as an intelligent friend and adviser increases. He does not impose his advice and recommendations, but waits for the child, having tried different options, to seek help himself. And even then he does not immediately give a ready-made answer, but tries to awaken the children’s independent thoughts and, with the help of leading questions, direct their reasoning in the right direction.

In the older group, the role of tasks to predict results increases. These tasks come in two types: predicting the consequences of one’s actions and predicting the behavior of objects. For example: “Guys, today we sowed seeds from which new plants will grow. What do you think they will be like in 10 days?” Everyone draws a picture in which they reflect their ideas. After 10 days, comparing the drawings and real plants, they determine which of the guys was closest to the truth. An illustration of the second case is the following example: “Slava, you are going to put a hamster in this box. Think about what needs to be done to prevent him from running away.”

When conducting experiments, work is most often carried out in stages: after listening and completing one task, the children receive the next. However, due to an increase in memory capacity and increased voluntary attention, in some cases you can try to give one task for the entire experiment and then monitor the progress of its implementation. Children's level of independence increases. The possibilities for recording results are expanding. Various graphic forms are being used more widely, and different methods of recording natural objects (herbarium) are being mastered.

Children learn to independently analyze the results of experiments, draw conclusions, and compose a detailed story about what they saw. But the measure of independence is not yet great. Without support from the teacher, children's speech is constantly interrupted by pauses. In the older group, long-term experiments begin to be introduced, during which general patterns of natural phenomena and processes are established. By comparing two objects or two states of the same object, children can find not only differences, but also similarities. This allows them to begin to learn classification techniques. As the complexity of experiments increases and children become more independent, it is necessary to pay even more attention to compliance with safety rules.

At this age, children remember instructions quite well and understand their meaning, but due to the immaturity of voluntary attention, they often forget about instructions and can injure themselves or their comrades. Thus, while giving children independence, the teacher must very carefully monitor the progress of work and compliance with safety rules, and constantly remind them of the most difficult moments of the experiment.

For children in the older group, more complex chains of cause and effect relationships become available. We should try to ask them more often at this age the question “Why?” Very often they ask it themselves, which indicates certain shifts in the development of logical thinking.

In this group, long-term experiments can be introduced, as well as simple monitoring (for example, to determine the level of air pollution on the site and in the premises of a preschool educational institution). Children continue to study the properties of water, snow, sand, soil, clay, learn about the properties of air, and draw conclusions. That there is no such thing as bad weather, that plants and animals need snow in winter, they study the water cycle using the example of indoor plants, and become familiar with the influence of environmental factors on living organisms.

Preparatory group for school

In this group, working in the laboratory should become the norm. It should be considered not as an end in itself and not as entertainment, but as the most successful way of introducing children to the world around them and the most effective way of developing thought processes. Experiments make it possible to combine all types of activities and all aspects of education. The initiative to carry them out is distributed evenly between the teacher and the children. Experiments are beginning to be practiced in which children independently conceive an experiment, think through the methodology themselves and distribute responsibilities among themselves, carry it out themselves and draw the necessary conclusions themselves. In such cases, the role of the teacher is reduced to general monitoring of the progress of work and compliance with safety rules. Compared to ordinary experiments, the proportion of such experiments in kindergarten is small, but they bring great joy to the children. Children of the seventh year of life are capable of such complex mental operations as putting forward hypotheses, testing their truth, and the ability to abandon a hypothesis if it is not confirmed. Children are able to draw conclusions about the hidden properties of objects and phenomena, independently formulate conclusions, and also give a bright, colorful description of what they saw. However, what has been said cannot be applied to all children. There are significant differences among them, and next to a child who has a high culture of experimentation there may be a peer who is close to the average group in terms of development.

The results of children's experimentation are the following:

A child who feels like a researcher, who has mastered the art of experimentation, overcomes indecision and self-doubt.
He awakens to initiative, the ability to overcome difficulties, experience failures and achieve success, the ability to evaluate and admire the achievement of a comrade, and the willingness to come to his aid.
The experience of one's own discoveries is one of the best schools of character. The main thing is to create complete living images of different parts of the Earth and the surrounding world in the child’s imagination.

While working in a specially prepared environment, older preschoolers:

Show an active interest in objects and phenomena that lie outside the specific situation;
They ask questions: why? For what? How?;
They strive to explain facts and connections, using phrases “because...” in speech;
Show interest in educational literature;
They are able to express their thoughts, formulate ideas about the world around them and events;
They try to draw up diagrams and sketch experiments on their own;
Apply their knowledge in life.

Analyzing all of the above, we can conclude that specially organized research activities allow students to obtain information about the objects or phenomena being studied, and the teacher to make the learning process as effective as possible and more fully satisfy the natural curiosity of preschoolers, developing their cognitive activity.

Thus, we can conclude that research activities contribute to:

development of cognitive needs;
teaches independent search, discovery and assimilation of new things.

Experimentation facilitates mastery of the method of scientific knowledge in the process of search activity, promotes the creative development of the individual, being one of the directions in the development of children's talent.

Used Books:

Organization of experimental work in preschool educational institutions. Thematic and long-term planning. Vol. 2. Federal State Educational Standard, Ermolaev S.D., Publisher: Detstvo-Press, 2021
Children's experimentation. Scheme maps for conducting experiments with older preschoolers, Author: Dmitrieva Elena Aleksandrovna, Zaitseva Olga Yuryevna, Kalinichenko Svetlana Anatolyevna, Editor: Puchkova I. V., Publisher: Sfera, 2021
Burnyshova M.G. development of children's cognitive activity through experimental and research activities. Project “Lyuboznayka” // Preschool pedagogy. – 2011. – No. 3. – pp. 24-26.
https://azbyka.ru/deti/zanimatelnye-opyty-i-ehksperimenty-dlya-doshkolnikov
https://www.center-sozvezdie.ru/journal/prostye-opyty-i-eksperimenty-dlya-doshkolnikov.html
https://findmykids.org/blog/ru/samye-interesnye-opyty-dlya-detey-va