Sensory development of young children, Early childhood development

In the first years of a child’s life, parents need to make every effort to ensure that the baby can train the abilities of his senses. To do this, it is very important to provide him with the full range of first impressions, thanks to which his psychophysical development will occur much faster and more efficiently. In other words, it is necessary to actively use methods aimed at the sensory development of the child, which we will talk about today.

Experts say that a child is born with natural abilities to understand the world through the perception of objects and phenomena. the growing baby no longer has enough natural abilities to fully Therefore, in the first years of a child’s life, parents need to make every effort to ensure that the baby can train the abilities of his senses, as well as improve them in the future.

To do this, it is very important to provide him with the full range of first impressions, thanks to which his psychophysical development will occur much faster and more efficiently. In other words, it is necessary to actively use methods aimed at the sensory development of the child, which we will talk about today.

What is sensory development and education?

Sensory development (sensory) is the process of forming certain ideas about the properties of objects: their size, shape, color, position in space, tastes, smells, etc. When a baby first encounters the diversity of shapes, colors and events around him (and this happens almost in the very first days of his life), it is important not to miss this time, to help him get used to this world and push him to self-improvement.

It is these goals that are fundamental in the sensory education of a child - a systematic, consistent introduction to the so-called sensory culture. Of course, even without the help of parents, the child, one way or another, knows the world as it is, but this knowledge, without proper sensory development, may turn out to be false or incomplete.

According to experts, sensory development, on the one hand, is the foundation for the overall mental development of the baby, and on the other hand, has a completely independent meaning as a way of developing sensations, perceptions and ideas in children. And it is precisely the early age that is most favorable for the accumulation and systematization of ideas about the world around us and the improvement of the activity of the child’s sense organs.

How important is it to develop sensory perception?

Experts say that proper sensory education contributes to the harmonious development of a person. The value of sensory is highly valued due to the important results of this process:

laying the foundations for the development of intelligence;
laying the foundations of educational activities;
creating the foundation of all types of memory (visual, tactile, long-term and others);
increased attention;
development of observation skills;
formation of taste preferences;
development of the aesthetic component;
facilitating the baby’s compatibility with the real world;
expanding children's vocabulary;
development of a rich imagination.

Competent sensory exercises and activities contribute to the orderliness of the child’s ideas about the world around him, which can turn the usual picture of the baby’s life upside down. Therefore, it is so important to direct the perception of the world around us in the right direction from an early age.

Sensory education systems are based on various tasks in accordance with the age of the baby.

At an early age, knowledge about sensory standards is collected.
In middle preschool age this knowledge is formed. Children learn to examine objects, identify them into groups, and divide objects into individual quantities.
For children of senior preschool age, the main task is to prepare for school education (the ability to distinguish sounds and perceive what is written on paper).

Types of sensory sensations

Sensory sensations are classified into:

visual (visual);
tactile;
olfactory;
auditory;
taste.

It is in accordance with them that the child develops concepts about:

size;
form;
color;
sounds;
taste;
smell.

At home or in a development center?

There is no shortage of sensory integration specialists today. Developmental centers, correctional institutions, children's clubs, psycho-educational clinics. offer various sensory development programs for children 1-6 years old.

Advantages of their services:

Specialists with confirmed qualifications: psychologists, teachers, special education teachers, speech therapists, etc.
Material and technical base for comprehensive sensory development.
Individual approach to the needs and skills of each child.
Possibility of group classes, when sensory perception is trained during a group game.
Professional diagnosis of the child’s abilities and assessment of progress achieved.

However, if you do not have the opportunity to attend such classes, it does not matter. Almost all types of sensory development can be implemented at home. Methodological literature and special devices will help you.

Main tasks of sensory

The main tasks of children's sensory development are:

formation of correct sensory standards;
formation of correct perceptual reactions (sensory perceptions);
acquiring the skills to independently use a system of standards and correctly respond to perceptual processes.

It is important to understand that the sensory education of a child must take into account his age characteristics. With normal development, children under six months, as a rule, observe the movement of objects, make grasping movements, and show interest in bright toys and loud sounds. Over time, the baby begins to become interested in smells and tastes.

From one to three years, a child acquires basic knowledge about the signs of things around him. It is at this age that he develops concepts of shapes, colors, sizes, tastes and smells. In the fourth year of life, the main ideas about the characteristics of objects are mastered, as well as sensory standards . This is the beginning of an analytical perception of objects and events surrounding the child.

Sensory development of preschool children (4-5 years old)

In middle age, preschoolers begin to experience role-playing interactions in play. During play activities, children begin to realize that everything happens for the sake of the meaning of the game. This allows for the active development of visual activity. A special role is given to drawing. It becomes objective.

For example, a child at this age must realize that a person has eyes, a mouth, a nose, hair, fingers, and elements of clothing. There is an improvement in visual activities.

On a note! Children begin to draw shapes on their own, understanding their purpose, and master the skills of cutting with scissors and gluing parts. The concept of design is introduced.

The basics of sensory education for middle-aged children also include the following:

Developing the skills to create buildings according to your own ideas.
Development of both gross and fine motor skills.
Particular attention is paid to the coordination of movements and dexterity of the child. He must have good balance, step over obstacles, and be able to play with the ball.
Perception becomes more developed. Children should be able not only to recognize geometric shapes, but also to understand what objects are similar to them.
The concepts of size, color, length and width are well developed.
Orientation in space has been improved.
Preschool children's memory capacity increases. They can remember eight names of objects. Voluntary memorization is formed. The child is already able to understand the task assigned to him, they remember the instructions given to them by their parents or educators.
There is an active development of imaginative thinking. You can use schematic images to solve the problem assigned to you.
Children can come up with a short fairy tale or story on their own. Awareness of the interaction of events develops.
Attention becomes more stable. A child of four years old can already concentrate on one task for more than 15 minutes. When performing an action, he can remember the condition that must be met.
Diction and pronunciation of sounds improves. Speech in children becomes more developed. At this age, speech disturbances that were previously observed may be corrected. The development of the grammatical aspect is progressing well.
The child’s communication with adults changes significantly. It becomes more educational in nature. The child is increasingly interested in information that is difficult for him.
From the age of 4 to 5 years, the need for respect from adults plays a major role in development. It is very important that parents and educators give praise.

Speech development as a factor in the successful development of a child

Sensory development at this age is also reflected in relationships between peers. Selectivity appears, children are divided into separate groups. Leadership begins to emerge. Competitiveness is important for the development of a child’s own image.

Important! It is necessary to direct the development of middle-aged children in the right direction. Help them form the correct idea of their image, take a position among their peers in the group!

Development in drawing

Sensory development of children aged 5 years and older

At the age of five, the most critical age begins before preparing for school. Children already clearly know the concepts of shapes, colors, and are able to compare one object with another according to their properties. They have already accumulated significant experience in tactile sensations.

The task of educators and parents is to consolidate existing knowledge. At the age of 5 to 6 years, preschoolers are already able to play intellectual games. This should be actively used in educational activities. For example, you can arrange quizzes after each topic covered.

Chess, checkers and children's lotto are great for this age. This not only trains attentiveness, but also memory and logic. It is best to focus on group games and role-playing activities from the age of five.

On a note! Activities on learning the rules of the road can be used as educational games for preschoolers. Here you can come up with both quizzes and role-playing scenes. This method will help not only to effectively consolidate new material, but also to train sensory skills.

After the age of five, special attention should be paid to the communication abilities of children. This is an important aspect of education for future schoolchildren. To do this, you often need to use group work and collective creativity. The task of educators is to help a preschooler find his place among his peers.

Games for preschoolers

Reference system for young children

Sensory standards for children at an early stage of development are considered to be:

nine primary colors of the spectrum;
five geometric shapes (square, triangle, rectangle, circle, oval);
three sizes (sizes) of an object: large, medium, small;
musical notes, sounds of the native language;
four tastes (sweet, bitter, salty, sour);
two temperature definitions (warm, cold);
five types of smell (sweet, bitter, fresh, light, heavy).

Depending on the age of the baby, the requirements of sensory education require the following knowledge and skills.

For ages 1.5-2 years:

understanding and ability to name 3-4 colors, as well as correctly select them according to the sample;
orientation in the sizes (magnitudes) of objects, the ability to disassemble and assemble a three-dimensional matryoshka doll;
the ability to correctly assemble a colored pyramid of 4-6 rings of different sizes;
the ability to correctly correlate the configuration of three-dimensional figures with flat ones;
have basic drawing skills (draw horizontal, vertical, short and long lines, and also clearly explain what he drew).

For ages 2-4 years:

understanding and ability to name 6 colors, as well as correctly select them according to the sample;
orientation in 3-5 contrasting values (sizes);
the ability to assemble a colored pyramid of 6-8 rings of different sizes;
the ability to correctly form a whole object from 4 parts (cut pattern, folding cubes);
the ability to clearly distinguish between three-dimensional objects in shape (cube, ball, pyramid, etc.) and flat objects in outline (square, triangle, rhombus, circle);
the ability to draw short and long lines of different locations within a sheet of paper.

The role of parents in sensory education

Father and mother always play a big role in the child’s sensory development. It is parents who lay in the child’s brain the basis of knowledge and skills for later life. And how parents convey sensory standards to the child will determine his further successful education and life in general.

Experts believe that the ideal time to develop sensory skills is after 1 year of age. The baby becomes inquisitive, everything is quite interesting to him, and proper activities and games with the baby during this period will contribute to his harmonious psycho-emotional and mental development. During this period, the baby is ready to receive information about the world through the senses through direct interaction with an object. And at the first stage it is important to touch, look, smell, listen; at the next stage - compare, sort, contrast (by shape, size, weight, temperature, etc.). This is how standards and ideas about the basic properties of the environment (and the world as a whole) are formed - color, shape, size, weight, surface temperature, etc.

Teachers give parents some recommendations on the development of their child’s sensory senses.

Daily conversations with your baby, retelling what you saw during the day and discussing events. All conversations must be accompanied by standards. For example, ask your little one to describe the color of the car he saw, the size of the tree outside the window, or the taste of the candy he bought.
Be sure to answer all your child’s questions. However, the answers should not be generalized. Try to state the essence of this or that answer as clearly as possible for children.
Teach your baby facial expressions of emotions (angry, cunning, sad, happy).
Play pantomimes and show animal movements and sounds.
Engage in physical activity and massage with your child daily. Tactile influence on certain points of the body stimulates mental activity.
Engage in modeling, drawing, and playing in the sand with children of primary preschool age.
Get a pet and teach your baby how to care for it (pour water, comb its fur, feed it).
Buy or make toys and items for sensory development yourself. These can be bags of cereals or pebbles, panels with switches, buttons, ropes with scraps and beads.

When and in what form is it necessary to accustom a child to sensory culture?

It has been scientifically proven that early sensory education has a positive effect on the level of intelligence and the quality of mental development of the child as a whole. Therefore, you need to start accustoming your baby to sensory culture as early as possible (the ideal option is from the age of one, when the baby is most inquisitive and tries to look at, touch, and taste everything).

But it is naturally impossible to force a child to develop and improve himself at this age. All classes must be conducted in the only form accessible to his understanding - the form of a game. However, the game should not tire the baby, otherwise he will quickly lose interest in it. 10-15, and in some cases even 5-7 minutes are enough for the child to take away something useful for himself from the lesson.

At what age to start

Numerous studies have shown that the process of sensory perception is most actively formed from 2 to 4 years. Based on surveys of parents, it was possible to find out: children with whom classes on sensory development were conducted are noticeably ahead of their peers in intellectual terms. They are more inquisitive and active, absorb information more easily, and have a good memory.

However, it is possible to develop sensory perception earlier - there are methods for the early development of children from 1 year and even earlier.

What you will need

An approximate list of devices for the sensory development of a 2-3 year old child:

painting supplies;
musical instruments;
modeling dough, soft clay, multi-colored sand;
sorters, loose-leaf books, pyramids, nesting dolls;
children's books, magazines;
sensory rugs (sew chestnuts, beans, walnuts, buttons, beads, sequins onto a towel);
pieces of fabrics of different colors and textures;
mosaics, construction sets (“Velcro”, magnetic);
cubes, Dienesh blocks, Cuisenaire sticks;
objects made of different materials: wood, clay, straw, felt, steel, glass, plastic.

Introduction

Early childhood is a special period of formation of organs and systems and, above all, brain function. Early age is the most favorable time for sensory education, without which the normal formation of a child’s mental abilities is impossible. This period is important for improving the functioning of the senses, accumulating ideas about the world around us, and recognizing creative abilities.

A child’s sensory development is the development of his perception and the formation of ideas about the external properties of objects: their shape, color, size, position in space, as well as smell, taste, etc. The importance of sensory development in early and preschool age can hardly be overestimated. It is this age that is most favorable for improving the functioning of the senses and accumulating ideas about the world around us.

It is sensory development that forms the foundation of a child’s mental development and is the key to his further successful education. Knowledge begins with the perception of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. His cognitive capabilities, as well as the further development of activity, speech and higher, logical forms of thinking, depend on how a child’s perception is developed and how ideas about the external properties of objects are formed. In early preschool age, learning about the world around us occurs through play. The main means of sensory education for younger preschoolers are didactic games, the main task of which is the accumulation of diverse sensory experience.

What is the importance of sensory education?

The significance is that sensory education is the basis for the intellectual development of a child, developing attention, imagination, memory, and observation. Sensory education promotes the assimilation of sensory standards. There are standards: colors (red, green, blue, yellow), shape (triangle, square, rectangle, oval, etc.), size (large, small, smallest, etc.), taste (sweet, sour , bitter, salty), smell (smell of burning, aroma of perfume, etc.).

Time (second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, day-night, winter-summer.) Standards of spatial representations (up, down, right, left, etc.) Standards of touch (smooth, prickly, fluffy etc.).

Sensory education influences the expansion of a child’s vocabulary.

Sensory development occurs in a wide variety of children's activities. A special place is given to games, thanks to which the accumulation of ideas about the world around us occurs. It is a game with educational elements that is interesting to the child that will help in the development of the preschooler’s cognitive abilities. This kind of game is a didactic game. Let me note: that a didactic game is an effective method of consolidating knowledge - it should not turn into a learning activity. The game captivates children only if it gives joy and pleasure.

Specifics of play activity and its significance for the sensory development of preschool children

The role of didactic play in the sensory development of children is indisputable. By solving didactic tasks of the game, children train attention, memory, thinking, develop the ability to compare, classify, group objects, sense, and characterize them. Children really like games aimed at developing sensory perception; they develop visual-effective thinking, and then visual-figurative thinking.

At 2-3 years of life, the child accumulates ideas about the size, shape, color and other properties of objects; the acquisition of these ideas takes place in the form of a game, through game situations in which the goal, the task, the skill that the child needs to master is introduced. Due to children’s interest in the development of the storyline, empathy for the characters, children, in the process of active cognitive activity, master the techniques of grouping and classification, relationships and dependencies between objects by their size, shape, color, location in space, and learn to determine the sequence and effectiveness of their actions. As a result, a transition from simple perception of objects, numbers, phenomena to an awareness of their meanings and the possibility of using them in life.

The object of perception in sensory games is color, shape, size. Games for color perception include: “Multi-colored ice floes”, “Fly to your flock”, “Colors”, “What color is the object”, Games for shape perception: “Complete the figure”, “Shapes”, “Describe the object” Games for perception quantities: “Animals line up”, “Compare objects”, “Multi-colored pieces of ice”.

The role of games in the development of sensory education for preschoolers is especially great. Among all mental processes at this age, perception plays an important role: in many ways, behavior and consciousness are determined by what the child sees here and now. The child’s perception is directly related to thinking - the child thinks, establishes connections between objects and phenomena. Already in early preschool age, the child begins to develop imagination, which appears especially clearly in play, when some objects act as substitutes for others.

With the help of games, preschoolers get acquainted with color, shades, learn to mix paints, obtain new tones, and master the shape and size of objects. Didactic games are aimed both at solving educational sensory problems and at improving children’s relationships. They help to interest children, promote their independent activity, and help them play next to other children without interfering with each other.

Many didactic games for sensory education are associated with the examination of an object, with the distinction of signs; they require verbal designation of these signs (“Wonderful bag”, “How are they similar and not similar”), in such games children classify objects according to a certain characteristic, compare them according to or other quality. As a result, teachers lead children to generalization based on the identification of essential features, thus, children are led to mastery of sensory standards.

To master sensory abilities, parents of the baby need to pay considerable attention to games that contribute to the development of this technique of cognition in the child. These games include the following:

1) games-assignments based on the child’s interest in actions with various objects;

2) games with hiding and searching - in this case, the child is interested in the unexpected appearance of objects and their disappearance (folding a nesting doll);

3) games with riddles and solving, attracting children with the unknown “Find out”, “Guess”, “What is here”, “What has changed”.

4) games to familiarize yourself with the shape and size of an object - geometric games (mosaics, Lego constructors).

5) role-playing didactic games, the game action of which consists of depicting various life situations, playing the roles of adults (seller, buyer, postman, doctor) or animals (wolf, bunny, cat).

6) competitive games based on the desire to quickly achieve a game result and win - “Who is first”, “Who is faster”, “Who is more”.

Games with objects involve toys and real objects (household items, tools), objects of nature (vegetables, fruits, cones, leaves, seeds). Games with objects make it possible to expand and clarify children's knowledge, contribute to the development of mental operations (analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, generalization, classification), speech improves (the ability to name objects, actions with them, their qualities, purpose; describe objects, compose and solve riddles, correctly pronounce speech sounds), cultivate arbitrariness of behavior, memory, attention.

Dramatization games provide an opportunity to clarify the understanding of various everyday situations (“Let’s arrange a room for a doll”), literary works (“Journey to the Land of Fairy Tales”), and norms of behavior (“What is good and what is bad”). Games with spillikins and skittles contribute to the development of coordination of small movements and visual control over them.

In didactic games, a variety of toys are used, in which the color, shape, purpose, size, and material from which they are made are clearly expressed. Games improve knowledge about the material from which toys are made, their characteristic properties and features.

Printed board games are varied in content, educational objectives, and design. They help clarify and expand children’s ideas about the world around them, systematize knowledge, and develop thought processes. Printed board games are varied in type: paired pictures, lotto, dominoes, mazes, cut pictures, cubes, puzzles.

Printed board games are common, based on the principle of cut pictures, folding cubes, on which the depicted object or plot is divided into several parts. These games promote the development of logical thinking, concentration, and attention. For preschoolers, putting a whole together from parts is a complex process of comprehension and imagination.

Currently, puzzles are very popular, where pictures using a special joining technique are divided into several parts and have different contents (animals, transport, dishes, fruits, fairy-tale characters). In the process of didactic games, the development of sensory culture in young children will be more successful if pedagogical conditions are specially created. They consist of the selection of didactic games in accordance with the goals, the organization of joint games between an adult and a child, and the provision of pedagogical guidance for independent games of children of primary preschool age.

The role of didactic play in the development of sensory education is not only that children learn properties - color, shape, size, etc., but also that, thanks to the principle of self-control inherent in educational toys and materials, they allow organizing more or less long-term independent activities of young children, develop the ability to play next to others without disturbing them.

Conclusion

Based on the above, we can conclude that sensory development is aimed at teaching children to accurately and fully perceive objects, their various properties and relationships (color, shape, size, etc.). Sensory development, which is aimed at forming a more complete perception of the surrounding reality, is the basis of knowledge of the world, the first stage of which is sensory experience. The success of mental, physical, and aesthetic education largely depends on the level of sensory development of children, that is, how much the child hears, sees, and touches the environment.

Didactic games act as a means of sensory development for young children. It solves the problems of mental, physical and aesthetic development of each child. The game creates favorable conditions for the acquisition of new knowledge and skills and for the development of mental processes in children. The most important psychological secret is that it is necessarily built on interest and voluntariness. You can’t force someone to play, but you can captivate them with the game. In it, in unique ways, the gradual formation of mental processes is carried out: sensory processes, abstraction, communication, etc. Children love it when a teacher plays with them. All these elements of the game develop the child’s mental abilities.

In a didactic game, a child must independently solve various mental problems: describe objects, group them according to various properties and characteristics, guess objects and actions based on descriptions, and invent stories. Children should be able to find the answer, guess, compare, contrast, and draw the correct conclusion using existing knowledge and experience. At the same time, they demonstrate intelligence, the ability to independently solve problems, and the ability to exert strong will in achieving their goals.

Bibliography

Wenger, L.A. Nurturing a child’s sensory culture from birth to 6 years. Book for a kindergarten teacher - M.: Prosveshchenie, 2000.- 267 p.
Gubanova, N.F. Development of gaming activities. System of work in the first junior group of kindergarten - M.: Mozaika-Sintez, 2008.
Sensory education in kindergarten / / Ed. N.P. Sakulina and N.N. Poddyakova, Method. Indication - M.: Education, 2001.
Sensory education of young children: educational and methodological manual / Yu.M. Khokhryakova: Publishing house "TC Sfera", 2014.