Features of imagination development in preschool age.

The problem of developing the imagination of children of primary preschool age attracts the close attention of psychologists and teachers. Modern trends in the development of psychological science and educational practice raise new questions in its study. One of them is the question of individual characteristics of the development of imagination, manifestations of the child’s individuality in his creative activity. In the psychological literature there are different points of view on the origin and development of imagination.

Important!

The development of imagination is a consciously chosen process during which a person pursues the goal of improving his imagination, namely making it brighter, deeper and more special.

What is imagination? Creative imagination is the ability for the unexpected or intended appearance of any images, ideas, etc. in the mind and thoughts.

What arises in thoughts during an imagination may differ from reality. Imagination is a world separate from reality; thoughts, ideas and objects that do not exist in nature can appear in the imagination. It is imagination that helps in the mind to solve problems that require a visual representation.

Here's an example:

• how to insert a battery into a watch;
• how to insert a battery into a mouse;
• how to insert a battery into a calculator;
• how the lid of the pan is closed;
• how a nut is screwed onto a bolt.

These are all too simple and obvious examples. How about playing checkers or chess in your head, or assembling a clock mechanism from gears or a house from a construction set.

Important!

The first manifestations of imagination can be observed in children in the third year of life. By this time, the modern child has already accumulated some experience, and this provides material for the work of the imagination. A child, who has already learned to somewhat use a spoon, takes a match instead and “feeds” it to his grandmother or mother, and at the same time to the porcelain dog. This is how the imaginary “feeding” occurs.

Children of early three years of age already know how to listen to a simple fairy tale, experience it vividly, and sometimes add to it themselves. These first manifestations of imagination are still distinguished by significant poverty due to the child’s little experience and are, as it were, still tied to perceptions. The child only supplements with his imagination what he perceives.

Types of imagination

1. Recreating. This includes images represented in thoughts according to the existing description: while reading poems, books, drawings, notes, etc. This type of imagination is otherwise called remembering, reproductive or reproducing.
2. Creative. This is the formation of images or ideas independently at personal discretion.
3. Uncontrollable. This type of imagination is known to most of us as absurdity and wild fantasy.

Types of imagination

Experts distinguish several types of imagination.

Creative

Human consciousness allows you to compose incredible images, without relying on knowledge and experience. Such imagination, with its further development, can even become the basis for a person’s future profession related to writing.

Recreating

This type of imagination is based on existing knowledge; images that the child became acquainted with in classes, in communication with relatives and friends appear from memory and are developed.

Wild fantasy

Uncontrolled imagination, where reality and fantasy replace each other. The child constantly thinks about something and declares that all this actually happened.

The benefits of a developed child's imagination

• the desire to learn new things, to look for answers to your questions;
• the ability to invent, fantasize, and compose on the fly. Lively, agile mindset, active in any activity;
• the ability to see banal things from an unusual angle;
• developed intuition, ability to guess;
• showing initiative;
• the ability to use experience - to apply skills and abilities previously acquired in other activities;
• solving problems in new ways.

These personality traits have one basis - the work of imagination and creative thinking. The more often a child fantasizes, the more he plays, engages in creative activities, the inclinations develop into abilities, creativity becomes a part of the child’s life in preschool age.

Development of children's spatial imagination

From an early age, a child is faced with the need to navigate in space. With the help of adults, he learns the simplest ideas about this: left, right, above, below, in the center, above, below, between, clockwise, counterclockwise, in the same direction, in the opposite direction, etc.

Attention!

All these concepts contribute to the development of spatial imagination in children. A child’s ability to imagine and predict what will happen in the near future in space lays the foundations for analysis and synthesis, logic and thinking.

Preschoolers are given the necessary primary information, and then the task is set: “What will happen if...”. The conditions under which the action must occur are formulated. The child must comprehend the data received, understand the task and make the right decision in the form of an oral or written answer.

Methods for developing imagination in children

1. Read more and while reading descriptions of nature, human appearance and the interior of a home, be sure to imagine all this in bright colors. When reading a fairy tale to your child, be sure to ask him to describe in his own words what this or that character or the area where the events take place looks like.
2. Repeat in your head the day you actually lived vividly, in every detail, without missing out on any little detail: smells, sounds, light and color. In this case, you can mentally change events. Make it a rule to ask your child every evening about how his day went: which friends he met, what flower he saw in the flowerbed, etc.
3. Start to paint the world or event in colors the way you would like to see it. Try, for example, asking your child to depict unusual animals or plants on an unknown planet, or to fantasize about what would happen if...
4. You need to dream: bright, colorful and positive. Therefore, always support your child’s desire to dream. Under no circumstances should you tell your child phrases like “dreaming is harmful” or “dreams don’t come true.”
5. It is unobtrusive to observe those around you and imagine what they think about, what they love, what they do in life. Invite your child to guess what, for example, a man in a uniform is doing or what a dog waiting for its owner near a store is thinking about.
6. Start creating. Imagination is developed by the creation of creative things: knitting, weaving macrame, painting, writing fairy tales and poems, modeling from plasticine or clay, origami and other types of creativity. Provide your child with maximum opportunities to express his fantasies and realize his creative inclinations.
7. Travel mentally: climb mountains, swim in the sea, fly into space, beyond the boundaries of our Universe. Fantasize with your child about, for example, a holiday together in some unusual place: visiting Santa Claus, on the island of Chunga-Changa, etc.
8. Play multiplayer games in which each player has a specific role. Games can be either board games or role-playing games. The main thing is that adults take an active part and do not hesitate to express their positive feelings and emotions.

conclusions

The modern world requires a person to be able to find non-standard solutions to problems. Already in elementary school, the child is faced with tasks that require a creative approach to successfully complete. Preschool age is considered the most favorable for the development of imagination. To do this, there are many games and exercises in which kids need to independently come up with something new and unusual. And don’t forget to set an example for your child, because children copy the behavior of adults: play and fantasize with your baby.

Games and exercises for developing imagination in preschoolers

Psychology notes the role of play in the formation of imagination as an extremely important means that gives a powerful impetus to the manifestation of fantasy (i.e., improvisation) in children. However, the choice of play methods will depend on the age of the child; depends on the individual characteristics of the imagination of each preschooler.

Important!

In preschool age, the leading types of activities are playful and creative. They are the ones who contribute to the education of all personal qualities of children, the full formation of their mental properties, and the disclosure of creative potential. In home education, play and creativity are the most accessible ways to develop imagination in preschoolers.

Exercise “What our palms look like”

Goal: development of imagination and attention.

Invite children to trace their own palm (or two) with paints or pencils and come up with, fantasize, “What could this be?” (tree, birds, butterfly, etc.). Offer to create a drawing based on the circled palms.

Game - exercise “Three colors”.

Goal: development of artistic perception and imagination.

Execution technology: invite children to take three colors that, in their opinion, are most suitable for each other, and fill the entire sheet with them in any way. What does the drawing look like?

Exercise "Magic Blots".

Goal: development of creative imagination; learn to find similarities between images of unclear outlines and real images and objects.

Suggest that you drop any paint onto the middle of the sheet and fold the sheet in half. The result was various blots; children need to see in their blot what it looks like or who it resembles.

Exercise "Magic thread".

Goal: development of creative imagination; learn to find similarities between images of unclear outlines and real images and objects.

In the presence of children, dip a thread 30-40 cm long in ink and place it on a sheet of paper, curling it randomly. Place another sheet on top of the thread and press it to the bottom one. Pull out the thread while holding the sheets. A trace of the thread will remain on the paper; children are asked to identify and name the resulting image.

Game – “Unfinished Drawing”.

Goal: development of creative imagination.

Children are given sheets with images of unfinished objects. You are invited to complete the drawing of the object and talk about your drawing.

Exercise "Wizards".

Goal: development of emotionality and creative imagination.

Methodology: without a preliminary conversation, invite children to use pencils to transform two completely identical figures depicted on a sheet into an evil and a good wizard. Next, ask them to figure out what bad the “evil” wizard did and how the “good” one defeated him.

Exercise "Dance".

Goal: development of emotionality and creative imagination.

Invite children to come up with their own image and dance it to certain music. The rest of the children must guess what image is intended.

Options - the image is given, all children dance at the same time (“blooming flower”, “affectionate cat”, “snowfall”, “cheerful monkey”, etc.).

Complication – to convey feelings in dance (“joy”, “fear”, “surprise”, etc.)

Exercise “What the music told you about.”

Goal: development of creative imagination.

Classical music is playing. Children are asked to close their eyes and imagine what the music is saying, and then draw their ideas and talk about them.

Game "What is this?"

Goal: to teach children to create new images in their imagination based on the perception of substitute objects.

Circles of different colors and strips of different lengths are used. Children stand in a circle. The teacher shows one of the colored circles, puts it in the center and asks them to tell what it looks like. Answers should not repeat each other.

Game "Pebbles on the Shore".

Goal: to learn to create new images based on the perception of schematic images.

A large painting depicting a seashore is used. 7-10 pebbles of different shapes are drawn. Everyone should have a resemblance to some object, animal, person.

The teacher says: “A wizard walked along this shore and turned everything that was in his way into pebbles. You have to guess what was on the shore, say about each pebble, who or what it looks like.” It is desirable that several pebbles have almost the same contour. Next, invite the children to come up with a story about their pebble: how did it end up on the shore? What happened to him? Etc.

Exercise "Magic Mosaic".

Goal: to teach children to create objects in their imagination, based on a schematic representation of the details of these objects.

Sets of geometric shapes cut out of thick cardboard (the same for each child) are used: several circles, squares, triangles, rectangles of different sizes.

The teacher hands out the kits and says that this is a magical mosaic from which you can put together a lot of interesting things. To do this, you need to attach different figures, as you wish, to each other so that you get some kind of image. Offer a competition: who can put together the most different objects from their mosaic and come up with some kind of story about one or more objects.

Game "Let's help the artist."

Purpose of the lesson: to teach children to imagine objects based on the scheme given to them.

Material: a large sheet of paper attached to a board with a diagram of a person drawn on it. Colored pencils or paints.

The teacher says that one artist did not have time to finish the picture and asked the children to help him finish the picture. Together with the teacher, the children discuss what and what color is best to draw. The most interesting proposals are embodied in the picture. Gradually, the diagram is completed, turning into a drawing.

Then invite the children to come up with a story about the drawn person.

Game "Magic Pictures".

Goal: to teach to imagine objects and situations based on schematic images of individual parts of objects.

The children are given cards. Each card contains a schematic representation of some object details and geometric shapes. Each image is located on the card so that there is free space for finishing the picture. Children use colored pencils.

Children can turn each figure depicted on the card into the picture they want. To do this, you need to draw whatever you want to the figure. After finishing painting, children write stories based on their paintings.

Game "Wonderful transformations".

Goal: to teach children to create objects and situations in their imagination based on visual models.

The teacher gives the children pictures with images of substitute objects, each with three stripes of different lengths and three circles of different colors. Children are invited to look at the pictures, come up with what they mean, and draw the corresponding picture (several are possible) on their sheet of paper with colored pencils. The teacher analyzes the completed drawings together with the children: notes their correspondence to the depicted substitute objects (in shape, color, size, quantity, originality of content and composition.

Game "Wonderful Forest".

Goal: to teach how to create situations in your imagination based on their schematic representation.

Children are given identical sheets of paper, several trees are drawn on them, and unfinished, unformed images are located in different places. The teacher suggests drawing a forest full of miracles with colored pencils and telling a fairy tale about it. Unfinished images can be turned into real or imaginary objects.

For the assignment, you can use material on other topics: “Wonderful Sea”, “Wonderful Glade”, “Wonderful Park” and others.

Game "Changes".

Goal: to learn to create images of objects in the imagination based on the perception of schematic images of individual parts of these objects.

Children are given sets of 4 identical cards, with abstract schematic images on the cards. Assignment for children: each card can be turned into any picture. Stick the card on a piece of paper and use colored pencils to draw whatever you want to create a picture. Then take another card, stick it on the next sheet, draw again, but on the other side of the card, that is, turn the figure into another picture. You can turn the card and sheet of paper over as you want while drawing! Thus, you can turn a card with the same figure into different pictures. The game lasts until all the children finish drawing the figures. Then the children talk about their drawings.

Game "Different Tales".

Goal: to teach children to imagine various situations using a visual model as a plan.

The teacher builds any sequence of images on the demonstration board (two standing men, two running men, three trees, a house, a bear, a fox, a princess, etc.) Children are asked to come up with a fairy tale based on the pictures, observing their sequence.

You can use various options: the child independently composes the entire fairy tale; the next child should not repeat its plot. If this is difficult for children, you can compose a fairy tale for everyone at the same time: the first one starts, the next one continues. Next, the images are swapped and a new fairy tale is composed.

Exercise “Come up with your own ending to the fairy tale.”

Goal: development of creative imagination.

Invite children to change and create their own ending to familiar fairy tales.

“The bun did not sit on the fox’s tongue, but rolled further and met...”

“The wolf didn’t manage to eat the kids because...”, etc.

The game “Good-Bad” or “Chain of Contradictions”.

Goal: development of creative imagination by searching for contradictions.

The teacher begins - “A” is good, because “B”. The child continues - “B” is bad because “B”. The next one says - “B” is good because “G”, etc.

Example: walking is good because the sun is shining. The sun is shining - it’s bad because it’s hot. Hot is good because it’s summer, etc.

Game "Fairy-tale animal (plant)".

Goal: development of creative imagination.

Invite children to come up with and draw a fantastic animal or plant that is not like the real thing. After drawing a picture, each child talks about what he drew and comes up with a name for what he drew. Other children look for features of real animals (plants) in his drawing.

Exercise "Fairy tale - story."

Goal: development of creative imagination, the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy.

After reading a fairy tale, children, with the help of a teacher, separate in it what can really happen from what is fantastic. It turns out two stories. One is completely fantastic, the other is completely real.

An infinite number of similar games and exercises can be created; it all depends only on the creative imagination skills of adults who have set themselves the goal of helping every child grow up to be a creatively gifted, unconventionally thinking, successful person.

Features of the imagination of children of middle preschool age

Introduction

The relevance of research . The life of a modern person passes in the era of technology, which requires non-standard, unconventional thinking from him. This type of thinking is often called creative thinking. It promotes an original approach to various life situations, making unexpected decisions that can change a person’s worldview on a particular problem. The so-called “creative approach” develops in a person during preschool age. Since the child is not able to independently select the necessary exercises for his own development, he is helped in this by his parents, environment, and, first of all, teachers and educators. This is also noted in the federal state requirements for the structure of the basic general education program of preschool education. One of the priority areas of modern pedagogical science is the study of the creative imagination of preschoolers and the search for ways to develop it. The most effective way to develop a child’s fantasy and imagination is through his activities in kindergarten and school. In the process of drawing, sculpting, and applique, the child acquires knowledge about objects and phenomena, about the means and methods of their transmission, about the artistic possibilities of fine art. His ideas about the world around him deepen, the qualities of objects are comprehended, their characteristic features and details are remembered; mastery of fine arts and abilities and their conscious use occur.

The level of the child’s imagination must be developed to such an extent that the child is prepared to form a full-fledged structure of educational activities. With due attention to the imagination, its development can help form a professionally developed imagination of a scientist, artist, inventor, etc. This is also due to the fact that imagination and thinking are complementary.

But, at the moment, insufficient attention is paid to the problem of developing the creative imagination of children 4-5 years old through visual activities in non-traditional drawing techniques. And although there is a lot of specialized literature, the authors of which, such as Dyachenko O.M., Nikitina A.V., Ribot T., Nemov R.S., Fateeva A.A., Melik - Pashaev A.A., closely study the issue of child psychology and the development of children's imagination; as well as literature that describes in detail the process of teaching children traditional types of drawing, authors: Komarova T.S., Kazakova R.G., Sayganova T.I., Sedova E.M., Sleptsova V.Yu., Smagina T.V. ., Davydova G.N., Kudeiko M.V., Nesterova I.A., Kozhokhina S.K., Pogodina S., Yarygina A., Ignatiev S.E., yet in practice in Russia the use of creative development methods is just gaining momentum.

Purpose of the study : to study the theoretical foundations of the problem of developing the imagination of children of middle preschool age through non-traditional drawing techniques.

Object of study: development of the creative imagination of children of middle preschool age.

Subject of research: non-traditional drawing techniques as a means of developing the imagination of children of middle preschool age.

Research objectives:

1. Analyze the psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem, define the concept of imagination, its essential characteristics. To study the features of the imagination of children of middle preschool age.

2. Determine the possibilities of non-traditional drawing techniques in developing the imagination of children of middle preschool age.

3. Find and analyze diagnostic techniques for developing imagination.

Research methods: theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem.

Chapter I. Developing the imagination of middle preschool children through non-traditional drawing techniques

Features of the imagination of children of middle preschool age

Imagination is a secret “action” of the psyche, which puts it at the highest level of development of nature. The process of imagination is unique to humans and is a specific type of mental activity. The ability of the imagination to get ahead of reality, go beyond its limits, and guess the future in the past and present was emphasized by M. Montaigne: “A strong imagination gives rise to an event.” An imaginary image is a kind of mental model of a product of the future. In this way it contributes to its substantive implementation in real life.

Understanding the nature of imagination has occupied scientists for more than a century, but according to a specialist in the field of pedagogy and psychology, Doctor of Sciences V. M. Rozin, modern psychology has not explained the understanding of the nature of imagination, if it has not confused the issue even more. [27, p.326]. Which does not detract from the importance of imagination in human mental and mental activity. And, if scientists still enter into discussions about the nature of the emergence of imagination, then its significance is undeniable and requires every possible development of its rudiments from early childhood.

One of the definitions of imagination is put forward by Nemov R.S. “Imagination is a special form of the human psyche, standing apart from other mental processes and at the same time occupying an intermediate position between perception, thinking and memory. The specificity of this form of mental process is that imagination is probably characteristic only of humans and is strangely connected with the activities of the body, being at the same time the most “mental” of all mental processes and states.” [23, p.260].

Also, all scientists, especially Rubinstein, unanimously establish that imagination is a process characteristic only of man, because the creation, on the basis of previously acquired knowledge and experience, of pictures of what does not exist in reality, refers to the characteristics of only the human brain. According to Maklakov A.G., a distinctive feature of imagination is a kind of departure from reality, when a new image is built on the basis of a separate sign of reality, and not simply reconstructed existing ideas, which is characteristic of the functioning of the internal plan of action [20, p.89].

As we have already noted, the concept of imagination is closely related to the concept of image. Imagination is the process of independently creating a single new image, in which individual features are not simply summarized, but transformed and generalized. Imagination differs from perception in that its images do not always correspond to reality; they contain elements of fantasy and fiction.

Another feature of the imagination is that it does not repeat impressions that were accumulated before, but builds some new series from previously accumulated impressions. Vygotsky L.S. o [1, p.15].

Imagination, as the basis of all creative activity, is equally manifested in all aspects of cultural life, making artistic, scientific and technical creativity possible. In this sense, everything that surrounds us and what is made by the hand of man, the entire world of culture, in contrast to the world of nature, is all a product of human imagination, and human imagination always acts as a reflection of the properties of the individual, his psychological state. Thanks to imagination, a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities. Imagination takes a person beyond his immediate existence, reminds him of the past, and opens up the future. Possessing a rich imagination, a person can “live” in different times, which no other creature in the world can afford.

Imagination plays an important role in the development of preschool children: it is necessary for any creative activity. The development of children's imagination is associated with the end of early childhood, when the child first demonstrates the ability to replace some objects with others and use some objects in the role of others. In the games of preschool children, where symbolic substitutions are made quite often, the imagination receives further development. [Zagornaya. With. 14]

The importance of imagination in mental development is great; it contributes to better knowledge of the world around us, the development of the child’s personality, and the development of visual and imaginative thinking. [Zagornaya. With. 15]

The question of the wealth or poverty of children's imagination is quite complex. There is an opinion that a child’s imagination is much richer than an adult’s. Indeed, children fantasize for a variety of reasons: they write stories, invent fantastic plots, attribute human experiences and relationships to stones or trees, talk to things, etc. [Smirnova dp. p.231 – 232].

However, all the elements included in children's fantasies are, in one way or another, borrowed by them from their experience: from fairy tales told by adults, from words accidentally heard or films seen, from what they encountered in their real life. A new combination and recombination of familiar images, the transfer of properties and events from one character to another create a fantastic picture that is completely different from reality.

[Smirnova dp. p.232].

A child can imagine less than an adult. His fantasies are limited by poor ideas about life and primitive life experiences. This means that a child’s imagination is in no way richer, and in many ways even poorer, than that of an adult. [Smirnova dp. p.232].

Vygotsky L.V. o [2, p.27].

And yet, imagination plays a much larger role in the life of a child than in the life of an adult. It manifests itself much more often and allows for a much easier “departure” from reality. And most importantly, children believe in what they come up with. The imaginary and real worlds are not separated by such a clear boundary for them as for adults. [Smirnova dp. p.232].

Many adults, especially parents, may consider imagination an “escape from reality into a world of dreams,” and in every possible way hinder the development of imagination in a child, believing that it can prevent the child from going through the process of socialization and adaptation. But, as noted above, imagination only contributes to the child’s self-expression, the development of non-standard thinking, and the ability to cope with difficult life situations in an original way. To some extent, imagination is a way to overcome fears. And although imagination is always a certain departure from reality, in any case the source of imagination is objective reality.

When classifying types, imagination is based on two main characteristics: the degree of manifestation of volitional efforts (voluntary, intentional or involuntary, not intentional) and the degree of activity (active and passive) [9 p. 147].

Active

, or
voluntary imagination
is a person’s conscious, purposeful work with mental images. It is precisely this tool that allows a reasonable person to first imagine the transformation of reality, and then bring it to life. Active imagination begins to form in childhood, when the child begins to engage in conscious activity.

Active imagination forms images at the request of the subject, associated with some unrealized human needs. It is aimed at the future and is associated with the strong-willed solution of creative and personal problems [13, p. 205].

Active imagination includes

:

1). Creative imagination is the process of creating new images, products of creative work, and original ideas. It differs in that in it reality is consciously constructed by man, and not simply mechanically copied or recreated, while reality is creatively transformed in images [9, p.147]. Types and techniques of creative imagination can be observed in scientific work, in art, in creative activity. With its help, the designer imagines the image of the future suit, and the fashion designer mentally imagines the cutting of the fabric that will allow him to create this suit. He helps designers create new technical solutions.

Creative (productive) imagination forms images that have no prototypes in the real world (images of a centaur, spider-man). Of course, these images are based on life experience and acquired knowledge. A model of a future situation, phenomenon, or object is formed in a person’s mind based on existing elements. The difficulty lies in combining these elements into a single chain of causal relationships. This type of imagination is most typical for those who are focused on the future and take an active life position [13, p.207].

It is quite obvious that for participation in creative activity, for the development of creative abilities, creative imagination is most significant, since it is it that allows one to discover new, essential characteristics of reality.

The very concept of “creative” implies an emphasis on novelty and originality of images created by the imagination. A. V. Petrovsky defines creative imagination as follows: “Creative imagination, in contrast to recreating, involves the independent creation of new images that are realized in original and valuable products of activity” (1977.P.345). [Dyachenko. s, 9]

Smirnova E. O. characterizes creative imagination by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to an existing model, but by independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination

, like
recreating
, is closely related to memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience.
Therefore,
there is no hard boundary
the reconstructive
and
creative When recreating
the imagination, the viewer, reader, or listener must, to a greater or lesser extent, complete the given image with the activity of his
creative
imagination. .[Smirnova dp. p.236].

2). Reproductive imagination

(recreating) creates an image based on a verbal description or conventional image of the recreated object. Recreating (reproductive) imagination manifests itself in situations of recreating the image of an object that actually existed in the past, but was presented verbally, in diagrams, drawings, sketches [13, p. 206].

3). Anticipatory imagination

underlies the human ability to anticipate future events and foresee the results of one’s actions.

The phenomenon of imagination in the practical activities of people is, first of all, associated with the process of artistic creativity.

Thus, the direction in art called naturalism, as well as partly realism, can be correlated with the reproductive imagination [23, p. 262.].

Passive imagination forms images spontaneously, “of course.” These images are not intended to be realized. It can manifest itself in hypnotic states, dreams, daydreams and delusional states. Most often, this type of imagination is focused on the psychological repression of negative emotions or the preservation of positive ones, i.e. plays the role of psychological self-defense. A person, as it were, compensates for that part of his everyday life that turned out to be unrealized for some reason (due to his own indecision, opposition from opponents, lack of necessary information). Passive imagination in most cases replaces a person’s need to act.

The formation of images of the imagination can be carried out in various forms: thought experiments, fantasies, daydreams, daydreams.

Dyachenko O.M. divides imagination into cognitive

and
emotional
. Dyachenko O.M. believes that children are divided based on the predominance of one or another type of imagination. It follows from this that some children prefer to depict an object or situation in more detail, in detail, consistently, while showing creativity, while others also creatively capture mainly their feelings and relationships in the image.

For any content of the drawing, if the child’s “ cognitive”

"imagination, he will strive to depict the subject and plot in more detail, and if the "
emotional
" imagination dominates, the preschooler may be satisfied with a more schematic image [5, p. 114].

Psychologists, through children's creativity, are looking for an opportunity to penetrate into the unique inner world of a child. In the process of drawing, sculpting and appliqué, all types of memory develop, which helps to establish associations between the perception of reality and art, between different types of art, between previously perceived and present. Figurative memory is of particular importance in the process of visual activity, determining the necessary reserve of visual ideas in a drawing child. [Leonova N.N. Artistic and aesthetic development of children in the junior and middle groups of preschool educational institutions. – St. Petersburg; LLC "CHILDHOOD - PRESS", 2021. - 320 p. - With. 3]

Imagination, like other mental functions, undergoes changes as the child ages. The most favorable period for the development of imagination, according to many researchers, is middle preschool age. As O. M. Dyachenko notes, “the main trend emerging in the development of children’s imagination is the transition to an increasingly correct and complete reflection of reality, the transition from a simple arbitrary combination of ideas to a logically reasoned combination.”

Dyachenko O. M., Smirnova E. O. believe that the development of imagination can be divided into several stages:

The first stage occurs at 2.5-3 years. The child begins to separate the image from the object and designate the image using words and use substitute objects. Imagination is passive, recreating in nature, the child goes from action to thought. But he still cannot plan the sequence of action, the stages of creating an image [6, p.459].

At the age of 4-5 years, the second stage of imagination development occurs. The child actively participates in role-playing games and is happy to engage in artistic and creative activities [33, p.240].

At the age of 6-7 years, the third stage in the development of imagination occurs.

Kuraev G.A. also believes that the initial stage in the development of imagination can be attributed to 2.5-3 years. It is at this time that imagination, as a direct and involuntary reaction to a situation, begins to turn into a voluntary process and is divided into cognitive and affective.

The development of cognitive imagination is associated with the process of “objectifying” the image through action. Through this process, the child learns to manage his images, change and clarify them, and regulate his imagination. However, he is not yet able to plan it, to draw up a program of upcoming actions in his mind in advance. This ability appears in children only at 4-5 years of age.

The development of affective imagination from the age of 2.5-3 years to 4-5 years goes through a number of stages. At the first stage, negative emotional experiences in children are symbolically expressed in the characters of the fairy tales they hear. At the second stage, the child can already build imaginary situations that remove threats to his “I” (stories - children’s fantasies about themselves as supposedly possessing especially pronounced positive qualities). At the third stage, by the age of about 6-7 years, the development of affective imagination in children reaches a level where many of them are able to imagine and live in an imaginary world [14, p.86].

Uruntaeva G. A. and Smirnova E. O., Dyachenko O. M., Ribot T. note that in children by the age of 4-5 years, the process of imagination includes a specific one, which has a step-by-step character. The child plans one step of his actions, carries it out, sees the result, and then plans the next step.

Analyzing the products of children's creativity (fairy tales, stories composed by children), Ribot T. identified the main stages of development of the child's imagination; he believed that during the preschool period (from 2 to 6-7 years) the child goes through 4 main stages in the development of imagination: - at the first stage, the child becomes capable of transforming perceptions (in one object he begins to see another); - at the second stage, imagination manifests itself in animism - the animation of toys; - on the third in transformation, in games; - at the fourth stage, artistic creativity begins, the essence of which lies in the recombination of images.

At the age of 4-5 years, the child is aimed, first of all, at mastering norms, as well as rules and patterns of activity, therefore a number of researchers note a decrease in the level of productive imagination in children. At this stage, the main way to create images of the imagination, as in younger children, is objectification [28. 29].

Uruntaeva G. A. notes that at the age of 4-5, in connection with the development of speech, the rapid growth of verbal forms of imagination begins, when the child composes fairy tales, teasers, counting rhymes, etc. The support for creating an image is now not only a real object, but also ideas expressed in words. The child moves from externally expressed actions to verbally expressed transformations. He “opens” in his imagination to a specific situation, feeling freedom, independence from it, seeing it through the eyes of different people, animals, objects.

At the age of 5 years, situational, often unstable dreams about the future appear, caused by emotional events in the lives of children. Thus, imagination turns from an activity that needs external support into an independent internal activity[36, p.229].

From 3 to 5 years, arbitrary forms of imagination “grow up”. Images of imagination can appear either as a reaction to an external stimulus (for example, at the request of others), or initiated by the child himself. At the same time, imaginary situations are often purposeful in nature, with an ultimate goal and a pre-thought-out scenario [13, p. 218].

In the minds of the average preschooler, concrete knowledge and fascinating fantastic images built on its basis coexist peacefully. At this age, the child’s idea of ​​himself, his image of “I,” changes significantly. Until about five years of age, the child’s “I” image contains only those qualities that the child believes he has. Children of middle preschool age are distinguished by independence, activity, curiosity, visual and imaginative thinking, and developed speech. At this age, the child begins to make a mental plan for upcoming actions.

Children under 5 years old do not yet know how to control their imagination, new images arise unintentionally, but at this age children can build a sequence of play in accordance with the plot, they are happy to construct various designs from building materials.

Middle-aged children develop aesthetic feelings: they pay attention to the beauty of nature and the variety of visual media. At this age, children confidently hold a pencil in their hand, draw people, animals, and surrounding objects, and enjoy sculpting, designing, and doing applique work. Children in the fifth year of life become familiar with the types and genres of fine art, their means of expression, and distinguish some genres of art using specific examples. Children are interested in the properties of visual materials. They get acquainted with ways of creating an image, obtaining shades and new colors, and experimenting with the palette. [leonova. P. 139]

Children of this age are characterized by higher emotional responsiveness; there is also an increase in concentration and distribution of attention - a preschooler is able to act simultaneously with several objects, however, these properties of attention are manifested mainly in play activities. Now the child can engage in activities that are interesting to him for 15-20 minutes or more. Children’s spatial orientation also improves, which is reflected in preschoolers’ knowledge and use of prepositions, imaginative thinking intensively develops - children are able to solve various problems using a schematic image, and attention continues to develop. Children have permanent play partners, leaders, and competitive and competitive motives may arise. At 4-5 years of age, the sensorimotor experience of preschoolers expands.

Children 4–5 years old consciously approach the drawing process and strive to achieve the desired result. Their drawings usually depict single objects. Children draw an object in parts - first the largest parts, then smaller ones and some characteristic details. .[koldina drawing 4 – 5 years old. With. 4]

The guys gradually begin to combine several objects in one drawing, creating a plot composition; learn to choose appropriate colors. They develop strong skills in proper use of a pencil and brush. .[koldina drawing 4 – 5 years old. With. 5]

Expected skills and abilities of a child by age five:

˗ — shows interest in drawing with different materials and methods;

˗ knows how to depict simple objects.

˗ has ideas about the shape of objects (round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular), size, location of their parts;

˗ knows how to create a simple plot composition from repeating and different objects;

˗ creates a plot composition from objects, adding various objects to them (sun, rain, snow);

˗ places the plot on the entire sheet of paper;

˗ knows how to mix paints of primary colors to obtain orange, purple, green, brown colors and knows how to choose the right colors to depict objects;

˗ knows how to obtain shades of colors (pink, blue, light green) by mixing gouache with white;

˗ uses a variety of colors in drawing;

˗ obtains the brightest or lightest shades by adjusting the pressure on the pencil;

˗ holds a brush, pencil, felt-tip pen, colored greasy chalk correctly;

˗ picks up paint only onto the bristles of the brush; to pick up paint of a different color, rinse the brush well in a jar of water, remove excess water with a cloth or on the edge of the jar;

˗ knows how to draw wide lines with the whole brush, and use the tip of the brush to put dots and draw thin lines;

˗ continuously paints within the outline with colored pencils, applying strokes in one direction;

˗ paints over the drawing, drawing lines in one direction; rhythmically applies strokes without going beyond the contour;

˗ correctly conveys the location of parts when drawing complex objects and correlates them by size;

˗ familiar with non-traditional drawing techniques (fingers, palm, poking with a hard, semi-dry brush, drawing with wax crayons and watercolors), can make imprints of leaves, create an image on a wet sheet, make an imprint with crumpled paper;

˗ keeps his workplace in order;

˗ creates a composition based on Dymkovo patterns;

˗ creates a composition based on Filimonov patterns;

˗ familiar with Gorodets products, elements and color combinations of Gorodets painting. [Koldina drawing 4 – 5 years old. With. 7]

A variety of visual materials enriches children’s perceptions and ideas, helps expand their knowledge about fine arts, visual activities, makes it more attractive and interesting for them [Komarov. How to teach a child to draw. With. 29].

As children master different materials, they develop their own style of depiction. Each of the materials that can be offered to children for drawing has its own specifics, its own expressive capabilities, which, first of all, educators and directors of art clubs and studios need to know. [komarova How to teach a child to draw. With. thirty]

It is important to teach children not to act in monotonous, once and for all fixed ways, but to change techniques depending on what visual task the child is solving. To do this, he must be fluent in a variety of movements, be able to change the direction of strokes and lines. From the very beginning, you need to show children different options for technical execution, emphasizing them [Komarov. How to teach a child to draw. With. 39]

The use of various materials will enrich children with knowledge of how to work with them, their visual capabilities, will make children's drawings more interesting, varied, expressive, and will enhance the aesthetic side of the drawing. . [komarova How to teach a child to draw. With. 46]

This period of free drawing, not yet determined by the task of depicting a specific object or phenomenon, the period of free action with pencil and paper, is of great importance for the development of drawing movements of the hand and subsequently for the development of creativity. Gradually, in these natural exercises, the child’s hand gains confidence and courage. Therefore, one should not rush to transfer children to a meaningful image or set them the task of drawing something. The hand, already acting uncertainly, becomes even more inept when the child is faced with the task of conveying the shape of an object in a drawing. The child is still small, and failures make drawing an uninteresting activity for him. If the task of drawing an object is set only when the child’s hand is fluent in using a pencil and gains greater confidence, then the child will solve it without much stress, and a negative attitude towards drawing will not appear. . [komarova How to teach a child to draw. With. 49]

E. A. Flerina repeatedly pointed out the courage and freedom of movement of a small child’s hand, his interest in searching for various movements to obtain strokes of a different nature, his desire to fill a sheet of paper with strokes and thus master the space of the sheet. This lightness and freedom are due to the fact that there is no complexity in the image. During the learning process, it is necessary to preserve the courage and freedom of movement characteristic of a small child, his desire to repeat homogeneous movements. . [komarova How to teach a child to draw. With. 50]

In the middle group, training in proper use of a pencil and brush continues. Here these skills become more complex.. [komarova. How to teach a child to draw. With. 57]

In the middle group, it is necessary to practice a number of skills that are part of the ability to correctly and beautifully paint over drawings with a pencil and brush: the skill of maintaining the direction of movements (in one direction), the skill of stopping movement in a timely manner, the skill of regulating the range of movements (depending on the size of the surface being painted).

Development of children's creative imagination in drawing

Drawing is probably the most famous and widely used form of creative activity. Thanks to drawing, a child develops memory, learns to concentrate, improves fine motor skills, analyzes everything, compares, looks for differences, drawing makes the child think and think.

At a very young age, a child pays more attention to the qualities that this or that material has; the drawings of five-year-old children can already be understood and comprehended; at the age of 10, a child is already making plot-based drawings.

Important! Drawing helps to establish and strengthen the connection between the right and left hemispheres of a child’s brain, which is why it has such a strong influence on the baby’s development.

Drawing materials today are very diverse, from crayons to all kinds of paints.

We paint with paints (finger paints, watercolors, gouache)

In Europe, painting with children aged 6 months and older has been practiced for more than 20 years and has positive results.

It is the colors that give more scope for imagination.

1. Firstly, they are more convenient to draw; when working with them, you do not need to make an effort, as when drawing with pencils or felt-tip pens.
2. Secondly, they can be mixed and get new colors and shades.
3. Thirdly, you can use different tools for drawing, the child can choose the method he likes most.

Finger paint

Finger paints are great for little ones because they are made from safe materials, and even if the child licks his finger in the paint, moms have nothing to worry about. In addition, such paints are easy to wash and wash off clothes. This is quite a nice bonus, because the baby will not limit himself to drawing only on paper.

Gouache

Gouache is suitable for slightly older children, from about two years old, because... it is not as safe as finger paints and is harder to wash. Gouache can also be painted with fingers, palms, or with a brush. Let the child first paint with it, as well as with his usual finger paints, and then show him how to do it with a brush.

Important! Children under 3 years old cannot hold a brush correctly and control the intensity of pressure, so don’t demand too much from your baby, let him master it.

Children really like gouache because... has the following properties:

• it is opaque;
• dissolves well in water;
• you can draw with it on canvas, on a sheet of paper, and even on wood;
• dries well and after drying becomes matte and velvety;
• odorless, therefore suitable for children;
• it is very dense, with rich color.

Drawing with gouache

From the age of two, a child can be given coloring books, just choose large drawings with a minimum of details to begin with. Show your child how to color without going overboard. Try different colors.

Important! Gouache is very good because you can mix colors and get new ones. The young researcher should enjoy this activity.

Watercolor paints

From the age of four, a child’s drawings already acquire more recognizable outlines and he can already be given watercolors.

Watercolor is a water-soluble paint, so it washes off easily with water. Paintings painted in watercolor create the impression of weightlessness, translucency and lightness.

The smaller the child, the fewer colors you choose to work with. For a schoolchild, 12 colors are enough, for younger children even less. The colors of watercolor paints can be mixed on a separate palette to create new colors and shades.

Important!

Also, to work with watercolors you will need brushes; it is better to choose soft and high-quality ones, for example, made from pony or squirrel hair.

Explain to your child that before taking a new color, the brush must be washed well in water, otherwise the colors will mix.

There is special paper for watercolors; it differs from regular paper in that the drawings on it are brighter and, accordingly, more vibrant. In addition, it will not wrinkle from moisture.

Books for developing children's imagination (for parents)

Developing imagination through non-traditional drawing

Unconventional drawing methods are unusual, interesting and useful. The child learns to see the miraculous in the most ordinary things. So, he learns that, it turns out, you can draw, for example, with your palms, a comb and a sponge, and not with a brush, with biscuit cream, and not just with paints. This awakens the imagination, the child has a desire to try new and unknown things.

Here are the simplest ways to draw unconventionally:

1. Drawing with a candle.
2. Drawing with splashes through a straw.
3. Drawing with stamps made from bottle caps, sponges, chewed paper.
4. Finger painting.
5. Isothread: the thread is dipped into the paint, pressed against the paper, and the resulting print can be expanded into a real design.
6. Drawing with a comb.
7. Drawing with a cotton swab.
8. Children of any development will enjoy drawing this way. Moreover, some methods help in the prevention of certain diseases, as well as in the correction of speech, breathing, and vision.