Methodological recommendations for organizing play activities for children of primary preschool age

Methodological recommendations for organizing play activities for children of primary preschool age

Guidelines

on organizing play activities for children of primary preschool age

(role-playing games for kids)

Methodological recommendations for organizing role-playing games for younger preschoolers

CONTENT:

1. Introduction.

What is a game? Classification of games.

2. Main part

Role-playing games for younger preschoolers.

• Features of story games.
• Types of role-playing games.
• Levels of development of the story game.
• Methodological recommendations for organizing role-playing games for younger preschoolers.

1. Individual nature of games.
2. Selection of toys.
3. Substitute toys.
4. Actions with toys.
5. Grouping children into groups.
6. Enriching the game's plot.
7. Demonstration of the game by the teacher.
8. Choosing a game theme.
9. Teacher planning story games.

• Pedagogical recommendations.
• Recommendations for parents.
• Tips for educators on how to guide children's story-based games.

3. Conclusion.

Preschool childhood is the most important period of personality development. During these years, the child acquires initial knowledge about the life around him, he begins to form a certain attitude towards people, towards work, develops skills and habits of correct behavior, and develops a character. The main activity of preschool children is play

, it develops the child’s spiritual and physical strength; his attention, memory, imagination, discipline, dexterity. In addition, play is a unique way of learning social experience, characteristic of preschool age. In play, all aspects of a child’s personality are formed and developed; significant changes occur in his psyche, which prepare the transition to a new, higher stage of development. Psychologists consider play to be the leading activity of a preschooler.

1. Games based on everyday themes: “home”, “family”, “holidays”, “birthdays”. In these games, games with dolls occupy a large place, through actions with which children convey what they know about their peers, adults, and their relationships.

2. Games on industrial and social topics, which reflect the work of people. For these games, themes are taken from the surrounding life (school, store, library, post office, hairdresser, hospital, transport (bus, train, plane, ship), police, firefighters, circus, theater, menagerie, factory, etc.

3. Games on heroic-patriotic themes, reflecting the heroic deeds of our people (war heroes, space flights, etc.)

4. Games on themes of literary works, cinema, television and radio programs.

5. “Director’s” games, in which the child makes the dolls speak and perform various actions.

Levels of development of role-playing games:

First stage.

The main content of the game is actions with objects. They are carried out in a certain sequence, although this sequence is often disrupted. The chain of actions is plot-based. The main subjects are everyday ones. Children's actions are monotonous and often repeated. Roles are not designated. In form it is a side-by-side game or a single player game. Children willingly play with adults. Independent play is short-lived. As a rule, the stimulus for the emergence of a game is a toy or a substitute object that was previously used in the game.

Second phase.

The main content of the game is actions with an object. These actions unfold more fully and consistently in accordance with the role that is already denoted by the word. The sequence of actions becomes the rule. The first interaction between participants occurs based on the use of a common toy (or direction of action). Associations are short-lived. The main subjects are everyday ones. The same game can be repeated many times. Toys are not selected in advance, but children often use the same ones - their favorite ones. The game can already unite 2-3 people.

Third stage.

The main content of the game is also actions with objects. However, they are complemented by actions aimed at establishing various contacts with playing partners. Roles are clearly defined and assigned before the game begins. Toys and objects are selected (most often during the game) in accordance with the role. The logic, nature of actions and their direction are determined by the role. This becomes the basic rule. The game often proceeds as a joint game, although interaction is interspersed with parallel actions of partners unrelated to each other and not correlated with the role. The duration of the game increases. The plots become more diverse: children reflect everyday life, the work of adults and vibrant social phenomena.

Fourth stage.

The main content of the game is a reflection of the relationships and interactions of adults with each other. The themes of games can be varied: it is determined not only by the direct, but also by the indirect experience of children. Games are joint and collective in nature. Associations are stable. They are built either on children’s interest in the same games, or on the basis of personal sympathies and affections. Games of the same content are not only repeated for a long time, but also develop, become enriched, and exist for a long time. In the game at this stage, the preparatory work is clearly distinguished: the distribution of roles, the selection of game material, and sometimes its production (homemade toys). Up to 5-6 people are involved in the game.

The above levels reflect the general development of role-playing games, but in a specific age group adjacent levels coexist.

Role-playing games for younger preschoolers.

At the age of 3 to five years, a child begins to imitate the activities of adults in play. What is important here are games that allow you to learn the purpose of objects, their functions, and teach children to use objects as tools. Activities with pyramids, dolls, and construction sets expand children’s understanding of the size, shape, color, and position of objects in space, and activities with toys on wheels, shovels, and scoops that can be used to dig snow and sand, increase motor activity, and improve coordination. In play, a child begins to imitate the activities of adults, and toys serve as symbols for him, help develop the plots of games, and contribute to the formation of the beginnings of abstract thinking.

Typical features of younger children's games are their individual character. When children come to kindergarten, it is important that they learn to play. Therefore, the teacher pays special attention to some children. It helps them get acquainted with a new environment, overcome shyness and arouses their interest in life in kindergarten. You especially need to try to include children in the game, so you need to give kids various toys and teach them how to use them. In the younger group, children's games often include a variety of activities with toys, especially if children know how to use them correctly. The child rocks a doll, drives a car around the room, feeds a horse, etc. This is what determines the individual nature of children's games. Misunderstandings very often arise between children in the younger group over toys; children do not know how to come to an agreement among themselves, snatch toys from each other, do not know how to ask politely, complain to the teacher and turn to her for help.

In the development of independent play in younger preschoolers, the correct selection and arrangement of toys plays an important role.

For role-playing games, children need dolls, dishes, and furniture. It’s good to have toy irons, stoves, and paraphernalia for games in the hairdressing salon or in the hospital in groups.

In addition, we need large and medium-sized cars, strollers for dolls, etc.

Sets of toys should be placed in different places in the room so that children have the opportunity to play in small groups. When organizing an environment for role-playing games, game material must be introduced gradually, as children gain knowledge about the environment, so that toys help them remember the events that children have recently become acquainted with. After consolidating and clarifying knowledge, you can introduce some new toy or homemade attributes, and sometimes a real object, for example, a kitchen board. These items must be safe for children. In equipping the gaming environment, a special place is given to substitute items. In the games of children of the fourth year of life, substitute objects should be introduced in joint play, because an example of how to operate with them is required. As a rule, children accept substitute objects with great pleasure, and later, on their own initiative, include them in their games. For example, the girls were preparing tea and asking each other: “Where is the tea leaves?” Then they turned to the teacher. He suggested choosing from natural material. The children took linden seeds, put them in cups and only then began to pour tea. Sometimes children need to be specifically confronted with the need to independently select substitute items. The children are playing “Kindergarten”, there are not enough beds for all the doll children, then the girls found a way out of the situation: they took the lids from the boxes and laid the dolls on them.

Substitute objects greatly diversify and enrich children’s play activities. Once during the game, a girl, when asked what she fed her daughter, said that she fed her cutlets. At the same time, she took imaginary pieces of cutlets from the plate with a spoon and brought them to the doll’s mouth. “Have you made the minced meat yet?” — I asked. Together they decided that a piece of paper would be meat. The game included a number of new game actions: the girl put a piece of paper in a meat grinder, twisted it, then took out the paper and tore it into pieces. She laid out pieces of paper in a frying pan, put them on the stove to fry, and only after that began to feed her daughter, but not with a spoon, but with a fork.

In order for children to constantly include substitute objects in the game, it is advisable to place boxes with natural and waste materials in the play corners. Children often use building materials, for example, a brick for a telephone, a cone for ice cream, etc.

The teacher in this age group needs to prepare good conditions for play and help children choose toys. Much depends on whether the teacher knows how to divert the child’s attention from the toy his friend is playing with and prove to him that he can play very well and interestingly with another toy. Sometimes it is enough to say a few entertaining words about a toy to arouse a child’s interest in it. But you can’t neglect visual demonstrations and teach how to act with a toy. For younger children, it is simply necessary that the teacher first plays with them together, helps them change the doll’s clothes, put it in a stroller, build a high tower, take the car to the garage, etc. By showing how to handle the toy, the teacher simultaneously develops the children’s constructive abilities: She uses building materials, various cubes, and dismountable toys. Under the guidance of an adult, children first make the simplest buildings, learn to lay cubes in even rows, make superstructures in height, etc.

If the teacher taught children to play independently and calmly with a toy, then he has reached the first stage of development of play activity. But here the next task arises - to overcome the stage of individual games and gradually guide children to general games, unite them in groups and awaken interest in the team. And for this it is necessary to create conditions that encourage children to play together. The very circumstances of life in kindergarten help the efforts of teachers. Children are in the same group all day, use common toys, and follow a common daily routine. These factors contribute to the emergence of closer relationships between children. The teacher helps to strengthen the friendly relations that have arisen. For this purpose, you can intervene in the course of children’s games, tactfully direct her: “Lyuda, your daughter wants to go to kindergarten, take her there.” It becomes possible to unite children playing individually into a group. Or, for example, to a boy who is aimlessly pulling a car around the group, you can say: “Sasha, would you like to help Dima and Nikita carry bricks to the construction site?” In this way, you can lead the child to coordinate his actions with other children, so that, through the mediation of the teacher, the child will establish more lively relationships with them.

A characteristic feature of the games of children in the younger group is limited content and poor plot. A child very often plays individually precisely because his game does not need other participants: he can carry out all the actions himself. Consequently, the teacher’s task is to expand the plot of the game so that more children can be included in it and engaged in common activities. To do this, you can offer excursions to the kindergarten kitchen or to the medical office. During excursions, it is necessary to include children in active activities. For example, in a medical office, a nurse can put thermometers on children, measure their height and weight, listen with a phonendoscope, and give children vitamins. And in the group, the teacher consolidates what he saw through conversation, questions, and showing illustrations. Finds out that a doctor or nurse should be kind, polite, and strict. In the future, this will help children more expressively convey role-playing images in games. Conversations about work and professions also broaden children’s horizons, which helps expand the plot of children’s games.

The content of children's games is directly related to knowledge about the surrounding reality. During the game, you can remind children of their past experiences and experiences and try to ensure that these experiences are creatively reproduced in the game. Often the plot of a game is suggested by a toy. For example, a doll, dishes, furniture for dolls evoke a desire to play “family”, a car - “driver”, figurines of farm animals - “farm”, etc. But it is necessary to intervene in the course of the game in order to better develop the plot of the game, which the children chose themselves, on their own initiative. You can often observe how younger children quickly lose interest in the plot of the game and move on to something else, because... the game doesn't captivate them. Interest in the game can be deepened if the teacher enriches the game with new elements, thereby preventing frequent changes in plots.

Let me give you an example: Misha drove the car aimlessly around the group, then abandoned it and began to watch the children who were building something with a “constructor”. When he got tired of this, he grabbed the drum and began to beat on it, but after a while he returned to the machine, but he did not know what to do with it. “Misha, let’s build a garage for the car, and Dima will help you carry bricks.” After some time, Misha reported that the garage was ready, and now he would help Dima build a garage for his car. Interested, Sasha and Nikita offered their help and began transporting bricks for construction. Thus, the teacher not only directed the child’s attention to the toy, but also suggested the plot of the game, which the child developed himself in the further process of the game, and also encouraged him to collaborate with other children.

It is necessary to take into account that the activities of children are less closely related to precisely established rules than those of older children. In the younger group, misunderstandings often arise during the game precisely because the participants do not adhere to the basic rules of the general activity. As we already know, children determine the rules of creative games based on roles. A child playing a certain role must behave in the same way as the person being portrayed does. The teacher should teach children to critically evaluate the behavior of their comrades in the game, to compare whether their actions correspond to what happens in life. Thus, children gradually become accustomed to strictly following the rules of the game. Let me give you another example. The children played "ship". The captain and passengers were there. Suddenly Olya, who was traveling with her doll daughter, got up and wanted to leave. But other passengers were indignant: “You can’t get off, there’s water all around!” But Olya still wanted to leave. An argument and shouting began. The teacher had to intervene: “If Olya doesn’t want to go, then let her get off. But there is water all around here, she could drown. Comrade captain, moor to the shore, to the pier.” The captain landed, Olya got off, and the children continued the game. This example shows that when the teacher correctly guides the children, already in the younger group they get used to critically assessing the behavior of their comrades in the game. Therefore, one should not be at all afraid of disputes arising from breaking the rules: children learn to reason and compare, become better aware of reality, clarify their ideas about it, and strengthen correct relationships.

At the age of 3 to 5 years, games are needed for a child with peers on topics that are close to their experience and reflect events in social life. Games at this time serve as a means of forming the child’s social consciousness, knowledge of the world and its transformation, uniting children into a team, while creating conditions for all types of independent children’s activities.

Planning a system of pedagogical activities, on the one hand, should direct children to display in the game various phenomena of the surrounding reality that are new to them, on the other hand, it complicates the ways and means of reproducing this reality. Children's knowledge about the life around them, obtained from various sources, determines the content of game tasks and the theme of the plot. The formation of the game itself depends on the skillful complication of methods and means for solving game problems.

Expansion of children's knowledge is provided in classes or during special observations. At the same time, a connection is established between children’s past experiences and new knowledge. The acquired information and impressions of children are taken into account when planning work on managing the game.

The image of an adult is characterized not only by attributes, but also by restrictions and a set of specific actions. But at the first stage of preparation, we do not yet require the baby to perform specific role-playing actions. At the same time, children need games “to pretend to be adults.” This meets his internal needs, his developmental needs - a growing interest in adults and their activities. The way out of this contradiction is in the following methodological technique, the essence of which is as follows. When playing games with children that are well known and learned by them, the teacher at a convenient moment gives an example of entering into the image of an adult: he identifies himself as a representative of a profession, using an expressive attribute for this, and shows them two or three game actions. But he does not encourage children to take this playful action, because it would be premature.

One of the effective methods for developing gaming skills is joint play between an adult and children. As a rule, children come to the 2nd junior group with basic skills to independently operate with toys. If the child has not mastered the game actions, the teacher shows them.

Such games should be used at least 3 times a week in the 2nd half of the day. The teacher records in the calendar the purpose and plot of the game, the names of its participants.

The teacher must know what stories are appropriate to select for children’s games. It is necessary that the plots be simple for the child to understand; they should reflect close and familiar actions of the surrounding life - cooking, cleaning the room, washing, treatment in a clinic, traveling in transport, etc.

Topics can be taken from fairy tales and literary works known to children, or you can come up with them yourself, using real facts and events (a doctor and sick children, a seller and a buyer).

As a rule, the teacher himself first performs the main role, then entrusts it to one of the children, helping the child if he finds it difficult. At the same time, the teacher continues to participate in the game, taking on a secondary role.

An effective technique is also for the teacher to play with toys in front of the students. However, you should not turn the display of game actions into a special task. For example, the teacher says to himself: “Oh, what a cute doll is sitting alone!”, turns to the doll: “What is your name? Sveta! Let you be my daughter, and I’ll be your mother.” He takes the doll in his hands and walks around the group with it. “Where will our home be? Here. Here is your crib, you will sleep in it, and now I will feed you. Daughter, do you want to eat? Shall I go and cook dinner? The teacher pretends to prepare lunch, etc.

It is important that the teacher shows interest in the game, emotionally expresses his attitude to the game partners and to the actions being performed. After finishing the game, the teacher can say: “I played well! Let anyone who wants to play too. We have a lot of dolls, bears, and bunnies.”

There is no need to insist that children immediately show activity and independence. The described methodological technique allows children to see the holistic play activity of an adult, adopt it and translate it into independent activity. At the same time, the kids expand the plot proposed by the teacher through new toys and new actions. This is how children switch to active play behavior.

Games that arise on the initiative of the children themselves reflect the skills acquired by preschoolers in joint games with adults, in the process of observing the teacher’s play. The teacher helps students develop the game, using advice, reminders, introducing a new toy, showing an unfamiliar action. If this is not done, independent play quickly stops with monotonous actions with the same toy.

When organizing games in younger groups, one of the most important conditions is the ability to play with peers. At this age stage, there are 2 types of games: “side by side” play and the simplest forms of joint play, based mainly on the children’s interest in the actions of their peers with toys, as well as on personal sympathies.

During the game, the teacher teaches students to treat each other kindly, not to take away toys, and not to destroy buildings. To prevent the emergence of negative forms of relationships, the teacher must be extremely attentive to children’s joint games, actively guide and regulate the relationships of students, which at this age stage are just beginning to take shape.

Interesting games create a cheerful, joyful mood, make children's lives complete, and satisfy their need for active activity. Even in good conditions, with adequate nutrition, the child will develop poorly and become lethargic if he is deprived of exciting play.

Most games reflect the work of adults; children imitate the household chores of their mother and grandmother, the work of a teacher, doctor, teacher, driver, pilot, astronaut. Consequently, games instill respect for all work that is useful for society, and affirm the desire to take part in it ourselves.

The main way of education in the game is to influence its content, i.e. on the choice of theme, plot development, distribution of roles and the implementation of game images.

The theme of the game is the phenomenon of life that will be depicted: family, kindergarten, school, travel, holidays. The same theme includes different episodes depending on the interests of children and the development of imagination. Thus, different stories can be created on the same topic. Each child portrays a person of a certain profession (teacher, captain, driver) or family member (mother, grandmother). Sometimes the roles of animals and characters from fairy tales are played. By creating a play image, the child not only expresses his attitude towards the chosen hero, but also shows personal qualities. All girls are mothers, but each gives the role its own individual characteristics. Likewise, in the role played as a pilot or astronaut, the features of the hero are combined with the features of the child who portrays him. Therefore, the roles may be the same, but the game images are always individual.

Methodological techniques bring results in cases where the teacher applies them systematically, takes into account the general trends in the mental development of children, the patterns of the activity being formed, if the teacher knows and feels each child well.

Pedagogical recommendations.

1. Teachers should try not to take up the time allocated for play with other activities.

2. Create a gaming environment in accordance with age characteristics, taking into account the level of development of children; the gaming environment should be dynamic. The attributes of the role-playing game should be located in a place easily accessible to children. Sometimes attributes are formed in a specially established order, and sometimes children are given the opportunity to create a playing environment on their own.

3. An effective method of guiding the games of children of primary preschool age is the direct participation of the teacher in the children’s play in the main roles, and initially it is recommended to use individual play with a given child, and at the end of the fourth year of life it is recommended to use the teacher’s play with a subgroup of children.

4. In guiding children, indirect leadership techniques occupy a large place, so as not to interfere with the child’s independent play, because Only independent role-playing play contributes to the development of the child to the greatest extent.

5. Game management should be based on the results of observation of children’s independent role-playing play.

6. The teacher should put the child in the position of an “adult” as often as possible. This helps develop independence in children.

The teacher should pay attention to:

- providing conditions for the emergence and development of play activities (sufficient time for play; availability of space for the development of play activities, necessary toys and aids, and their correct location in the group; enriching children with impressions and their good well-being);

- know the methodology for managing gaming activities; methods and techniques aimed at maintaining and improving the emotional-positive state of children; ensuring the activity of players; timely switching from one type of activity to another, what methods and techniques this is achieved, directing children to play.

Recommendations for parents

1. Make sure that the child has as many different games and toys as possible, which must be consciously chosen and not randomly accumulated.

2. Agree in advance with your child the requirements for storing and cleaning toys. Consider how you can temporarily preserve children's buildings and structures. In the absence of space for a long demonstration, “celebrate the result” (reward the author with applause, sketch his construction, etc.) - and only after that put the toys away for storage.

3.Remember your childhood and tell your child about how you played by yourself and with your friends. If the child wishes, show children's games that you know.

4. Observe the child’s games at home and, if desired, tell the teachers about them; Ask what your child prefers to play in kindergarten.

5. Show respect for the child’s personality, take into account the gradual development of play activity and do not try to artificially speed it up.

6. Tactfully, unobtrusively, offer your child help in creating a play environment (“Perhaps you’ll need my pan to cook dinner? Would you like me to help you make a garage for your car?”, etc.). Take the child’s refusal for granted (“Of course, you know better. But if you need anything, I will be happy to help you”). Consider all subsequent requests from your child as a manifestation of trust and respect for your delicacy and tact.

7. Show initiative and express a sincere desire to participate in the game.

8. Having received the child’s consent to your participation in the game, take an interest in your role (“Who will I be?”) and accept it unconditionally and with gratitude.

9. If you do not understand the situation and the child’s wishes, ask him about the circumstances that are important for the development of the plot, related to the characteristics of the hero, his behavior, etc. (“What kind of fox will I be—good or evil?”).

10. When acting in a role, show initiative and independence, try to motivate the actions of the hero whose role you are playing. If difficulties arise, do not get lost, do not stop playing, but ask your child what you should do (“What should I do next?”).

11. At the end of the game, express your satisfaction to your child and express the hope that next time he will invite you to participate in it.

12. Provide constant attention and respect to children's games.

13. Express approval and admiration for the fact that children are independent and proactive in their games (“What a good fellow (smart) you are! How do you manage to come up with all this yourself?”).

14. Empathize with children’s feelings in games - be able to see the funny in what seems funny to them, be sad about what seems sad to them, etc.

15. Draw the child’s attention to pedagogically valuable and aesthetic games and toys.

Always agree with your baby! This gives him confidence in his abilities and generates initiative and creativity.

Tips for a teacher on how to guide children's games

• Don’t be an indifferent spectator of the game, be able to understand children and understand their game plans.

• Treat your child’s creativity with care, gain trust and establish contact.

• Support an interesting idea by directing efforts towards its implementation.

• Give us not only knowledge, but also emotions.

• Give advice, but don’t push the children’s initiative.

• Help each child find his place in the game.

• Be able to be both an organizer and an ordinary participant in the game.

• Distract children from the “bad” game, create interest in another topic.
• Keep the joy of the game, awaken your imagination, maintain interest.

Conclusion.

Scientific ideas about the stage-by-stage development of play activity make it possible to develop clearer, systematized recommendations for guiding the play activity of children in various age groups.

The game is dynamic where the management is aimed at its gradual formation, taking into account those factors that ensure the timely development of gaming activity at all age levels. Here it is very important to rely on the child’s personal experience. Game actions formed on its basis acquire a special emotional overtones. Otherwise, learning to play becomes mechanical.

Play, on the one hand, creates a child’s zone of proximal development, and therefore is the leading activity in preschool age. This is due to the fact that new, more progressive types of activity are emerging in it and the formation of the ability to act collectively, creatively, and arbitrarily control one’s behavior. On the other hand, its content is nourished by productive activities and the ever-expanding life experiences of children.

At the age of 3-4 years, the child gradually leaves the family circle. His communication becomes non-situational. An adult becomes for a child not only a family member, but also a bearer of a certain social function. The child’s desire to perform the same function leads to a contradiction with his real capabilities. This contradiction is resolved through the development of play, which becomes the leading activity in preschool age.

The main feature of the game is its convention: performing certain actions with certain objects suggests their relevance to other actions with other objects. The main content of the play of younger preschoolers is actions with toys and substitute objects. The game duration is short. Younger preschoolers are limited to playing with one or two roles and simple, undeveloped plots. Games with rules are just beginning to take shape at this age.

Play is the most favorite and natural activity of younger preschoolers. The teacher’s task is to make play the content of children’s lives, to reveal to children the diversity of the world of play.

The way to develop play is joint play between the teacher and children, the creation of an enriched play environment that encourages independent play creativity in the free interaction of children with toys, objects, substitute objects and nurturing children’s good attitude towards each other.

Play, the most important type of children’s activity, plays a huge role in the development and upbringing of a child. It is an effective means of shaping the personality of a preschooler, his moral and volitional qualities; the game realizes the need to influence the world. The educational significance of the game largely depends on the professional skills of the teacher, on his knowledge of the child’s psychology, taking into account his age and individual characteristics, on the correct methodological guidance of children’s relationships, on the precise organization and conduct of all kinds of games.

Informational resources:

Bondarenko A.K., Matusik A.I. “Raising children in play”, Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 1983.

Vasilyeva M.A. “Managing children’s games in preschool institutions”, Moscow, “Prosveshchenie”, 1986.

Gerbova V.V., Ivankova R.A. “Raising children in the second junior group of kindergarten”, Moscow, “Prosveshchenie”, 1981.

Godina G.N., Pilyugina E.G. “Education and training of children of primary preschool age”, Moscow, “Prosveshchenie”, 1987.

Krasnoshchekova N.V. “Plot-role-playing games for preschool children”, Rostov-on-Don, “Phoenix”, 2007.

Mendzheritskaya D.V. “To the teacher about children's play”, Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 1982.

Features of play activities of children 3-4 years old

In early preschool age (3-4 years), the defining and dominant activity of the child is play. Gaming activity, as a guarantor of motor development, is an independent value for a person. The most significant acquisitions of children's bodies are associated with the development of motor function through play activities. The psychological characteristics of the game change: its content creates the basis for communication and joint actions of children. They become interested not only in the features and purpose of objects, the functions of the people around them, but also in their interactions and relationships.

S.L. Novoselova notes that during this period significant changes occur in the cognitive sphere of children. On the one hand, their knowledge becomes clearer: they quickly navigate the sensory characteristics of the objective world, and quite easily combine objects not only by appearance, but also by purpose. On the other hand, at this age children are also attracted to unrealistic “mysterious” phenomena. Interest in fairy tales and poems is growing [10, p. 38].

Children begin to more subtly perceive people's moods and relationships and imitate their intonation. When familiarizing themselves with works of art, they distinguish between rhythm, rhyme, prose and poetic texts. They recognize known musical works (songs, plays), name them, distinguish them by mood (cheerful, calm, sad).

Kids become more inquisitive, more active in searching for answers to questions of interest, and often express elementary judgments about surrounding things and phenomena. All this enriches their speech, develops visual-figurative thinking and imagination.

The behavior of the children is already of a deliberate nature: they begin to set a goal and act in accordance with it in everyday life, in play, in forms of activity that are new to them: drawing, designing, modeling. However, due to the instability of attention, children can be easily distracted.

The child is no longer satisfied with the constant care of adults (especially in the family). If earlier he turned to elders for support, assessment and help, now his communication is undergoing qualitative changes - it turns into a spiritual need. An adult appears before a child as a source of knowledge about the environment [10, p. 38].

The play of younger preschoolers is of an object-manipulative and design nature. It would be more correct to call such a game not a plot-role-playing game, but a plot-display one. In such a game, the actions of adults are reproduced, which the child observes. Parents and close friends serve as role models. The plots of such games are not particularly diverse, they consist in repeated repetition of the same actions, game actions completely imitate real ones [3, p. 112].

The plot of the game is the sphere of reality that is reproduced by children. The plot is a child’s reflection of certain actions, events, relationships from the life and activities of those around him. At the same time, the child’s playful actions (turning the steering wheel of the car, preparing dinner, etc.) are one of the main means of realizing the plot. In early preschool age, everyday themes predominate (family games, kindergarten). A characteristic feature of the games of children of primary preschool age is limited content and poor plot. The content of children's games is directly related to knowledge about the surrounding reality. You can often observe how younger children quickly lose interest in the plot of the game and move on to something else, because... the game does not captivate them [5, p. 42].

Children of primary preschool age have different experiences of play interaction, inclusion in play relationships with children and adults, and the ability to use substitute objects in play. Playing with such objects can occur spontaneously: on the street, at home, in an educational institution. By substitute items we mean any thing (object) that does not have a gaming purpose, which is used in gaming activities and acts as various gaming objects depending on the gaming situation. According to D.B. Elkonin, “the replacement of one object with another first arises when it is necessary to supplement the usual situation of action with a missing object that is absent at the moment” [26, p. 190-191]. At the same time, according to the researcher, the substitute object is subject to minimum requirements for similarity to the depicted object.

Playing with substitute objects is a special and necessary skill for a child, which:

— develops mental activity and cognitive interests;

— develops independence and initiative;

- promotes the development of thinking, imagination, memory, attention;

— provides communication with peers and the ability to navigate in social situations. Thus, the skill of using substitute objects in a game includes most of the functions formed in the process of gaming activity.

Actions with objects are carried out in a certain sequence, although this sequence is often disrupted. Children's actions are monotonous and often repeated. Roles are not designated. In form it is a side-by-side game or a single player game. Children willingly play with adults. Independent play is short-lived. As a rule, the stimulus for the emergence of a game is a toy or a substitute object that was previously used in the game. The same game can be repeated many times. Toys are not selected in advance, but children often use the same ones – their favorite ones [5, p. 41-42].

Thus, substitute play activity not only creates the basis for normal growth and development, stimulates the child’s mental development, but also helps enrich the child’s life experience, his imagination, memory, and the establishment of logical connections. Therefore, parents of preschoolers, together with preschool organizations, need to find the right balance in the daily routine of preschoolers, in which there should be a place for varied play, because the child’s moral and physical health and his formation as a self-sufficient personality depend on this [14, p. 38].

The play activity of younger preschoolers is a form of communication. The main reasons for communicating with each other arise in the process of play, activities, and performing household duties, which children must master in preschool age. At the border between early and preschool childhood, the first types of children's games appear. Children of primary preschool age first come into contact with peers in various games and independent activities, in which the child imagines himself to be anyone and acts in accordance with this image. A prerequisite for the development of such a game is a vivid, memorable impression that evokes a strong emotional response. The child gets used to the image, feels it with both soul and body. He wants to attract the attention of adults and receive their assessment of his activities.

A child at this age is subject to more complex requirements for performing actions during routine processes, caring for toys, and for the work of adults. In addition, more attention must be paid to developing in children the skills to follow the rules of polite communication and organized behavior in kindergarten, at home, and on the street.

Children are very interested in games and exercises that reinforce the rules of etiquette in communicating with surrounding adults and children. They use puppet theaters, educational toys, humorous pictures, illustrations, conversations on moral topics: “Our mothers”, “Lessons of kindness”, “Rules of a friendly game”, “Our good deeds”, “Tanya the doll is going to visit”, “ How to behave during a conversation with adults”, “What can you do to please your mother”, “Grandma is visiting us”, “Don’t forget about your comrades”.

It should be noted that the fourth year of life is the end of an early age; a child has enormous scope for imagination. This year is also important for the child’s future relationship with himself.

With proper organization of play activities, by the age of five, children should be able to:

1. Interact with fellow players, taking on the role and acting on behalf of the game hero.

2. Be able to combine several game actions into a single plot line, and also be able to reflect a projection on people’s relationships in game actions with objects.

3. Act within the framework of game rules during didactic games.

4. During a theatrical performance, carefully monitor the development of the plot and respond emotionally to the actions of the characters.

5. Be able to act out excerpts from fairy tales and stories familiar to the child. Be able to imitate the movements of the characters, their intonation and facial movements.

6. Be able to have a conversation about the theater and famous fairy tales, including the behavior of other people in the auditorium or peers [13, p. 28].

Based on pedagogical observations of I.A. Vinogradova draws the following conclusions:

— the need for play in children of primary preschool age is low and is determined by the child’s mood, the place of play during the day, and the characteristics of interaction with peers;

- most children experience frequent changes in emotional states during play;

— the plots of the games are undeveloped, monotonous, or absent altogether;

- speech activity during the game is low, children accompany game actions with individual speech statements or sounds;

- most children independently use substitute objects in games; they use imaginary objects mainly with the help of an adult [5, p. 26].

Thus, play, being one of the main means of educating a child, performs a variety of functions; acts in the form of developmental activities, a zone of socialization, cooperation, community, co-creation with adults and peers. The game must correspond to the age-related characteristics of the child’s mental and physical development, and be a means of developing positive personality traits. The age of preschool children - 3-4 years - is a crucial period in the formation of play activity, a fundamentally new stage in its development in connection with the transition from plot-based play to plot-role play.

1.3. Criteria for assessing the level of development of role-playing games in children 3-4 years old

In pedagogy, it is customary to distinguish the following groups of criteria for evaluating gaming activities, depending on the conditions and results. In turn, when identifying criteria based on the results of play activities, an assessment is made of the levels of children’s education in play activities, the personal and emotional-volitional development of the child, the physical and mental health of children and intellectual activity in the process of play activities.

Let's present these criteria in the form of a table.

Table 1. Criteria for evaluating gaming activities

The task of determining the level of development of play activity for each age group of children is assigned to the teacher and is implemented based on ongoing observations of the process of children’s independent play activity, taking into account the children’s reaction to the initiative play actions of an adult. When determining the level of development of play activity, it seems impossible to define strict criteria, but the teacher has the right to be guided by a system of indicators that make it possible to classify a child’s play as a high, medium or low level according to the age capabilities of the children.

It seems advisable to carry out diagnostics in groups of primary preschool age three times a year, as well as in middle and senior groups. The initial diagnosis is carried out in September in order to select appropriate interaction techniques that would contribute to the children’s advancement in the game. In the middle of the school year (approximately January-February), the next determination of the level of development of the child’s play activity is carried out, thanks to which the teacher has the opportunity to make adjustments to his formative influences, to determine which of the children needs it to a greater extent. At the end of the year (approximately May-June), the teacher must conduct a final diagnosis of the level of development of gaming activity. This final diagnosis can become a starting point in determining the teacher’s approximate future tactics towards a child in the next age group. Approximate indicators for determining the levels of development of story play are traditionally determined according to Elkonin (we will take the younger preschool age) (Table 3). In our course work, we will take the criteria for the levels of analysis of the plot-role-playing game of preschoolers according to N.N. Serova (Table 2).

Table 2. Criteria for levels of analysis of role-playing games for preschoolers (N. N. Serova)

Table 3. Levels of development of role-playing games (according to D.B. Elkonin)

In table Table 4 shows the indicators of game development levels developed in accordance with the previously given criteria for a group of children of primary preschool age at the beginning and middle of the year, and in Table. 5 – at the end of the year.

Table 4. Indicators of game development levels for the younger group of kindergarten at the beginning and middle of the year

Table 5. Indicators of game development levels for the younger group of kindergarten at the end of the year