Methodological recommendations for organizing play activities in modern preschool educational institutions
Organization of children's play activities
in a modern kindergarten
Play is a special activity that blossoms in childhood and accompanies a person throughout his life. It is not surprising that the problem of play has attracted and is attracting the attention of researchers, not only teachers and psychologists, but also philosophers, sociologists, ethnographers, and biologists.
There are a number of theories that look at the game from two points of view:
- play as an activity in which the child develops holistically, harmoniously, comprehensively;
- game as a means of acquiring and developing knowledge.
It is now generally accepted that play is the leading activity of a preschool child. Let me remind you that the psychologist A. N. Leontiev considered the leading activity to be one that has a special impact on the development of the child at a given age. For young children, the leading activity is object-based activity; for children of younger and older preschool age, the leading activity is play.
Developing character
The game is that it puts forward a number of requirements for the child:
• The first requirement
addressed to the child from the role-playing game is an action in the imaginary plane. This moment is noted by all game researchers, although it receives different names. The need to act on an imaginary plane leads to the development of the symbolic function of thinking in children, the formation of a plan of ideas, and the construction of an imaginary situation.
• Second requirement
- the child’s ability to navigate in a certain way in the system of human relationships, since the game is aimed precisely at their reproduction. The main content of the relationships that are modeled in the game consists of various combinations of subordination of social roles. It is this content that is primarily the subject of mastery for the child.
• Third requirement
- formation of real relationships between playing children. Playing together is impossible without coordination of actions. In the process of such coordination, children develop “social qualities”, in the terminology of A.P. Usovaya, i.e. qualities that provide a certain level of communication.
This is the main specific developmental value of role-playing games.
In addition, there is experimental data on the development of voluntary behavior control in the game,
initial forms
of intentional memorization, activity, organization.
It is also generally accepted that the game develops knowledge about the phenomena of social life, the actions and relationships of adults, etc.
So, we all know how important play is for preschool children, we are all aware of the fact that the development of children in preschool is ineffective outside of play.
And yet, we are forced to admit that play is “moving away” from kindergarten; children practically do not play. And there are several reasons for this.
• Children have few impressions, emotions, holidays, without which the development of play is impossible. Children receive most of their impressions from television programs, the quality of which, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired.
• Game is a reflection of the life of adults: while playing, a child imitates them, models various sociocultural situations and relationships. But, perhaps, for the first time in many years, educators in large cities, in particular Moscow, are faced with the fact that children do not know what their parents are doing. Mysterious abbreviations appear in the “Information about parents” column, and in the “position” column - realtors, managers, dealers, agents, referents, etc. Parents cannot clearly explain to their child what they are doing. Only the activities of adults that are directly observed in life remain. But there are very few of them. The professions of salesman, postman, tailor and cutter have left children's direct observation. Meanwhile, conditions for these games are being created; many kindergartens have artificially created play areas. But the attributes for these games gather dust on the shelves, not arousing much interest among children.
• Adults do not play. It is impossible to teach a game other than by playing with a child.
Also, one of the good reasons for the departure of the game from preschool educational institutions is our desire to “please” parents, as a result of which teachers do nothing but “work” with children, trying to tell them as much information as possible. There is practically no time left to play. In this case, such a common phrase as “social order” is used. In fact, this notorious social order is used by many as an excuse, dictated by the reluctance and inability to organize a children's game.
Meanwhile, there is time to play in preschool educational institutions - this is laid down in the regulatory documents that are fundamental for us, in particular in the instructional and methodological letter “On Hygienic Requirements...”, in the new SanPiNs.
Another problem is to restore in adults and teachers the ability to play with children and competently lead
children's game.
Method of integrated game management.
It was proposed by E.V. Zvorygina and S. L. Novoselova. (See diagram)
Currently, in the practice of preschool institutions, this method is often used in the presence and interrelation of the following pedagogical conditions: active activity of children aimed at familiarizing themselves with the environment; educational games; timely change of the subject-game environment; activating communication between the teacher and children during the game itself.
1. Systematic enrichment of children's experience.
In everyday life, in class, on a walk, while reading books, watching TV programs, the child learns the purpose of objects, the meaning of people’s actions, the essence of their relationships, and his first emotional and moral assessments are formed. All this can serve as a source for the emergence of the game’s concept and the constant enrichment of its content.
2. To translate real experience into a game, conditional plan, for children to learn ways to reproduce reality in the game, educational games
(didactic, theatrical, etc.) They must contain elements of novelty, introduce children into a conditional situation, and emotionally involve them in the process of acquiring knowledge.
3. Timely change of the gaming environment,
selection of toys and gaming material that help to consolidate in the child’s memory recent impressions received while getting to know the environment, as well as in educational games, guide preschoolers toward independent, creative solving of gaming problems, and encourage different ways of reproducing reality in play. The object-game environment needs to be changed taking into account the practical and play experience of children. It is important not only to expand the theme of toys, but also to select them according to the principle of varying degrees of generalization of the image.
4. To consolidate the activity experience acquired by children in independent initiative play, it is necessary for them to communicate with an adult
during gameplay. Communication should be aimed at the formation of progressive (for
.of each age period) ways to solve game problems. To do this, the teacher organizes the activities of preschoolers in increasingly complex problem game situations, taking into account their specific practical experience, as well as the game environment.
All components of comprehensive guidance in the development of play are interconnected and equally important when working with children of different ages. The level of game development achieved as a result of such guidance at this age stage allows the teacher to go further, taking into account the new capabilities of his students.
Having examined the management of preschoolers’ play, it is necessary to draw the following conclusions:
• The game should be free from themes and regulation of actions imposed by adults “from above.” The child must have the opportunity to master the increasingly complex “language” of play - the general ways of its implementation, increasing the freedom to creatively realize his own ideas.
Play should be a joint activity of the teacher and children, where the teacher is a playing partner, so that play at all age stages is an independent activity of children.
To develop gaming activities, it is necessary to fulfill several conditions: the creation of a subject-specific development environment, the availability of a certain time in the daily routine and the professionalism of teachers. Without these conditions being met, it is impossible to develop children's creative, amateur play.
It has already been said that one of the reasons for the “departure” of play from kindergarten is the desire of teachers to bring the educational process in a preschool institution as close as possible to the “school” model. Teachers devote most of their time and attention to activities with children, forgetting about the importance of independent children’s play and its significance for children's development. “We don’t have time to play! He’s sorely missed!” - say the teachers.
This is wrong. There is time to play. It is included in any comprehensive preschool education program. Having analyzed the programs and the daily routines proposed in them, as well as the instructional and methodological letter “On Hygienic Requirements...” and the new Sanitary Regulations and Regulations, we came to the conclusion that in the daily routine of children in kindergarten, time is allocated for play. Guided by these documents, methodologists developed a scheme that takes into account all the regime aspects of children’s stay in a preschool institution. It shows that children of different age groups are given from 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes to play during the day. The main goal of teachers is to use this time correctly, in every possible way encouraging children to play independently, participating in them and helping
children learn new ways to play.
Recommendations for the teacher on the development of play activities material on the topic
Recommendations for educators on the development of play activities in the younger group.
- Remember! Play is an important and essential component of the life of children in kindergarten.
- Provide every child with the opportunity to realize their needs and interests.
- When playing with children, help them adapt to living conditions in kindergarten.
- Formation of children’s ability to accept and verbally designate a playing role.
- To develop in children the skills necessary for plot-based play: objective actions “make-believe”.
- Rely on the interests of each of the children, develop themes close to them in the game (family life, kindergarten, traveling by transport, etc.), use motifs from familiar fairy tales.
- Lead the child to understand this or my role (he himself can be someone else in the game - a mother, a driver, a doctor, etc.).
- Encourage the child to use story toys, substitute objects (thermometer stick, etc.).
- Include episodes of “telephone conversations” and various characters into a game on any topic to activate role-playing dialogue.
- Encourage children's desire to bring toys to life. Play the role for yourself and the toy.
- When playing with children, take the position of an equal, interested partner.
- Induce in the child a feeling of emotional community with adults and peers, a sense of trust in them.
Recommendations for educators on the development of play activities in the middle group.
- The teacher constantly uses a variety of themes for children's games based on famous fairy tale and literary stories.
- Provide conditions for free, independent individual play (director's play), support the emotional and positive state of the child.
- To develop in children more complex gaming skills, behavior in accordance with different roles of partners, and change the playing role.
- The teacher encourages children to play independently together in small subgroups.
- The teacher, if necessary, helps the child to join the play of his peers, finding a meaningful role for himself.
- The teacher places significant emphasis on role-playing dialogue
- The teacher should be included in the joint game as a partner.
- During the game, the teacher does not adhere to a rigid plan, but improvises, accepting the suggestions of the partner - the child regarding further events.
- Learn to develop a joint game in small subgroups, taking into account the plot plans of the partners.
- Teach children to relate their playing role to many other roles to develop an interesting plot.
- To develop children's interest in play, to develop the ability to independently engage themselves in play (individual and joint with peers).
- Use a minimum number of toys so that manipulation with them does not distract the child’s attention from role-playing interaction.
- To develop in children new, more complex ways of constructing role-playing games.
Recommendations for educators on developing play activities with older children
(senior, preparatory groups).
- Encourage children to use expressive means of speech and gestures when conveying the characters of the character being performed.
- Provide conditions for children's play activities.
- Give the child the opportunity to freely choose a game that suits his interests.
- The teacher encourages children's initiative.
- Can connect to the game, taking on a role that is not directly related to the plot-semantic context, can introduce a role from a different semantic context into the game (this forces children to develop the plot in a new direction).
- The teacher promotes the development in children of initiative and independence in play, activity in the implementation of play plans.
- Encourage the child’s desire to make the missing items for play with his own hands.
- Pay attention to developing in children the ability to create new and varied game plots, coordinate plans with partners, come up with new rules and follow them during the game.
- Contribute to the strengthening of children's play associations, to be attentive to the relationships that children develop in play.
- To orient children towards cooperation in joint play, to regulate their behavior based on creative play ideas.
- To develop children’s ability to independently organize joint play and fairly resolve conflicts that arise in the game. Use normative methods for this (queue, different types of lots).
- To develop in children the ability to widely use the role of the game to develop a variety of plots, to be included in a game coordinated with their peers.
- Improve children's ability to regulate behavior based on game rules.
- The teacher gradually develops in children the ability to creatively combine various events, creating a new plot of the game.
- The teacher supports children's interest in free improvisational play based on fairy tales and literary works, offering different forms: role-playing dramatization, puppet theater, and participating together with the children.
- The teacher organizes with small subgroups of children (6-7 years old) a dramatization game based on ready-made plots in the form of a short performance for younger children or peers.
Recommendations for planning gaming activities.
Forward planning | Scheduling |
I. Independent games | |
1. Game - experimentation (2-3 games) 2. Story-role-playing game 3. Director's play (1 new, 2 fixed). 4. Theatrical games | 1 game every evening Every evening Every evening Every evening |
II. Educational games: 1. Educational games 2. Developmental (for the development of logical thinking, sensory abilities). 3. Verbal, TRIZ games. 4. Finger dances, round dances 5. Move with the rules. 6. Traffic rules, life safety, healthy lifestyle (1-2 games each) | Every morning and evening Every morning and evening Every morning and evening Every morning and evening Every morning and evening Every morning and evening |
III. National games: 1. Didactic 2. Outdoor games with rules | In middle, senior, preparatory groups In middle, senior, preparatory groups |
Recommendations for compiling a summary of a role-playing game.
1. Objectives: educational; on the formation of the plot of the game (bus, space).
2. Development of imagination, observation, imitation, use of knowledge, skills and abilities of children:
- educational: mastering the norms and rules of behavior in a team, following the rules according to the plot of the game;
- labor: children’s actions during the game and in preparation for the game;
- the use of artistic expression and artistic activity;
- speech development and vocabulary activation.
3. Methodological techniques for managing the game.
Participation of the teacher with younger groups of children, instructions, reminders, conversations with children, individual work with inactive children.
4. Preparation of material for this game.
5. Preparing the teacher for this game:
- study of methodological literature;
- drawing up a game plan, notes;
- preparation of attributes by children with parents.
Preliminary work with children, preparation for the game in order to present the game.
6. Children's activities in the game.
Distribution by game groups. List of rules for each game.
7. Progress of the game.
8. Result of the game. Assessment of behavior based on the plot, children's interest in continuing the game.
Recommendations for preparing role-playing games and complicating their plots.
- Using surprise moments (receipt of a letter, parcel, telegram, arrival and meeting of a guest, etc.) in order to maintain children’s interest in the game.
- Sending a letter, a parcel with a message, with a request.
- Reading books on the topic of the game, discussing the plot, the actions of the characters.
- Conducting a tour on the topic of the game.
- Observation of the work of adults in the child’s immediate environment (doctor, nurse, cook, seamstress, etc.).
- Conducting conversations about various professions, accompanied by viewing pictures of relevant illustrations.
- Introduction of a new role into an already familiar game, clarification of responsibilities.
- Assisting children in organizing a play environment.
- Playing together with children.
- Introducing new attributes, clarifying their meaning and application options.
- Setting problem game tasks.
- Visiting another group, watching a similar game, discussing it.
- The teacher's story about the games of another group.
- Instructing children to talk with their parents about the topic of the game (why this or that profession is interesting), after which the children share with each other what they have learned.
- Instructing parents to visit the theater, zoo, shops, etc. with their children; exchange impressions.
- Children compose stories on the topics “How we played”, “How we can play even more interestingly”, “How we helped each other”, etc.
- Compiling stories based on plot-shaped toys.
- Compiling an album with children on the theme of the game.
- Discussion with children about the plan for role-playing games.
- Discussion of the progress and results of the game (goal: to help children understand their actions and actions in the role-playing game).
- The use of facial studies and elements of psycho-gymnastics.
- Involving children in the production and design of game attributes.
The structure of the outline-script for a role-playing game with older preschoolers.
1. Theme of the game.
2. Purpose of the game.
3. Game objectives (approximate):
- Make the game interesting and attractive for preschoolers by taking into account the gaming interests and preferences of children.
- Develop plotting skills.
- Develop the ability to assign roles and act according to them.
- Develop the ability to enter an imaginary situation and act in accordance with it, to create the necessary buildings.
- Cultivate friendly relationships between children.
- Develop cognitive mental processes (imagination, memory, thinking, speech and attention) and children's creativity.
4. Play equipment.
5. Game progress:
- Organizational moment (examination of the picture, construction of the desired model from chairs, building materials and distribution of roles).
- Development of the plot of the game (where, why, what are we doing for this, role-playing actions of children, etc.)
6. Summing up the game (conducted by the teacher).
Did you like the game? Do you think we all coped with our roles? Did everyone follow the rules? How can our game continue? What other heroes (roles) can you and I come up with for the game? What new did you learn today?
Methodical manual "Tools for developing play activities of preschool children"
Drawing: “Scarf for sick Mishutka”
Application: “Miraculous tablets of Doctor Aibolit”
Enriching children's gaming experience
Role-playing games (indirect methods of teaching children play actions)
The teacher plays the role of “doctor” with the subsequent involvement of interested children in the role of patients (sick).
A joint game between a teacher and children, in which the main role – “doctor” – is played by the child, and the teacher and the other children play the same secondary roles as patients (patients)
Development of the plot of the game, in which the play actions of children - “doctors” - are aimed at toys - “sick” animals
Other types of games:
Didactic: “Who needs what for work”, “Who was here and forgot what”, “What is superfluous” (children’s knowledge of medical instruments and understanding of the meaning of a doctor’s work actions); “What happens if...” (understanding the causes of the disease)
Theatrical:
Imitation games: “Cheerful - sad cat”, “The dog got sick - got better” (similarly with other famous domestic and wild animals);
Improvisation games: “Egorka the hare fell into the lake”, “The mistress abandoned the bunny”, “The little kitty got sick”, “Our cockerel got sick” (followed by a conversation about what he might get sick if...)
Acting out role-playing dialogues based on K. Chukovsky’s fairy tale “Aibolit”
Outdoor games “At the bear in the forest” (Why is the bear growling? Maybe something hurts? - a conversation with children about the reasons for the bear’s ill health); “The little gray bunny is sitting” (Why are the bunny’s paws frozen? How can you warm them up? - talking about hypothermia as a cause of the disease).
Construction game “Let’s build beds for sick animals”
Activating communication between the teacher and children during role-playing games (sample scenarios)
I am doctor. This is where I have a hospital. (addresses the toy bear). Bear, are you sick? Don't worry, I'll cure you. What is hurting you? Throat? Let's see. Open your mouth, say: ah-ah... Yes, the neck is red. You have a sore throat. You need to lubricate your throat with ointment. Like this. Bitter or sweet? Now I’ll make a compress: I’ll soak a bandage in the medicine, apply it to the neck and wrap it with a warm scarf. Warm? Now go to bed: bye-bye...
Techniques for involving interested children: appeals to the child
Katya, are you sick? Let me fly you too. What is hurting you? Head? (feels his forehead). Yes, your head is hot. You need to measure your temperature. Where is our thermometer? Raise your hand, now lower it - hold it carefully. How high is your temperature? Now I’ll listen to you (takes up a phonendoscope). You are wheezing. Are you coughing? We need to give an injection. Where is our syringe? Well done, Katya, don't cry. Now take some cough syrup and a pill to lower your temperature. Bitter? Drink some water. Well done. Go home, go to bed. I'll come tomorrow to see how you feel. If you have a high fever again, call your doctor by phone. Goodbye, get better.