Orientation in space is a skill that a future first-grader should be proficient in. It is important that a 6-7 year old preschooler easily and naturally determine direction and use spatial concepts. It is thanks to the skill of perceiving space that a child orients himself on a sheet of paper, remembers the correct spelling of letters, and masters mathematical operations. Therefore, it is necessary to begin development in this direction from early preschool age. Assimilation of information occurs only with the help of an adult.
Consistent formation of spatial orientation in preschool age
The formation of spatial orientation is several successive stages of a child’s acquisition of the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities.
- Self-orientation. The baby acquires knowledge about the location of parts of his own body.
- Orientation "from yourself". The child develops visual-motor coordination and distinguishes between the main groups of directions (forward-backward, up-down, right-left).
- Orientation “from the subject”. The ability to determine in words the position of one or another object in relation to another.
- The ability to navigate in three-dimensional space while moving.
- Ability to navigate on a plane (in two-dimensional space).
Each of the stages is another step, the ascent of which depends on the age of the baby and previously acquired knowledge.
Child's awareness of his own body
The formation of skills to navigate in space begins with ideas about one’s own body.
It is this knowledge that subsequently serves as the basis for understanding information about spatial landmarks. Therefore, by the age of 3, a child should show and name parts of the body and face.
At this age, children are led to understand that there is a right and a left hand. The baby is able to remember and show the right hand if he is asked about left or right. But he perceives these words as the name of a hand; the essence of the concept is not yet available to him.
Orientation "from yourself"
Having mastered the parts of his own body, the baby begins to use them as a guide. For example, a child learns that the position of the head is up and the legs are below. Accordingly, you can ask questions:
- “Look what’s up there?” (sun, tree branches, etc.);
- "What's down there?" (path, grass, etc.).
- Let's see what objects are located to your right.
Thus, the child’s own body is the main point of reference.
The child places objects in a new position and receives novelty of orientation signals. The ball just lay in front on the right. A small movement, and it already needs to be said that he is on the left or behind. For a child this is a real discovery.
Children 3-4 years old first learn only one concept in paired spatial notations: under, above, to the right, behind. Obviously, each of the listed words has its own pair. But the child’s awareness of “above”, “below”, etc. occurs later.
It is useful to teach a child to describe in words the position of objects in relation to him. For example, “The closet with toys in the back” or “The box with blocks in front of me.” You can play a game with your child: “Where is the window from you?” An adult asks the question: “Where is the window from you? (floor, chair, picture, etc.). The correct answers will not be given right away, but after several attempts and explanations from an adult, the child will increasingly answer correctly and consciously.
Orientation from a third-party reference point
Having moved to the next stage, the child begins to perceive another person or object as an object of orientation. At this time, it is necessary to reinforce the basic concepts of directions: left, right, forward, backward, up, down, behind, between, under, etc.
It is recommended to use pictures for this. When considering them, you need to ask questions: “Who is drawn in front of the fence?”, “Who is standing under the bridge?” or “What bird is flying over the tree? Which one is sitting on the tree? Which one is under the tree?”, “Who (what) is far away?”; “Who (what) is close?” etc. Similar questions can be asked, for example, while walking, taking any object or person as a guide.
It is especially difficult for preschoolers to determine the left and right sides (hands) of another person. Having firmly learned which hand is his right, the child is at a loss as to which hand is considered right for the people or dolls standing in front of him.
An experiment with a ribbon helps to understand such a difficult issue for a child. You need to place the doll with its back to the child, tie bright identical ribbons on the child’s right arm and on the same hand of the doll. Having discussed the placement of the marks with the child, turn the doll to face him and trace where the doll’s marked hand is.
It may be necessary to perform exercises of this kind several times with different toys before the preschooler develops an understanding of the orientation of the sides.
Game "What's on the right"
Children sit along the edge of the carpet. There are 5-6 toys on all sides of the carpet.
Option 1. The teacher asks the children to remember where their right hand is. Then one of the children is asked to stand in the center on the carpet and name which toys are located to the right of him. In this case, each subsequent child is turned in a different direction compared to the previous one.
Option 2. The teacher or one of the children names the toys located in the same row and asks the child in the center of the carpet to name which side they are on.
Option 3. The teacher asks one of the children to stand so that the toys sitting on one side of the carpet (names them) are to his right.
Game "On the Raft"
Children stand on the carpet at the same distance from each other. Everyone stands on an imaginary raft. The teacher asks the children individual questions, while constantly asking them to change direction. For example, Petya, who is standing on your left; Masha, who is standing behind you; Seryozha, who is standing in front of you; everyone turned to the left; Tanya, who is standing to your left, etc.
Game "Bell"
All the children sit on the carpet, one of them is the driver, he closes his eyes. The presenter (teacher) moves away in some direction and rings the bell. The one who drives must name where the ringing is coming from. If he names correctly, he becomes the leader.
Game "Say the other way around"
This game can be played with all children, or with 1-2. The teacher names spatial landmarks, and the child who received the ball or other name names a landmark that has the opposite meaning. For example, left - right, top - bottom, etc.
Game "Shop"
Two children or two subgroups of children can take part in this game. They sit opposite each other, separated by a screen. Each has the same set of pictures (products, toys, stationery, clothes) and a card simulating a store shelf. One child lays out pictures on his card and names the location of each of them. Another child tries to reproduce everything exactly according to the instructions. Then, by removing the screen, children can compare both “stores.”
Games to develop children’s skills to occupy a certain spatial position according to a given condition (from themselves, from an object).
Game "Guess where..."
The teacher invites the children to stand in a circle on the carpet and see what objects or which of the children are on the left, right, behind, or in front of them. For each correct answer, the child receives a chip. At the end of the game, the number of chips received by each child is calculated.
Game "Ships"
All children sit along one side of the carpet, on which there are stools (in the form of inverted containers) at the same distance from each other: 3-4 rows of 3 pieces. in every row. These are “islands” in the sea, and each of the children will take turns being a “ship”. Someone lives on each island (a toy or card with an image of an animal is hidden under a stool). The child chooses who he will go to, and the teacher gives directions, indicating the location of the starting point. Having reached the desired “island”, the child lifts the stool to make sure that the task is completed correctly.
Option 1: the teacher gives step-by-step directions for movement. For example, go forward two islands, turn left, go through another island, turn right, go through another island - search.
Option 2: the teacher gives a reference point for the location of the “island” relative to the others. For example, this “island” is blue, located on the left, and in front of it is a white “island”.
Option 3: the teacher gives the child a diagram of the location of the “islands” and gives instructions on the diagram, after which the child tries to find the desired “island” on the carpet. For example, in the diagram (3x3) the required “island” is at the top right, etc.
Game "Where I Sit"
It is rational to play this game before class in order to seat the children in certain places. All the children gather on the carpet. There are upside-down cards on the tables (this could be a child’s personal badge, a paired picture, etc.). The teacher gives everyone instructions according to which the child must find his place, and the card will give him the opportunity to check the correctness of his choice. For example, Marina, go to the table that is located in front of the door, to the left of the window. Sit at this table on the right. Misha, go to the table that stands between the teacher’s desk and the closet, face the window, sit on the left, etc.
Game "Let's change"
Children stand on the carpet at the same distance from each other. The teacher gives instructions on how to move in space to one of the children to find a certain place in space according to given landmarks. For example, Sasha, stand so that there is a wall to your right, and Polina is in front of you. If Sasha found the place correctly, then the child standing in this place stands in Sasha’s place.
Games to develop children's skills to determine in words the position of one or another object in relation to another.
Game "What has changed?"
In front of the children, there are toys on the table in 2 (3) rows, 3 (4) in each row. The presenter invites all children to look and remember the location of the toys. Then the children close their eyes.
Option 1: the presenter removes some toy and asks to name it and the place where it was. For example, Drakosha, who was below between the puppy and the parrot, disappeared.
Option 2: the presenter swaps two toys and asks them to name the place where they were originally. For example, the pig sat at the bottom left, and the mouse was at the top between the puppy and the calf.
The role of the leader can be either a teacher or a child.
Game "Housewarming"
In this game, children use wall shelves for toys in the form of houses and small toys (animals). Each of the children in turn must “populate” the house according to the given instructions. For example, at the bottom of the apartment we got: a mouse, a kid goat and a monkey, with the kid goat on the left, and the monkey between the mouse and the kid, etc.
It is advisable to play this game with a small subgroup of children (2-3 people). At first, the teacher acts as the leader; in the future, it is necessary to involve children - this will help consolidate and expand their active vocabulary.
Games to develop the ability to navigate in motion.
Game “Where will you go and what will you find”
Before the game, all children sit in a semicircle in front of the shelves with toys. One of the children turns to face all the children, but does not see where the teacher hid the toy. The facilitator then gives instructions to that child. For example, take 2 steps forward, 3 steps left, 1 more step forward, look on the bottom shelf. At first, the teacher acts as the leader, then it can be the child who has correctly followed the instructions.
Game "Find the magnet"
There are various magnets on the magnetic board in front of the children. Each of them makes a guess as to which magnet he will look for with his eyes closed (blindfolded). Children take turns going to the board to find “their” magnet, while the other children give clues where to look. For example, higher, higher, even higher, to the left, a little down.
Game "Synchronized swimming"
Children stand on the carpet at the same distance from each other. The teacher gives instructions on how to move in space to all children at the same time, sometimes changing their direction relative to each other. For example, everyone took a step forward, a step to the right, two steps to the left, turned to the right, took a step back, etc.
Game "New gait"
This game can be played with 1-2 children during a walk. We agree that now we are not like other people, but in a special way. For example, two steps forward, one step to the right, or one step back, two steps forward. As the game becomes more complex, the child must not only control his “gait”, but also turn his body so as to achieve a certain goal.
Games to develop the ability to navigate on a plane (orientation on a sheet of paper, i.e. in two-dimensional space).
Game "Name the neighbors"
To do this, use a sheet of paper on which images of various objects are randomly located.
Option 1: the teacher asks to find an image of some object and determine:
- what is shown to the right of it,
- what is drawn underneath,
- what is located at the top right of a given object, etc.
Option 2: the teacher asks to name or show the object(s) that are located:
- in the upper right corner,
- along the underside of the sheet,
- in the center of the sheet, etc.
Game "Harry Potter's Labyrinth".
The teacher gives each child a sheet on which a labyrinth is drawn and the beginning of the path is indicated by an arrow. Children are then asked to help find the way to the cup by following the instructions and then checking to see if they were followed correctly. First, the sheet with the labyrinth must be positioned so that the entrance to it is on the left (right, above, below), then follow it (draw a line) until it turns, turn in the right direction according to the instructions. For example, the entrance to the labyrinth is below, go up, left, up, right, down. Having reached the end, the children can check themselves: the teacher drew the same route with a marker on the film, placing it on his sheet, the child sees whether he has completed the entire path correctly.
Game "Geometric dictation"
In front of the children is a sheet of paper and a set of geometric shapes. The teacher gives instructions, and the children must follow at a fast pace. For example, put a red square in the upper left corner, a yellow circle in the center of the sheet, etc. After completing the task, children can check whether they completed it correctly:
option 1: the teacher has prepared in advance a sheet with drawn geometric figures according to the dictation;
option 2: one of the children (under the supervision of the teacher) does the work on a magnetic board, which can then be turned to all children.
Game "I'm driving a car."
In front of each child is a sheet of paper (A3) and a small car.
Option 1. Children, listening to the teacher’s instructions, move the car in the right direction. For example, in the lower right corner of the sheet there is a garage, from there we will go along the bottom side of the sheet to school. It is in the lower left corner, and after school we will go to the zoo, which is in the upper right corner, etc.
Option 2. The teacher starts the game, the children take turns coming up with and pronouncing the next landmark.
Game "Kaleidoscope"
To play, children are invited to draw an ornament or stick on ready-made shapes (geometric shapes, cut-out pictures) and talk about their work. To do this, it would be rational to give the teacher a topic for work. For example, “Bookmark”, “Rug”, “Patchwork Quilt”, “Easter Egg”, “Picture Frame” and others.
Games - physical exercises aimed at developing spatial perception
Game "Monkeys"
At the initial stages, the game is played without taking into account the mirror image of body parts. Children need to, repeating all the actions after the teacher, show and name parts of the face and head.
Game "Confusion"
Children are asked to close their left eye with their right hand; with your left hand show your right ear and right leg; reach with your left hand to your right toe, and with your right hand to your left heel, etc.
Game "Bug's Journey"
Listen carefully and draw how the beetle moves: one cell up, one to the right, one down, one to the right, one up.
Game "I'm a Robot!"
The game teaches the child to listen carefully to the adult’s commands.
Game "Find the treasure"
The purpose of the game is to teach the child to navigate in space, turn right or left
Games for developing orientation “on oneself”
"Sun"
Goal: to consolidate knowledge about the location of parts of the face, the ability to navigate one’s own body.
Equipment: schematic representation of a person’s face.
Content: the children are offered a schematic image of a person’s face with a landmark (nose). It is proposed to lay out parts of the face (eyes, eyebrows, lips) on it. Then the child closes his eyes and performs this task again, saying where all the parts of the face are located in relation to each other.
"Sculptor"
Goal: to teach children to take into account the relativity of spatial relationships in accordance with the position of oneself and the reference point during orientation, without anyone’s help to determine spatial directions in these situations.
Equipment: model of the Pinocchio toy.
Contents: the children are offered a model of the Pinocchio toy. Pinocchio will show movements, and the guys will try to repeat everything exactly after him.
"Controller"
Goal: to consolidate spatial orientation skills in the process of correlation
children of paired opposite directions of their own body with the directions of the person standing opposite.
Equipment: red and green tickets, hoops
Contents: the child (controller) is located in front of other participants in the game - passengers who have red and green tickets. Behind the “controller” on the right and left sides are placed hoops indicating buses. “Passengers” with red tickets are directed by the “controller” to the left bus, and with green tickets to the right one.
Orientation games in closed and open spaces
"Hide and Seek"
Goal: development of attention, reaction speed, ability to navigate in open space.
Equipment: -
Contents: All players are divided into two teams, led by captains. It is determined by lot who will hide and who will search. For the game, a place is set (tree, wall, door, etc.) - a “city” where the players must run. Those who must hide are taken away by the team captain, shows them places to hide, and he himself returns to the team, which must look for those hiding. The captain walks around, shouting all the time: “We are... (names location)!” This helps his team navigate: stay in cover or run to conquer the “city”. If those who are searching notice at least one of the hidden people, they loudly call his name and place of hiding, and they themselves run in a group to the “city”. The team that runs to the “city” before the other gets a point. The team that is hiding can run up and conquer the “city” even before the location of the opponents is revealed or after they have been seen.
"The Road to School"
Goal: to develop the ability to navigate in open space, develop memory, and the ability to draw up a path diagram.
Equipment: sheet of paper, pencil.
Contents: The child remembers and tells where on the way to kindergarten he saw the school, what was near it, in which direction to go to it, where to make a turn, etc. Then the child draws up a diagram of the way to school.
"Running to the River"
Goal: development of speed, ability to navigate in open space, strengthening of body muscles.
Equipment: chalk, stones.
Contents: Draw a line that denotes the shore and a rectangle that denotes the river. Stones are placed in the “river”. Players line up along the “shore”. At the driver’s signal, the players run to the “river”, take out a stone “from the bottom” and, running back, give the stone to the driver. The game is competitive in nature.
"Rider"
Goal: to develop attention, the ability to navigate in space, consistency in movements.
Contents: The players are divided into pairs: one is the “horse”, the other is the “rider”. The “horse” player stretches his arms back and down, the “rider” player takes his hands. On command, in this position, the pairs must run to the finish line. The winner of the pair then competes against the winner of the other pair.
Games for orientation in space with a reference point “from yourself” and “from objects”
"Who can name it correctly"
Goal: to stimulate the ability to determine spatial relationships between oneself and surrounding objects.
Equipment: -
Contents: In the game, the child shows his right hand and says what is on the right, and then he is asked to close his eyes and turn around in one place several times. Then open your eyes, show your right hand again and name what
which is to the right of it. Thus, work is carried out with the left hand.
“Which of the children is standing close and which is far away?”
Goal: to consolidate the ability to navigate in space with a reference point “from oneself.”
Equipment: -
Content: children line up on the carpet at different distances from the leader. The leader determines which of the children is closer to him and who is further away.
"Goalkeeper"
Goal: strengthening the child’s orientation skills relative to himself, developing reaction speed and accuracy of movement.
Equipment: ball
Contents: An adult throws a ball to a child, while simultaneously warning the child where the ball should go. The child must make a goalie movement in the given direction.
Child: I’m called a goalkeeper for a reason: I will always catch the ball.
Educator: One, two, three - There’s a ball on the right (left, straight), look!
Games for spatial orientation using intact analyzers
"Auto racing"
Goal: to teach children to use their hearing to determine the directions of moving objects and to designate these directions in speech using appropriate spatial terms.
Equipment: 2 cars of different colors, sizes, control methods (regular and inertial), dark blindfold.
Contents: the child is offered 2 cars. The child, looking at them, notes the color, size, sound made during movement. Then the children close their eyes and are asked to use their intact analyzer (hearing) to determine and say in which direction the car is now moving away from you, what color and size it is.
"Blind Man's Bluff with a Bell"
Goal: to teach children to determine the directions of moving objects using their hearing.
Equipment: dark blindfold, bell.
Content: a driver is selected from among the children. The driving child is given a dark bandage. The rest of the children have a bell that they can pass on to each other. A child with a bell rings them while moving. The driver follows the sound, trying to hit the one with the bell.
Games for spatial orientation while moving
"Find toys"
Goal: to teach children to move in space, maintaining and changing direction in accordance with the instructions of the teacher, taking into account the landmark, to use spatial terminology in speech.
Equipment: various toys
Content: Children are informed that all the toys are hidden. To find them you need to carefully listen to the “hints” (instructions) and follow them. After finding the toy, the child tells in which direction he walked, which direction he turned, where he found the toy.
"Scout"
Goal: to strengthen children’s ability to navigate the space of the kindergarten while moving, to teach them to plan their route, and to develop memory.
Equipment: sheet of paper, pencil
Contents: The child is given instructions: “You are a scout. You need to get to the secret facility (nurse’s office, speech therapist’s office, psychologist’s office, kitchen), remember your path and everything you see along the way, and return back to the headquarters (group).” Returning to the group, the child tells where he walked (ascended or descended the stairs, walked along the corridor), what objects he encountered on his way, what was to his right, to his left. Subsequently, with my help, the child draws the route of his journey.
"Jump-jump"
Goal: development of attentiveness, navigation skills, strengthening the muscles of the legs.
Equipment: chalk
Contents: A circle with a diameter of 15-25 m is drawn on the playground, and inside it there are small circles with a diameter of 30-35 cm for each participant in the game. The driver stands in the center of the large circle. The driver says: “Jump!” After this word, the players quickly change places (in circles), jumping on one leg. The driver tries to take the place of one of the players, also jumping on one leg. The one who is left without a place becomes the driver.
Games for orientation in microspace
"Artist"
Goal: ability to navigate on a plane, consolidate the ability to understand spatial terminology.
Equipment: picture - background, subject pictures.
Contents: We tell the child: Imagine that you are an artist, and I am your assistant. Now we will create a picture. I will tell you the place and the image that you will have to draw in this place. The child completes the teacher’s assignment and then changes roles with him.
"Magic chest"
Goal: to consolidate navigation skills in microspace, to activate the words “above”, “below”, “right”, “left” in children’s speech.
Equipment: “chest”, small toys
Content: the child is invited to examine and examine several objects or toys. Then the child closes his eyes, and the teacher places these toys on 2 shelves of the chest. The child inserts his hands into the “sleeves” and, examining the same objects already inside the chest, tells where they are.
"Colorful Journey"
Goal: to consolidate the ability to navigate on a kind of sheet with a large square, develops imagination.
Equipment: playing field, small toy.
Contents: the child is provided with a playing field consisting of cells of different colors. A toy is placed on the first square, which will now go on a journey. The teacher sets the direction of movement of the toy with the commands: 1 cell up, two to the right, stop! Where did your hero end up? The child sees the color of the cell on which his toy has stopped and, in accordance with the color, comes up with the location of his hero. (For example: a blue cell may indicate that the hero has arrived at the sea, green - in a forest clearing, yellow - on a sandy beach, etc.).
"Butterfly"
Goal: to consolidate the ability to navigate on a microplane, to arouse interest in reading, to consolidate reading skills.
Equipment: field with letters.
Content: the child is offered a field with letters. There is a butterfly in the center of the field. The child is told: The butterfly loves to eat sweet nectar, flying from flower to flower. Today the butterfly invited you to play. Not ordinary flowers grow in her favorite meadow. Each one has a letter on it. If you follow her flight and together with her collect letters from flowers, you will find out what word she wished for. Next, the teacher sets the direction of movement of the butterfly, and the child collects letters from the flowers, lays them out on the table and reads the resulting word. Then the teacher changes roles with the child. Now the child sets the direction of movement, and the teacher completes this task. The letters can be changed depending on the hidden word.
"Journey through the ABCs"
Goal: to consolidate the ability to navigate on a microplane, to form images of letters and words.
Equipment: playing field with letters
Contents: we say to the child: Today you and I will go on a journey through a magical land where riddles live, and the alphabet will help you solve them. If you collect all the letters correctly, you will be able to find out the answer. The teacher asks a riddle, and then the direction of movement along the playing field is given. The child acts in accordance with the instructions and makes up a word - a guess.
"Find a place"
Goal: to develop the ability to determine the upper and lower edge of the plane, its left and right sides, and find the middle in the plane.
Equipment: colored ribbons, toys.
Contents: a rectangle is marked on the carpet using colored tapes
of such a size that the child can move around comfortably. Children are given the task: arrange the toys according to the teacher’s instructions. For example, put the ball in the far left corner, the car in the middle,
bear - in the near right corner, etc.
Orientation games using diagrams and route plans, space plans
"Address Bureau"
Goal: to learn to navigate on a city map, to place objects on the plan in accordance with the location of real objects.
Equipment: city map, photographs of attractions.
Content: children place photographs of attractions on a city map from memory.
"Astronomers"
Goal: to consolidate the ability to orient according to a diagram, orientate on a microplane (flannelograph).
Equipment: flannelgraph, constellation diagrams, stars, caps.
Contents: the teacher tells the children: Tonight there was a strong wind and blew almost all the stars from the sky. The moon in the sky became very sad alone, and she asked us to help her. Now you and I will put on our magic caps and become astronomers. The moon gave me a photograph of the sky before the wind blew away the stars and photographs of the constellations that were located here. Now you need to make constellations from the photographs and return them to our sky. As the children work, the teacher tells you legends about the constellations that the children post.
“Help Dunno lay out his school supplies”
Goal: to consolidate the ability to navigate in space using a picture - a plan, in microspace, to correlate a schematic image of an object with a real one
Equipment: picture - plan, educational supplies.
Contents: children are offered a picture - a plan with a schematic representation of educational supplies. Children arrange real school supplies according to the plan.
“Where is Masha?”
Goal: to consolidate the ability to correlate real space with the plan.
Equipment: plan
Contents: The teacher tells the children: The doll Masha is lost. Here's a map of her journey. Let's find Masha and help her return home.
Tasks and exercises to develop orientation
To form and develop a child’s spatial orientation, it is necessary to use special tasks and exercises. The level of difficulty should be appropriate for the age of the preschooler. Examples of games for children of primary preschool age:
Funny game “You are a part of me.” Goal: consolidate knowledge about body parts.
The adult throws the ball to the baby and says:
- I am the face. You are a part of me. Who are you? (eyes, eyebrow, nose...)
- I am the head. You are a part of me. Who are you? (hair, ears...)
- I am the torso. You are a part of me. Who are you? (tummy, back...)
Tasks to determine the position of objects in space:
- "Where does the bell ring?" The baby closes his eyes. The adult hides and rings the bell. The child opens his eyes and determines the adult’s location by sound.
- "Toy for a walk." Take your child's small toy. Place different objects (ball, box, jar, etc.) on the table or floor. Say that the toy wants to go for a walk and the baby should accompany it, while voicing the directions of movement: “forward - back”, “right-left”.
- “Who is where?” It is necessary to place toys in different places in the room. Ask your child where each toy is from him.
- “Where is the toy, tell me?” Four chairs stand in a circle, and on each of them sits a toy. A child sits on a chair in the center. The adult names the toy, and the baby must say where it is on the right, left, front, back. Then the toys change places.
- “Fruit mosaic.” An adult puts an orange, a tangerine, an apple on the table and invites the preschooler to take the orange in his right hand and the tangerine in his left. The following are the instructions: put the orange to the right of the apple, the tangerine to the left; arrange the fruit so that the tangerine is between the orange and the apple, etc.
Genesis of space assimilation
Education takes into account the genesis of space exploration by preschoolers and preschoolers and the main role of the motor analyzer in this process. In the formation of the sensory foundations of spatial-analytical activity, the main role is given to signals from the musculoskeletal system. And the kinesthetic signals of the dominant hand give the surrounding space an asymmetrical structure. Unstable lateralization interferes with the harmonious development of orientation in space. Consequently, the task of enriching the child’s sensory-motor experience and the experience of objective actions based on the formation of ideas about the body diagram and the surrounding space is the main one.
Since the child practically masters space, verbal designations of spatial relationships are also studied.
Outdoor games for preschoolers for spatial orientation
In middle preschool age, tasks become more complicated. The priority is orientation “from the subject”. At 4–5 years old, the middle group of kindergarten uses games that help children use their acquired knowledge in practice.
- "Pilot". An adult marks the landing stripes for planes with cubes or objects. The child is a pilot. He must land his plane on the field, in accordance with the route indicated by the leader. For example: “The airport is ahead of you.”
- "Mirror". The child (a group of children) faces the leader, who plays the role of a mirror. Mirroring yourself, you need to repeat various movements after him: raise your right (left) hand up, lean to the right (left), etc.
- "Traps with ribbons." A circle is drawn with the leader standing inside. Players standing in a circle have colored ribbons in their hands. On command, the children run away, and the “trap” must catch up and pull out the ribbon. At the end of the game, the participants return to their seats, and the presenter counts the number of drawn ribbons.
- "Ship." There is a child standing on one side of the room. This is a boat. On the other side there are colored cubes in 3-4 rows, 3 pieces in each row. These are islands in the sea. Each island has its own resident (toy). The adult gives directions, and the boat sets off, following the adult’s instructions. Having reached the desired island, the child takes the toy and returns back. In a group game, each of the boats goes on a journey in turn. An example of step-by-step instructions: “Go forward two islands, turn right, go through another island, turn left, go through another island - you’ve arrived.”
- “Get back to your place!” Children stand in a column. The adult clarifies: “Who is standing to your right? Who is standing to your left?" The presenter gives instructions to remember the neighbors. At the signal “Walk”, children walk around the hall and walk. Hearing the words: “Get back to your place!”, everyone runs to their places.
Development of orientation in older preschoolers using diagrams
In children aged 6 to 7 years, the development of spatial concepts is expanded using the modeling method. This method can be used in different forms, but the most relevant are diagrams.
When figuring out how to get to the final point, a preschooler feels like a traveler, a treasure hunter or a rescuer. For example,
- "Find the treasure." There is a “treasure” (a box of treats) hidden in the room. The child is offered play motivation: “You are a traveler looking for treasure. The card shows a diagram that will help you find it. Hold the card in front of you, look in which direction the arrows are pointing, and follow them. Be careful".
- “Help Masha find her way home.” Instructions: “Draw Masha’s path on a piece of paper, starting from the arrow to the house shown: one cell up, two to the left, two up, one to the right, one down, one to the right, two up, etc.” This task is based on graphic dictation.
- Make a schematic plan of your room (kitchen, playroom in kindergarten, etc.), marking pieces of furniture with squares and circles.
Graphic labyrinths provide effective assistance in developing a child’s orientation and spatial thinking skills.
After the child has found the right path through the maze (in this picture you need to help the mouse get to the apple), it is important to invite him to describe the route with the words: “Walk straight along the path, turn left, step onto the next path and turn left again, etc. "
At the first stages, the help of an adult is necessary, since the preschooler must understand the algorithm for determining the route using a diagram or sketch of a plan. Subsequently, there is enough control when performing the task.
It should be noted that preschoolers are interested in learning spatial orientation. This is a natural need, and the child unconsciously feels that he is expanding his own boundaries when he understands more about the organization of space. All he needs is a little help from an adult.
