The development of visual-figurative thinking in preschool age. Visual-figurative thinking: what is it and how to develop it? Visual Action Thinking in Young Children

Further improvement of visual-effective thinking based on imagination;

Improving visual-figurative thinking based on arbitrary and mediated memory;

The beginning of the active formation of verbal-logical thinking by using speech as a means of setting and solving intellectual problems.

1) questions that are posed by the child in order to receive help (i.e., their motive is the desire of the child to involve an adult in complicity in the various activities of the child himself);

2) questions expressing a desire to receive reinforcement (emotional empathy, evaluation, consent);

3) questions expressing the desire of children for knowledge, or cognitive questions: a) issues related to mastering the rules of conduct; b) cognitive questions in the proper sense of the word.

The reasons for the emergence of cognitive questions are:

1. Meeting with a new, unknown object that the child cannot understand, find a place in his past experience.

2. In case of violation of established ideas, when contradictions arise between what the child sees or learns, and his past experience, existing knowledge.

3. If the new representation coincides with the formed ones only in some respects, but differs in the rest.

The formulation of the question indicates the awareness of the problem situation.

At 3-4 years old, the questions do not yet have a cognitive orientation. Children often run away without even listening to the answer, or, having received an answer, repeat their question again. Questions like “Who? What? Which? For what?" wear chain character is a form of active communication with adults. At 4-5 years old - questions like “Why? For what?" already wearing cognitive character, but still unsystematic, disorderly and varied, no longer connected with direct perception. The child is not yet trying to generalize the acquired knowledge, somehow connect them. At 5-7 years old, the questions “Why? For what?" more diverse in content, the child is waiting for an answer, expresses doubts, objects. Children already compare the answers received from adults with what they know, they compare, express doubts, enter into an argument.

During preschool childhood, a transition is made from visual-effective thinking (typical for children 3-4 years old) to visual-figurative (5-6 years old) and verbal (6-7 years old).

Special studies G.I. Minska showed that the experience gained by a child in solving visual-effective tasks (the formation of orientation mechanisms in the conditions of the task and the activation of speech forms of communication) can have a decisive influence on the transition to visual-figurative and verbal thinking. In other words, the organization of attention, the formation of speech, etc. are important for the development of a child's thinking.

The well-known psychologist J. Piaget distinguishes four stages in the development of a child's intellect. At the stage of sensorimotor, or practical thinking (from birth to 2 years), the child learns the world around him as a result of his actions, movements, manipulations with objects (visual-effective thinking). With the appearance of speech, the stage of preoperative thinking begins (lasting from 2 to 7 years), during which speech develops, the ability to mentally (internally) imagine external objective actions (visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking) is formed.

Of greatest interest to us is the stage of pre-operational thinking, namely visual-figurative.

Figurative thinking is the main type of thinking of a preschooler. In its simplest forms, it appears already in early childhood, manifesting itself in the solution of a narrow range of practical problems related to the objective activity of the child, using the simplest tools. By the beginning of preschool age, children solve in their minds only such tasks in which the action performed by a hand or a tool is directly aimed at achieving a practical result - moving an object, using it or changing it.

The main feature of visual-figurative thinking is that the child solves life problems not only in the course of practical actions with objects, which is typical for visual-active thinking of the early period of development, but also in the mind based on images - ideas about these objects. The successful implementation of these mental procedures is possible only if the child can combine and combine in his mind different parts of objects and things, and in addition, isolate in them essential invariant features that are important for solving various problems. The level of formation of visual-figurative thinking is determined mainly by the development of visual perception, short-term and long-term memory. Approximately by the age of four, the preschooler as a whole has completed the process of formation of the basic mental functions, which creates the necessary basis for the formation and intensive development of the visual-figurative thinking of the child. It is also appropriate to recall the position of L.S. Vygotsky about the direct influence of emerging speech on the rooting and intensification of the development of visual-figurative thinking and the formation of its reflexive characteristics.

It should be noted that the ability to operate with ideas is not a direct result of the child's assimilation of knowledge and skills. An analysis of a number of psychological studies makes it possible to assume that this ability arises in the process of interaction between various lines of the child's psychological development - the development of objective and instrumental actions, speech, imitation, play activity, etc. The initial stages of the development of visual-figurative thinking are closely adjacent to the development of perception processes. The fact is that when solving certain perceptual problems (for example, choosing according to a model), the processes of perception proceed in close connection with the processes of representations: in order to choose from a number of objects corresponding to a sample, it is necessary to have a certain idea about this sample.

In visual-figurative thinking, the ability to represent objects in the form in which they were perceived is the initial one. After all, before you can operate with an image, you need to have it.

The features of the transition from visual-effective thinking to visual-figurative thinking were studied in the work of PI. Minska (carried out under the direction of A.V. Zaporozhets). The children were offered tasks in which it was required to bring some object closer to themselves with the help of various kinds of levers.

Studies have shown that a successful transition from the visual-effective to the visual-figurative is determined by the level of orienting research activity aimed at identifying the significant connections of the situation.

Further research in this direction, conducted by T.S. Komarova, made it possible to obtain a number of important factors that reveal some of the mechanisms for the transition from visual-active to visual-figurative thinking.

The work was carried out according to a special methodology and made it possible to establish that during the formation of visual-figurative thinking, the actions of children that were previously carried out with real objects begin to be reproduced in terms of the presented without relying on real things, i.e. there is a kind of withdrawal of actions from reality. This separation is carried out much more successfully if it does not appear immediately, but passes through intermediate stages, when the child reproduces these actions not with the actual objects themselves, but with their substitutes - models. At first, the model can act as an exact copy of the object, but even here fundamental changes are already taking place in the child’s activity - he acts with the model of the object and, with the help of an adult, comes to understand that this model and actions with it must be correlated with the original. In other words, children quickly learn that their actions refer to the original, although they are made with a model. This is the key moment in the formation of figurative thinking, in which models and actions with them play a crucial role.

A number of domestic studies reveal the structure of visual-figurative thinking and characterize some of the features of its functioning (B.G. Ananiev, L.L. Gurova, V.P. Zinchenko, E.N. Kabanova-Meller, T.V. Kudryavtsev, F. N. Shemyakin, I. S. Yakimanskaya and others). The main means of implementing this form of thinking are images that can differ in the degree of generalization, in the ways of formation and functioning. The mental activity itself acts as an operation with images.

Some authors (T.V. Kudryavtsev, I.S. Yakimanskaya and others) draw attention to the need for a clear distinction between two concepts - the type of image and the type of image operation. A number of studies have shown that the type of operating with images about a certain measure does not depend on the type of images themselves.

In other studies, there is evidence that the type of image (its structure, its functional features) affects the process of operating, expanding or narrowing the possibilities of the latter (V.P. Zinchenko, N.N. Poddyakov).

In the works of I.S. Yakimanskaya identified three types of image manipulation. The first type is characterized by an enhancement to represent objects (or parts thereof) in different spatial positions. The second type is characterized by the transformation of the structure and spatial position of the original image. The third type of operation is to build fundamentally new images based on complex transformations of the original images.

Many authors (A.V. Zaporozhets, A.A. Lyublinskaya, J. Plage and others) consider the emergence of visual-figurative thinking as a key moment in the mental development of a child. However, the conditions for the formation of figurative thinking in preschoolers, the mechanisms for its implementation have not been fully studied.

In a number of studies (T.V. Kudryavtsev, I.S. Yakimanskaya, and others), the main types of image manipulation were identified. One of these types is the mental reproduction of an object in various spatial positions. Such operation is an essential moment in the functioning of children's visual-figurative thinking and is of great importance in the process of children's activities. The ability of children to represent objects in different spatial positions is a rather complex skill. It includes as initial links other, simpler skills, for example, the representation of objects in the position in which they were in the process of direct perception.

The transition to the skills to represent objects in different spatial positions can be carried out on the basis of the formation of intermediate skills. They lie in the fact that the child represents different spatial positions of the hidden parts of the object according to the visible ones. It is important to note that these skills play the role of not only an intermediate stage leading to the formation of more complex skills. They have independent significance in the course of the development of the cognitive activity of the child.

One of the important signs of the development of visual-figurative thinking is how much the new image differs from the initial data on the basis of which it is built.

The degree of difference between the new image being formed and the original images reflecting the conditions of the problem characterizes the depth and radicalness of the mental transformations of these initial images.

In their daily lives, preschool children very early face the change and development of various objects and phenomena. Experimental studies, as well as systematic observations of the activities of preschoolers, give reason to believe that one of the peculiar forms of sensory generalization, which goes far beyond the limits of the directly perceived and is the starting point for the development of more complex forms of generalization, arises in the process of cognition by children of objects in their change and development. . A characteristic feature of such cognition is the formation in this process of special ideas that reflect the sequence of changes, transformations of the object, which are inaccessible to direct perception.

An important condition for the emergence of visual-figurative thinking is the formation in children of the ability to distinguish between the plan of real objects and the plan of models that reflect these objects. With the help of such models, the child imagines the hidden sides of the situation. In the process of using models, children form special actions with a dual focus - they are carried out by the child on the model, and they relate to the original. This creates the prerequisites for the "separation" of actions from the model and from the original and their implementation in terms of representations.

The development of a figurative reflection of reality in preschoolers proceeds mainly along two main lines: a) improving and complicating the structure of individual images that provide a generalized reflection of objects and phenomena; b) the formation of a system of specific ideas about a particular subject. Individual representations included in this system have a specific character. However, being combined into a system, these representations allow the child to carry out a generalized reflection of the surrounding objects and phenomena.

The main line of development of visual-figurative thinking is the formation of the ability to operate with images of objects or their parts. The basis of such an operation is the ability of children to arbitrarily update these images. Such skills arise in children in the course of assimilation of two closely interconnected systems of actions. First, a system of analyzing actions is formed, during which the child is taught to sequentially identify the main and then the derivative parts of the subject, that is, they are taught to go from the general to the particular.

Then, in productive activity, a system of reproducing actions is formed, during which the child is taught to recreate, first, the main parts of objects, and then derivatives. The logic of reproduction corresponds to the logic of the analysis of the subject and unfolds from the general to the particular.

In the course of such training, children develop the ability to arbitrarily actualize the idea of ​​the perceived object and then embody this idea in a design or drawing.

An essential moment in the development of visual-figurative thinking is the formation in children of a certain technique for operating with images. The basis of such an operation is the use by children of a special group of means of mental activity, with the help of which various kinds of mental movements of objects in space are carried out.

Figurative thinking is the main type of thinking in children of 5-6 years of age. And as studies by psychologists show, even at this age, children can master many of the possibilities associated with this type of thinking. For example, They can learn to mentally transform images of real objects, build visual models (such as diagrams) that display the essential properties of objects or phenomena, and plan their actions in their minds.

The ability to use model images in thinking, which begins to develop in children of 3-4 years old, becomes in children of 5-6 years old the basis for understanding the various relations of objects, allows children to assimilate generalized knowledge and apply them in solving new mental problems. This ability is manifested, in particular, in the fact that children easily and quickly understand the schematic representations offered by adults and successfully use them.

In children 5-6 years of age, visual-figurative thinking acquires leading importance. As a rule, senior preschoolers turn to visual-effective thinking only in cases of solving problems that cannot be solved without effective trials, and these trials often acquire a planned character. Thus, in a task where the children were asked to push the doll along a given path by pressing buttons, the older preschoolers, after two or three unsuccessful presses, proceeded to testing the buttons, and some of the children developed a system of testing - the child investigated their effect on the movement of the doll in a certain order.

Tasks in which connections that are essential to achieving the goal can be found without trials are usually solved by older preschoolers in their heads, and then they perform an unmistakable practical action.

Younger preschoolers solve similar problems with the help of external orienting actions, i.e. at the level of visual-effective thinking. So, if children are given a task to use a lever, where the direct result of the action is to move its near shoulder away from itself, and indirectly in the approximation of the far one, younger preschoolers try to move the lever in different directions until they find the right one.

Children 4-5 years old, when solving simpler, and then more complex problems with an indirect result, gradually begin to move from external tests to tests performed in the mind. After the child is introduced to several versions of the problem, he can solve a new version of it, no longer resorting to external actions with objects, but get the necessary result in his mind.

The ability to generalize the experience gained, to move on to solving problems with an indirect result in the mind arises due to the fact that the images used by the child themselves acquire a generalized character, do not reflect all the features of the object, situation, but only those that are essential from the point of view of solving a particular problem. another task.

Our analysis of both domestic and foreign studies shows that the development of visual-figurative thinking is a complex and lengthy process. N.N. Poddyakov showed that the development of the internal plan in preschool children goes through the following stages:

1st stage. The child is not yet able to act in the mind, but is already capable of manipulating things on a visual-active plane, transforming the objective situation directly perceived by him with the help of practical actions. At this stage, the development of thinking consists in the fact that at first the situation is given to the child visually, in all essential features, and then some of them are excluded, and the emphasis is placed on the child's memory. Initially, the development of intellect proceeds through the development of recall of what they have seen, heard, felt, done by them, through the transfer of once found solutions to the problem to new conditions and situations.

2nd stage. Here speech is already included in the statement of the problem. The task itself can be solved by the child only on the external plane, by direct manipulation of material objects or by trial and error. Some modification of the previously found solution is allowed when it is transferred to new conditions and situations. The solution found in verbal form can be expressed by the child, so at this stage it is important to get him to understand the verbal instructions, formulate and explain in words the solution found.

3rd stage. The problem is solved already in a visual-figurative plan by manipulating the images-representations of objects. The child is required to be aware of the methods of action aimed at solving the problem, their division into practical - the transformation of the objective situation and theoretical - awareness of the way the requirement is made.

4th stage. This is the final stage, at which the task, after finding its visual-effective and figurative solution, is reproduced and implemented in an internally presented plan. Here, the development of intelligence is reduced to the formation in the child of the ability to independently develop a solution to the problem and consciously follow it. Thanks to this learning, there is a transition from the external to the internal plan of action.

So, visual-figurative thinking acquires the main significance in the knowledge of the world around preschoolers. It gives the child the opportunity to assimilate generalized knowledge about the objects and phenomena of reality, becomes a source of children's creativity.

The level of development of visual-figurative thinking, achieved at preschool age, is of lasting importance for the entire subsequent life of a person, serves as the main contribution that preschool childhood makes to the overall process of mental development.

Sections: Working with preschoolers

Classes: d/s, 1

Keywords: logical thinking, visual action thinking

Thinking in young children develops - from perception to visual-effective thinking, and then to visual-figurative and logical thinking.

The development of thinking in early and preschool age. The first thought processes arise in the child as a result of the knowledge of the properties and relations of the objects surrounding him in the process of their perception and in the course of the experience of his own actions with objects, as a result of acquaintance with a number of phenomena occurring in the surrounding reality. Consequently, the development of perception and thinking are closely related, and the first glimpses of children's thinking are of a practical (effective) nature, i.e. they are inseparable from the objective activity of the child. This form of thinking is called "visual-effective" and is the earliest.

Visual-effective thinking arises where a person encounters new conditions and a new way of solving a problematic practical task. The child encounters tasks of this type throughout childhood - in everyday and play situations.

An important feature of visual-effective thinking is that practical action, which is carried out by the trial method, serves as a way to transform the situation. When revealing the hidden properties and connections of an object, children use the trial and error method, which in certain life circumstances is necessary and the only one. This method is based on discarding incorrect options for action and fixing the correct, effective ones and, thus, performs the role of a mental operation.

When solving problematic practical problems, there is an identification, “discovery of the properties and relationships of objects or phenomena, hidden, internal properties of objects are revealed. The ability to obtain new information in the process of practical transformations is directly related to the development of visual-effective thinking.

How does the child's mind develop? The first manifestations of visual-effective thinking can be observed at the end of the first - beginning of the second year of life. With the mastery of walking, the child's encounters with new objects expand significantly. Moving around the room, touching objects, moving them and manipulating them, the child constantly encounters obstacles, difficulties, looks for a way out, making extensive use of trials, attempts, etc. in these cases. In actions with objects, the child moves away from simple manipulation and proceeds to object-play actions that correspond to the properties of the objects with which they act: for example, he does not knock with a stroller, but rolls it; he puts the doll on the bed; puts the cup on the table; interferes with a spoon in a saucepan, etc. Performing various actions with objects (feeling, stroking, throwing, examining, etc.), he practically learns both the external and hidden properties of objects, discovers some connections that exist between objects. So, when one object hits another, noise occurs, one object can be inserted into another, two objects, colliding, can move in different directions, etc. As a result, the object becomes, as it were, a conductor of the child's influence on another object, i.e. effective actions can be performed not only by direct impact with the hand on the object, but also with the help of another object - indirectly. The object, as a result of the accumulation of some experience in its use, is assigned the role of a means by which one can obtain the desired result. A qualitatively new form of activity is being formed - instrumental, when the child uses auxiliary means to achieve the goal.

Children get acquainted with auxiliary objects first of all in everyday life. Children are fed, and then they themselves eat with a spoon, drink from a cup, etc., they begin to use aids when they need to get something, fix it, move it, etc. The child's experience gained in solving practical problems is fixed in the methods of action. Gradually, the child generalizes his experience and begins to use it in various conditions. For example, if a child has learned to use a stick to bring a toy closer to him, then he takes out a toy that has rolled under the cabinet with the help of another one that is suitable in shape and length: a toy-shovel, net, club, etc. The generalization of the experience of activity with objects prepares the generalization of experience in the word, i.e. prepares the formation of visual-effective thinking in the child.

The development of objective activity and its “verbalization” in a child occurs with the active participation of the people around him. Adults set certain tasks for the child, show ways to solve them, name actions. The inclusion of a word denoting the action being performed qualitatively changes the thought process of the child, even if he does not yet speak colloquial speech. The action denoted by the word acquires the character of a generalized method for solving a group of homogeneous practical problems and is easily transferred to other similar situations. Being included in the practical activity of the child, speech, even at first only audible, as if from within restructures the process of his thinking. Changing the content of thinking requires its more advanced forms, and already in the process of visual-effective thinking, the prerequisites for visual-figurative thinking are formed.

In the younger preschool age, profound changes take place both in the content and in the forms of visual-effective thinking. A change in the content of children's visual-effective thinking leads to a change in its structure. Using his generalized experience, the child can mentally prepare, foresee the nature of subsequent events.

Visual-effective thinking contains all the main components of mental activity: goal setting, analysis of conditions, choice of means of achievement. When solving a practical problem task, orienting actions are manifested not only on the external properties and qualities of objects, but also on the internal relationships of objects in a certain situation. At preschool age, the child is already freely oriented in the conditions of the practical tasks that arise before him, he can independently find a way out of the problem situation. A problem situation is understood as a situation in which it is impossible to act in the usual ways, but you need to transform your past experience, find new ways to use it.

The basis for the formation of visual-effective thinking of preschoolers is the development of independent orientation and research activities in solving problem-practical problems, as well as the formation of the main functions of speech. In turn, this makes it possible to strengthen the weak relationship between the main components of cognition: action, word, and image.
In the process of acting with objects, the preschooler has a motive for his own statements: reasoning, conclusions. On this basis, images-representations are formed, which become more flexible, dynamic. When performing actions with objects and changing the real situation, the child creates a fundamental basis for the formation of images-representations. Thus, the visual-practical situation is a kind of stage in the establishment of a strong connection between action and word in a preschooler. Based on this connection, full-fledged images-representations can be built.

Formation of the relationship between word and image

The ability to correctly represent the situation according to its verbal description is a necessary prerequisite for the development of figurative forms of thinking and speech of the child. It underlies the formation of the mechanism of mental operation with images of the recreating imagination. In the future, this allows you to perform adequate actions according to instructions, solve intellectual problems, and plan. Thus, this skill is the foundation of high-quality, purposeful voluntary activity.

It is the relationship between word and image that forms the basis for the development of elements of logical thinking.

Tasks for the formation of skills to find a toy or object according to a verbal description, consolidation of ideas about the environment.

TASK "GUESS!"

Equipment: toys: ball, matryoshka, Christmas tree, hedgehog, bunny, mouse.

Course progress. The teacher shows the children a beautiful box and says: "Let's look at what is there." The teacher examines all the toys with the children and asks them to remember. Then he covers the toys with a napkin and says: "Now I will tell you about one toy, and you can guess which toy I'm talking about." The teacher tells the poem: “Round, rubber, rolls, they beat him, but he does not cry, only jumps higher, higher.” In case of difficulty, he opens the napkin and repeats the description of the toy with the direct perception of it by the children. After the child chooses a toy according to the description, he is asked to tell about it: “Tell me about this toy. What is she like?

The lesson continues, the teacher talks about other toys.

MISSION "FIND THE BALL!"

Equipment: five balls: red small, big red with white stripe, big blue, small green with white stripe, big green with white stripe.

Course progress. Children are shown one by one all the balls and asked to remember them. Then the teacher closes all the balls with a napkin. After that, he gives a description of one of the balls in the form of a story. He says: “Vova brought the ball to the kindergarten. The ball was big, red, with a white stripe. Find the ball that Vova brought. We'll play with him." The teacher opens the napkin and asks the child to choose the ball that he spoke about. In case of difficulty or an erroneous choice, the teacher repeats the description of the ball, while the balls remain open. If this technique does not help the child, then clarifying questions should be used: “What is the largest ball that Vova brought? What colour? What was painted on the ball? What color is the stripe?

After the child chooses the ball, he is asked to tell which ball he chose, i.e. justify your choice in a speech statement. Then the children stand in a circle and play with this ball. The game can be continued by offering the children a description of another ball. By such methods, the teacher draws the attention of children to the consideration and analysis of the external signs of toys, which, in turn, contributes to the connection of these signs with the child's own speech.

Equipment: stencils depicting animals: hare, crocodile, giraffe; rectangles representing cells; toys: a hare, a crocodile, a giraffe and a building set - bricks.

Course progress. The teacher offers the children to help “settle” the animals in the cages of the zoo, he says: “There are three cages free in the zoo, they are different in size: one is small, low; the other is large and very tall; the third is large and very long. Animals brought to the zoo: a crocodile, a hare and a giraffe. Help put these animals in cages that are comfortable for them. Tell us which animal should be placed in which cage. In case of difficulty, the teacher offers the children to build cages from bricks and place animals in these cages. After the practical activity, the children are asked to tell which animals they “placed” in which cages and why.

TASK "WHO LIVES WHERE?"

TASK "GUESS AND DRAW!"

TASK "TOY HALF"

Equipment: for each player - a collapsible toy (or object): a mushroom, a car, a hammer, an airplane, an umbrella, a fishing rod, a spatula; bags for each player.

Lesson progress. Children are given one half of the toy in bags and are offered to guess the toy by touch, without naming it out loud. Then you need to tell about it so that the other child, who will have a soul mate from this toy, guesses and shows his soul mate. After that, the children connect both halves and make a whole toy.

Puzzles.

• Hat and leg - that's the whole Yermoshka (mushroom).
• Cabin and body, yes four wheels, two brilliant lights, not buzzing, but buzzing and running down the street (car).
• Wooden neck, iron beak, knock, knock, knock (hammer).
• What kind of bird: does not sing songs, does not build nests, carries people and cargo (airplane).
• On a clear day I stand in the corner, on a rainy day I go for a walk, you carry me over you, but what am I - tell yourself (umbrella).
• Thread on a stick, stick in hand, and thread in water (fishing rod).
• I walk next to the janitor, shovel the snow all around and help the guys make a hill, build a house (scapula).

When repeating the game, you need to put other toys in bags.

TASK "PICTURE HALF"

Equipment: subject cut pictures in two parts: scissors, watering can, leaves, turnip, fishing rod, glasses, cucumber, carrot, snowflake; envelopes.

Lesson progress. Children are given one part of the split picture in envelopes and are offered to consider it without showing it to other children. Having guessed the object shown in the split picture, the child must draw the whole object. Then each child makes a riddle to the children or talks about the object shown in the picture (or describes it: what shape, color, where it grows, what it is for, etc.). After the children have guessed the riddle, the child shows his answer drawing. In case of difficulty, the teacher invites the child to make a riddle with him.

Puzzles.

• Two ends, two rings, studs in the middle (scissors).
• The cloud is made of plastic, and the cloud has a handle. This cloud went around the garden bed in order (watering can).
• Green ones grow on a tree in spring, and gold coins fall from a branch in autumn. (leaves).
• Round, but not onions, yellow, but not butter, sweet, but not sugar, with a tail, but not a mouse (turnip).
• What is in front of us: two shafts behind the ears, in front of the wheel and a seat on the nose? (glasses).
• I have a magic wand, friends. With this stick I can build: a tower, a house, and an airplane, and a huge ship. What is the name of this wand? (pencil).
• It slips away like a living thing, but I won't let it out. White foam foams, hands are not lazy to wash (soap).
• The red nose is rooted into the ground, and the green tail is outside. We don't need a green tail, we just need a red nose (carrot).
• In the summer in the garden - fresh, green, and in the winter in a barrel - green, salty, guess, well done, what are our names ...? (cucumbers).
• A white star fell from the sky, fell on my palm and disappeared (snowflake).
• When playing the game again, children should be offered other pictures.

Tasks for the formation of skills to perform classification

Target- to teach children to distinguish between essential and secondary, to combine objects for various reasons, into one group based on common features.

Games and tasks "Grouping of objects (pictures)" without a sample and without a generalizing word. The goal is to teach children to use a visual model when solving elementary logical problems for classification.

GAME "DEPLOY THE TOYS!"

Equipment: a set of toys of different sizes (three each): nesting dolls, bells, vases, houses, Christmas trees, bunnies, hedgehogs, cars; three identical boxes.

Course progress. The teacher shows the toys to the children and says: “These toys should be put into three boxes. Each box should contain toys that are similar to each other. Think about which toys you put in one box, which ones in another, and which ones in a third. If the child lays out the toys in random order, the teacher helps him: “Which toys are similar to each other, choose them (for example, nesting dolls). How are these matryoshkas different from each other? Put them in boxes." Then the teacher gives the child bells and asks to distribute them to nesting dolls: “Think about which bell you will give to the largest nesting doll.” Next, the child lays out the toys himself and generalizes the principle of grouping. The teacher asks: "Tell me which toys you put in the first box, which - in the second, and which - in the third." In case of difficulty, he summarizes himself: “In one box - the smallest toys; in the other - more, and in the third - the largest.

GAME "DEPLOY THE PICTURES!"

Equipment: pictures depicting objects: vehicles, dishes, furniture (eight of each type).

Course progress. The teacher shows the children a set of pictures and asks them to divide them into several groups so that the pictures in each group are somewhat similar. In case of difficulty, the teacher gives the child the instruction as the basis for grouping: “Choose all the pictures with the image of dishes. Now let's see where the furniture is, ”etc. After the child has laid out all the pictures, it is necessary to help him formulate the principle of grouping: "In one group, all the pictures depicting dishes, in the other - furniture, and in the third - transport."

GAME "DEPLOY THE OBJECTS!"

Equipment: a set of eight toys and objects for various purposes, but some are wooden, while others are plastic: cars, pyramids, mushrooms, plates, beads, cubes, houses, two Christmas trees; two identical boxes.

Course progress. The teacher examines with the child all the toys one at a time (not in pairs), and then says: “These toys must be laid out in two boxes so that each box contains toys that are somewhat similar to each other.” In case of difficulty, the teacher takes the first pair of toys - Christmas trees - puts them side by side and asks the children to compare: "How do these Christmas trees differ from each other?" If the children cannot find the main difference, the teacher draws the attention of the children to the material from which these toys are made. Then the children act on their own. At the end of the game, the principle of grouping should be summarized: "In one box - all wooden toys, and in the other - all plastic ones."

TASK "DRAW A PICTURE!"

Equipment: 24 cards with the image of fish, birds and animals (eight of each type); three envelopes.

Course progress. The teacher tells the children: “Someone mixed up my pictures. It is necessary to decompose these pictures into three envelopes so that the pictures are somewhat similar to each other. On each envelope, you need to draw such a picture so that it is clear what pictures are there. The teacher does not interfere in the process of completing the task, even if the child performs the task incorrectly. After the child lays out the pictures, the teacher says: “Tell me, what pictures did you put in this envelope, why? How are they similar to each other? etc. In case of difficulty, the teacher gives samples for laying out the pictures in envelopes. Then he asks the child to name this group of pictures in one word and draw a picture on the envelope.

TASK "PAIR PICTURES"

Equipment: eight pairs of pictures, which depict the same objects, only one - in the singular, and others - in the plural: one cube - three cubes; one chicken - five chickens; one pencil - two pencils; one apple - four apples; one nesting doll - three nesting dolls; one flower - eight flowers; one cherry - seven cherries; one machine - six machines.

Lesson progress. The teacher gives the child to look at all the pictures, and then suggests that they be divided into two groups: “Decompose them so that in each group there are pictures that are somewhat similar to each other.” Regardless of how the child lays out the pictures, the teacher does not interfere. After the child has laid out the pictures, the teacher asks: “Which pictures did you put in one group, and which in another?” Then he proposes to explain the principle of grouping. In case of difficulty, the teacher asks the child to choose one pair of booths, compare them, explain how they differ. After that, it is again proposed to decompose the pictures according to the model, and then explain the principle of grouping.

word games

“WHAT IS ROUND AND WHAT IS OVAL?”

Course progress. The teacher asks the child to name as many round and oval objects as possible. The child starts the game. If he cannot name, the teacher begins: “I remembered, the apple is round, and the testicle is oval. Now you go on. Remember what shape is a plum, and what is a gooseberry? That's right, the plum is oval, and the gooseberry is round. (Helps the child name objects and compare them in shape: ring-fish, hedgehog-ball, cherry-cherry leaf, watermelon-melon, acorn-raspberry, tomato-eggplant, sunflower-seed, zucchini-apple). In case of difficulty, the teacher shows the child a set of pictures and together they arrange them into two groups.

"FLY - DOES NOT FLY"

Course progress. The teacher invites the children to quickly name objects when he says the word “flies”, and then name other objects when he says the word “does not fly”. The teacher says: "Flies." Children call: “Crow, plane, butterfly, mosquito, fly, rocket, dove”, etc. Then the teacher says: "Does not fly." Children call: “Bicycle, camomile, cup, dog, pencil, kitten”, etc. The game continues: the words “flies”, “does not fly” are called by one of the children, and the teacher names the objects together with the children. The game can be played while walking.

"EDIBLE-INEDIBLE"

The game is played by analogy with the previous one.

"LIVING-NON-LIVING"

The game is played by analogy with the game "Flies does not fly".

"WHAT HAPPENS DOWN AND WHAT HAPPENS ABOVE?"

Lesson progress. The teacher invites the children to think and name what happens only at the top. If the children find it difficult, he prompts: “Let's look up, above us is the sky. Does it happen below? No, it always happens only at the top. And what else happens only at the top? Where are the clouds? (stars, moon). Now think about what happens only below? Look at the ground. Where does the grass grow? Where does she go? » (plants, reservoirs, earth, sand, stones, etc.). After that, the children independently list the objects of nature that are only above, and those that are only below.

"WHAT IS SWEET?"

Course progress. The teacher offers the children: “Listen carefully, I will call something that is sweet. And if I make a mistake, then I must be stopped, I must say: “Stop!” The teacher says: "Sugar, marshmallows, raspberries, strawberries, lemon." The children listen carefully and stop him on the word where he "wrong". Then the children themselves name what is sweet.

"ANSWER QUICKLY"

Equipment: ball.

Lesson progress. The teacher, holding the ball in his hands, becomes a circle with the children and explains the rules of the game: “Now I will name some color and throw a ball to one of you. The one who catches the ball must name an object of the same color. Then he himself calls any other color and throws the ball to the next one. He also catches the ball, names the object, then his color, etc.” For example, “Green,” the teacher says (makes a short pause, giving the children the opportunity to remember green objects) and throws the ball to Vitya. “Grass,” Vitya answers and, saying: “Yellow”, throws the ball to the next one. The same color can be repeated several times, as there are many objects of the same color.

The main feature for classification can be not only color, but also the quality of the object. The beginner says, for example: "Wooden", and throws the ball. “Table,” the child who caught the ball answers, and offers his word: “Stone”. “House,” the next player answers and says: “Iron”, etc. The next time, the form is taken as the main feature. The teacher says the word "round" and throws the ball to any player. “The sun,” he replies and names another shape, such as “square”, throwing the ball to the next player. He names a square-shaped object (window, handkerchief, book) and suggests some form. The same shape can be repeated several times, since many objects have the same shape. When repeating, the game can be made more difficult by offering to name not one, but two or more objects.

"WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?"

Course progress. The teacher invites the children to look around and find two objects that are somewhat similar to each other. He says: “I will call: the sun-chicken. How do you think they are similar to each other? Yes, that's right, they are similar in color to each other. And here are two more items: a glass and a window. How are they similar to each other? And now each of you will name your two similar objects.
Games to eliminate the fourth "extra" word.

"BE CAREFUL!"

Course progress. The teacher tells the children: “I will name four words, one word does not fit here. You must listen carefully and name the "extra" word. For example: matryoshka, tumbler, cup, doll; table, sofa, flower, chair; chamomile, hare, dandelion, cornflower; horse, bus, tram, trolleybus; wolf, crow, dog, fox; sparrow, crow, dove, chicken; apple, tree, carrot, cucumber. After each highlighted "extra" word, the teacher asks the child to explain why this word does not fit into this group of words, i.e. explain the principle of grouping.

"GUESS WHAT WORD IS NOT GOOD!"

Course progress. The teacher says that this game is similar to the previous one, only here the words are combined differently. He further explains: “I will name the words, and you think about how three words are similar, and one is not similar. Name the extra word. The teacher says: “Cat, house, nose, car. What word doesn't fit? In case of difficulty, he himself compares these words by sound composition. Then he offers the children another series of words: frog, grandmother, duck, cat; drum, crane, machine, raspberry; birch, dog, wolf, kitten, etc. The teacher in each proposed series of words helps the child to compare the words according to the syllabic composition.

"MAKE A WORD!"

Course progress. The teacher invites the children to come up with words for a certain sound: “Now we will find out what words consist of. I say: sa-sa-sa - here comes the wasp. Shi-shi-shi - these are the kids. In the first case, I repeated the sound “s” a lot, and in the second, which sound did I call the most? - The sound "sh" is correct. Now you come up with words with the sound "s". The first word I will call is “sugar”, and now you name words with the sound “s”. Then, by analogy, the game continues with the sound "sh".

"LISTEN CAREFULLY!"

Course progress. The teacher says to the child: “I will name the words, and you will say which word does not fit: cat, bump, dress, hat; tractor, basket, rubber, elderberry; river, turnip, beets, carrots; book, crane, ball, cat; water, pen, janitor, cotton wool. In case of difficulty, he slowly repeats a certain set of words and helps the child to highlight the common sound in words. When the game is repeated, the teacher offers the children various options for tasks to eliminate the fourth “extra”.

Not all parents pay the necessary attention to the development of thinking in preschool age. However, researchers point to the existence of a relationship between thinking and speech. The earlier the development of intelligence is started, the richer the vocabulary of a preschooler will be.

Types of mental activity

Each age is characterized by its own specificity of perception of the surrounding world. Preschool age is sensitive for the development of thinking. In the first years of life, the child is distinguished by great curiosity. During this period, 3 types of thinking prevail in children:

1. Visually effective. Appears at 3-4 years. For children at this age, practical activities will precede theoretical ones. First, the kid sees the result of this or that action and only then displays the rule (to watch cartoons, you need to press a certain button on the television remote control, etc.).
2. figurative. This kind of thinking appears in 4-5 years. During this period, the baby first thinks, and only then acts. At the age of four, children no longer need to feel or taste an unfamiliar object. The connection between thinking and practical actions is gradually weakening.
3. Boolean. The development of preschool children reaches its peak at the age of 5-7 years. Logical thinking is the establishment of clear links between theoretical and practical action. A preschooler is able to cope with an unfamiliar situation in a logical way. At 5-7 years old, children should have well-developed figurative thinking. A preschooler can talk about a subject without its direct presence.

The preschooler can also find other forms of thinking. If parents devote enough time to the development of the preschooler's thinking, use educational and educational games, the child can be ahead of his peers in the development. Types of thinking uncharacteristic for younger preschool age:

1. Empirical. The high intellectual development of preschool children allows the child to classify objects, to identify similarities and differences between them. It is believed that the empirical thinking of a child aged 5-7 years is quite natural. However, not everyone has it.
2. Analytical. Analytical abilities are the result of the development of logical thinking in preschool children. There is a formation of not only the perception of the event and the response to it according to the template. There are abilities to analyze, to delve into the essence of the phenomenon.
3. Intuitive. The mental development of a preschooler with good intuition helps him find answers to some questions without the help of knowledge gained by experience.

mental operations

There are several universal operations, the ability to perform which is characteristic of every mentally healthy person. The mental education of preschool children should be aimed at ensuring that the child can master all of the following operations:

1. Classification. Mental activity should be aimed at finding similarities and differences in surrounding objects. At the same time, thinking in preschool children should be directed to the realization of the fact that some objects may coincide in one way and differ in another (the table and the pencil are wooden, but the table is large and the pencil is small).
2. Synthesis. Mental action is aimed at combining the acquired knowledge into a single system. The purpose of the mental education of preschoolers is to prepare the child for school, where he will have to combine unrelated knowledge. An example of the successful development of synthesis is the ability to read (to add words from letters).
3. Analysis. The development of intelligence in preschool children should include the development of this operation. If synthesis requires the ability to connect, then analysis forms the ability to "dismember". Cognitive development teaches us to see the world not only as a whole, but also as a collection of individual fragments (a flower is not a single whole, it consists of a stem, leaves, petals, etc.).
4. Generalization and comparison. Some researchers consider generalization and comparison to be special cases of classification. Proper teaching and mental education of schoolchildren develop the ability to generalize a group of subjects according to a certain attribute. Even at the age of 3-4 years, the child understands what a spoon, fork, cup is and what they are used for. However, he is not yet able to call all these items dishes. The future student also needs the ability to compare objects according to the main features.

Children's questions

Older preschoolers always have significantly more questions than younger students. Constant "whys" should not scare parents. Father and mother can be convinced of the correct course of development of intellectual abilities in a son or daughter. Parents should, if possible, provide the baby with all the necessary information, at least in an adapted version. Questions fall into 3 categories:

1. Emotional. A child needs not so much information as support from adults in order to feel confident or safe.
2. Cognitive. Such questions are asked to obtain new information. With their help, parents and educators can track the development of thinking in preschool children. It is noted that mentally retarded children usually do not have questions.
3. Auxiliary. For the full intellectual development of children of senior preschool age, it is necessary to constantly replenish the piggy bank of knowledge about the same subject. Today he wants to know the purpose of the object. Tomorrow he will ask what this object is made of.

Keeping in mind the growing intellectual needs of a son or daughter, parents should be concerned not only with the development of the child, but also with increasing their level of literacy. A feature of the development of thinking in mentally retarded or autistic people is that the world around them is practically not interested. The child must be taken to a specialist for the diagnosis of thinking. Emotional issues should not be associated with childhood retardation. They indicate a lack of attention. Mom and dad should spend more time with children. Reading bedtime stories will suffice.

Creative thinking

Parents believe that the tasks of mental education of preschoolers are to teach the baby to count and write in block letters. But this is not enough for successful schooling. The child must learn to think creatively. At school, he will not only solve examples and write dictations. In both junior and senior grades, many tasks will be creative in nature. Diagnostics of the mental development of preschoolers shows that children with a rich imagination do well both in writing essays and in solving problems in algebra.

The development of creative thinking begins at 3-4 years. The exercises that parents or caregivers use should be in the form of a game. If the activities for the development of the imagination take the form of a lesson at school, the result will not be achieved. Children quickly get tired of such exercises. In order for classes to be successful, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of thinking of preschool children.

The baby's imagination needs to be constantly stimulated. The development of creative thinking is a good activity during a walk in the autumn park. You can invite children to compose a fairy tale about fallen leaves. At home, you need to put on a play created by a children's writer or by the child himself. Friends of the son or daughter and their parents should be involved in the game. Such methods of mental education will lead to quick results and will captivate the child.

Parents do not always have enough time for classes. The development of the intellectual abilities of preschool children should not be interrupted. It is impossible to replace live communication, but it can be compensated with educational toys. The Lego constructor stimulates creativity and the development of logical thinking in preschoolers.

At the age of 6-7 years, the task should become more difficult. You need to get ready for school, learn to work with pencils and pens. It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the development of thinking of children at this age. A preschooler wants to express his thoughts graphically. The simplest task involves writing on a piece of paper several words that are not related in meaning, for example, tree, pen, cake, boots. The child should write a short essay in which all the listed words would be present. You can draw lines, dots or any abstract shapes on a piece of paper and invite the preschooler to finish drawing the objects.

Engineering Thinking

The mental education of preschoolers must keep pace with the times. The definition of the concept of "engineering thinking" is easy to give. This is the name of the type of cognitive activity aimed at getting acquainted with progressive technologies.

Working with engineering thinking of preschoolers is especially relevant today. Representatives of older generations had difficulty mastering computers and household appliances. Today's children 2-3 years old easily use smartphones, tablets and other gadgets. It is much easier for them to master new technologies than their parents and grandparents. Some fathers and mothers are trying to protect the preschooler from "harmful" equipment. Nevertheless, the full development of logical thinking in children of senior preschool age cannot do without the development of engineering thinking.

Cognitive education aimed at stimulating engineering abilities begins with working with a designer. You can use the already mentioned Lego constructor. Such means of mental education of preschoolers are focused on the development of creativity and abilities in the exact sciences at the same time. Experimental activity teaches to find a non-standard way out of difficult situations. The most suitable place for experiments may be the kitchen. Children love to help their mothers cook. Most of all they like working with the test. Senior preschoolers should be offered design and research activities, which involve collecting material about a particular subject, followed by a presentation of the collected knowledge.

The opinion that the direction of a child's development is chosen according to his belonging to the humanities or to those who have the ability to exact sciences is erroneous. The development of engineering logic for a preschooler is as necessary as learning to read and write.

Selection of exercises

Moms and dads should not be completely trusted with the development of a preschooler to a kindergarten teacher. The teacher will not be able to devote the same amount of time to all children. Parents should be aware of the theoretical foundations for the development of thinking in preschool age in order to work with the child on their own. The ideal option would be classes in kindergarten, alternating with home exercises.

Diagnostics of the mental development of children shows that by the age of 3-4 a mentally healthy child is able to give the main characteristics of objects. Education can begin with the development of visual-figurative thinking in preschool age. A developmental exercise can be as follows: remember the animal that you saw a month ago with your grandmother in the village, describe it, tell a fairy tale involving this animal.

By the age of five, an indicator of a high level of thinking is the ability to classify objects. At this age, the child knows the names of some animals and basic professions, is able to describe the appearance of people and count within 2-3 dozen. For the development of visual-figurative thinking in preschool children, an exercise is suitable: the child hides the picture and describes the object depicted on it to an adult who must guess the image. Then the roles can be reversed.

By the age of six, the child not only describes events, but also gives them his own assessment. Parents will need knowledge of the technology for developing critical thinking in preschoolers. An exercise for work might look like this: a mother asks a child to describe the weather outside, and then invites a preschooler to explain why the weather is like this today. The kid can also tell how he relates to a particular natural phenomenon. The correct answer is not required in this case.

Different schools of education may offer different criteria for assessing the mental abilities of children. For one school, action thinking must be developed by the age of four. Another system says that developing the same kind of thinking by the age of six or seven is the norm. Parents should not just copy ready-made educational models. It is necessary to adapt them to the characteristics of your child.

Thinking is a socially conditioned, speech-related mental process of searching for and discovering an essentially new, mediated and generalized reflection of reality in the course of its analysis and synthesis. It arises on the basis of sensory cognition and goes far beyond its limits.

Thinking is a process of mediated and generalized human cognition of objects and phenomena of objective reality in their essential properties, connections and relationships.

The foundations of thinking are formed in early childhood. Over time, on the basis of visual-effective thinking, visual-figurative thinking develops, the first generalizations are formed, based on the experience of practical objective activity and fixed in the word.

General characteristics of the thinking of preschoolers

At preschool age, the child learns the basics of knowledge about the world around him, the relationship of people, about external and internal qualities, the essential connections of objects. Older preschoolers are already able to make intellects and generalizations, their thinking is characterized by curiosity, activity, and the like.

The main directions in the development of thinking of a preschooler are the improvement of visual-effective thinking, the intensive development of visual-figurative and the beginning of the active formation of verbal-logical through the use of language as a means of setting and solving intellectual problems, the assimilation of scientific concepts.

AT THE AGE of about 2 years, the child is already able to name the same object in a few words, which indicates the formation of such a mental operation as comparison. On the basis of comparison, induction and deduction develop, which reach a significant level of development up to 3-3.5 years. Up to 4 years, thinking acquires a visual-effective character, which, despite the fact that this is an elementary level, persists for life. Gradually, there is a transition to visual-figurative thinking, which becomes the main thing at 4-5 years old.

The most important feature of the thinking of a child of preschool age is connection with the action of the first generalizations (the child thinks "acting"). For example, when a 4-5-year-old child is asked to determine the common and different between a ball and a cube, it is faster and easier for him to do this by holding them in his hands, and it is very difficult mentally. An adult can find out what picture is shown on the cubes without adding them up, but by analyzing the fragments depicted on each cube. The child cannot understand this, she needs to add the cubes.

An equally characteristic feature of children's thinking is its visibility. The child thinks based on available facts from experience or observation. For example, to the question: "Why can't you play on the road?" answers with a concrete fact: "One boy was playing and was run over by a car."

Over time, the child solves all the complex and diverse tasks that require the selection and use of connections, relationships between objects, phenomena, and actions. In playing, drawing, sculpting, designing, when performing educational and labor tasks, he not only uses memorized actions, but also modifies them, obtaining new results. Thanks to this, he finds and uses the relationship between, for example, moisture and the pliability of clay during modeling, between the shape and stability of the structure, between the force of hitting the ball and the height of its bouncing, etc. The development of thinking helps to foresee the results of actions, to plan them. The child's curiosity, cognitive interests of thinking in the knowledge of the world around are activated. These interests are much broader than the tasks of the child's practical activity. She constantly sets cognitive tasks for herself, looking for explanations for the phenomena that she has to observe, sometimes resorting to experiments. Increasingly, children talk about phenomena that are not related to their experience, which they know about from the stories of adults, TV shows, books, etc. Their thoughts are not always infallible, because they lack the knowledge and experience for this.

From clarifying simple connections and relationships, preschoolers gradually move to the knowledge and understanding of much more complex, hidden dependencies. One of the most important types of such dependencies is the relationship of cause and effect. 3-year-old children can only find a reason that manifests itself in an external impact on an object (the chair was pushed - it fell) 4-year-olds - they begin to understand that the properties of objects can also be the cause of phenomena (the chair fell because it has only one leg) 5-year-olds - take into account and are noticeable at first glance, the features of objects and their permanent properties (the chair fell because it has one leg, it has many edges, it is heavy and not propped up, etc.).

Observation of the course of phenomena, analysis of their own experience of actions with objects allows older preschoolers to clarify their ideas about the causes of phenomena, thanks to this, to come closer to a more correct understanding of them.

The development of an understanding of causal relationships occurs due to the child's transition from reflecting external causes to highlighting hidden, internal ones; by transforming an undifferentiated, global understanding of causes into a differentiated and accurate explanation; as a result of reflecting not single causes of the phenomenon, but its general patterns.

The child's understanding of new tasks, due to the assimilation of new knowledge, is a prerequisite for the development of thinking. The kid receives some knowledge directly from adults, the rest - from his own observations and activities, controlled and directed by adults. However, the enrichment of knowledge is not the main prerequisite for the development of thinking, because their assimilation in unleashing mental tasks occurs as a result of reflection. Assimilated new knowledge is included in the further development of thinking, is used in mental actions to solve new problems.

Even before the child enters school, he forms the primary picture of the world and the beginning of the worldview. However, the preschooler's knowledge of reality occurs not in a conceptual, but in a visual-figurative form. The assimilation of forms of figurative cognition contributes to the child's understanding of the objective laws of logic, contributes to the development of conceptual thinking, the basis of which is the formation and improvement of mental actions, on which the child's ability to assimilate and use knowledge depends. The mastery of these actions at preschool age occurs according to the law of assimilation and internalization of external orienting actions. Depending on the nature of external influences and their internalization, the child's mental actions occur in the same way as actions with images or actions with signs, words, numbers, and the like.

Acting mentally with images, the child imagines a real action with objects and its result, thus solving tasks that are relevant to her. Such thinking is called visual-figurative. Performing actions with signs requires abstracting from real objects, using words and numbers as their substitutes. The thinking that is carried out with the help of such actions is abstract, subject to the rules of logic, and is called logical.

Abstraction (lat. Аbstractio - branch) - a mental separation of signs and properties from objects and phenomena to which they belong.

Visual-figurative and logical thinking allow the selection of properties for various situations, the correct solution of various problems. Figurative thinking is effective in solving problems that require imagination, the ability to see through the prism of the inner world. So, the child imagines the transformation of snow into water. Often the properties of objects and phenomena are hidden, they cannot be imagined, but they can be indicated by words, other signs. In this case, the problem can be solved on the basis of abstract-logical thinking, which allows, for example, to find out the reason for the floating of bodies. It is not difficult to imagine the floating of a ball, a wooden log, but the ratio of the specific gravity of the body, floating and liquid can only be indicated in words or the corresponding formula. Using an image in such a situation is unproductive.

To use the word as an independent means of thinking, which provides the solution of mental problems without the use of images, the child must learn the concepts developed by mankind.

Concept - knowledge about the general, essential and fixed in words signs of objects and phenomena of objective reality.

The concepts combined into a coherent system help to derive another from one knowledge, that is, to solve mental problems without using objects or images. So, knowing that all mammals breathe with lungs, and having found out that the whale is a mammal, it is easy to conclude that it has this organ.

By the time the child's thinking is visual-figurative, words for her express the idea of ​​​​objects, properties, relationships that they designate. Words-representation of a child and words-concepts of an adult are essentially different. A representation reflects reality faster and more vividly than a concept, but not as clear, defined and systematized as they cannot spontaneously turn into concepts, but they can be used in the formation of concepts, children learn in the process of studying the basics of science.

Systematic mastery of concepts begins in the process of schooling. However, if organized learning is appropriate, some concepts can be learned by older preschoolers. To do this, it is necessary first of all to organize special external orienting actions of children with the material they are studying. At the same time, children, as a rule, must, with the help of their own actions, identify in objects or their relationships the essential features that should enter into the content of the concept. Further, the formation of concepts occurs during the transition from external orienting actions to actions in the mind. To do this, external means are replaced by a verbal designation.

In the formation of abstract concepts, both external orienting actions and the process of internalization are different "than when mastering visual-figurative thinking. After all, abstraction is associated with the replacement" of a real action with a detailed verbal reasoning, which over time does not occur aloud, but to oneself, is reduced and turns into the action of abstract-logical thinking takes place with the help of inner speech. At preschool age, it is still not possible to fully perform such acts, the child mainly applies them, reasoning aloud.