Introduction
1. The concept of imagination.
2. Physiological basic processes of imagination.
3. Functions of imagination and its development.
4. Types of imagination.
5. Psychological characteristics imagination in children.
6. Forms of manifestation of a preschooler’s imagination.
Conclusion
Bibliography
Application
Introduction
Imagination is the most important aspect of our life. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity.
Imagine for a moment that a person had no imagination. We would lose almost all scientific discoveries and works of art. Possessing a rich imagination, a person can “live” in different times, which no other creature in the world can afford. The past is recorded in memory images, arbitrarily resurrected by an effort of will, the future is presented in dreams and fantasies. Children would not hear fairy tales and
wouldn't be able to play many games. How could they learn
school curriculum without imagination? It’s easier to say - deprive a person
imagination and progress will stop! Maybe if we can understand how creativity begins to take shape, how imagination develops in childhood, what determines this development, we will be able to find a path to creative freedom for all people - freedom in words, in feelings, in thoughts, in self-expression. If we understand what is especially important for the formation of a child’s abilities, his feelings, his ability to think, we can help him and give him the opportunity for the most complete development. It is necessary to open up as many paths as possible for the child and, of course, help him enter the world of creativity, imagination and fantasy. This means that imagination and fantasy are the highest and most necessary ability of a person. At the same time, it is this
ability needs special care in terms of development. And it develops especially intensively between the ages of 5 and 15 years. And if the imagination is not specifically developed during this period, then a rapid decrease in the activity of this function occurs subsequently. Along with a decrease in the ability to fantasize, a person’s personality becomes impoverished, the possibilities of creative thinking decrease, and interest in art and science fades. The purpose of this work is to get acquainted with mental function imagination, ways to develop it and optimize the learning of preschoolers.
As studies by L. S. Vygotsky, V. V. Davydov, E. I. Ignatiev, S. L. Rubinshtein, D. B. Elkonin, V. A. Krutetsky and others have shown, imagination is not only a prerequisite for children’s effective learning of new knowledge, but is also a condition for the creative transformation of children’s existing knowledge, contributes to the self-development of the individual, i.e., it largely determines the effectiveness of educational activities in preschool educational institutions.
1. Imagination concept
Imagination is the creation of images of objects and phenomena that have never been perceived by a person before.
Imagination cannot create out of nothing. It is built on transformed, processed material of past perceptions. These are images created by the greatest writers, inventions of designers.
Even fairy-tale images are always a fantastic combination of very real elements.
No matter how new something that is created by a person’s imagination is, it inevitably comes from what exists in reality and is based on it. Therefore, imagination, like the entire psyche, is a reflection of the surrounding world by the brain, but only a reflection of what a person did not perceive, a reflection of what will become reality in the future.
According to E.V. Ilyenkov, the essence of imagination lies in the ability to “grasp” the whole before the part, in the ability, on the basis of a separate hint, the tendency to build a holistic image. A distinctive feature of imagination is a kind of “departure from reality”, when, on the basis of a separate sign of reality, it is built new image, rather than simply reconstructing existing ideas, which is typical for the functioning of the internal action plan.
Imagination - this is a necessary element of human creative activity, expressed in the construction of an image of the products of labor, and ensuring the creation of a program of behavior in cases where the problem situation is also characterized by uncertainty. Depending on the various circumstances that characterize a problem situation, the same problem can be solved both with the help of imagination and with the help of thinking. From this we can conclude that the imagination works at that stage of cognition when the uncertainty of the situation is very great. Fantasy allows you to “jump” over some stages of thinking and still imagine the end result.
Imagination is inherent only to man. According to E.V. Ilyenkov: “Fantasy itself, or the power of imagination, is one of not only the most precious, but also universal, universal abilities that distinguish a person from an animal. Without it, it is impossible to take a single step, not only in art, unless, of course, it is a step on the spot. Without the power of imagination, it would be impossible to even recognize an old friend if he suddenly grew a beard; it would be impossible even to cross the street through a stream of cars. Humanity, devoid of imagination, would never launch rockets into space.”
Imagination processes are analytical-synthetic in nature. Its main tendency is the transformation of ideas (images), which ultimately ensures the creation of a model of a situation that is obviously new and has not previously arisen. When analyzing the mechanism of imagination, it is necessary to emphasize that its essence is the process of transforming ideas, creating new images based on existing ones. Imagination, fantasy is a reflection of reality in new, unexpected, unusual combinations and connections. Even if you come up with something completely extraordinary, then upon careful examination it will turn out that all the elements from which the fiction was formed were taken from life, drawn from past experience, and are the results of a deliberate analysis of countless facts. No wonder L.S. Vygotsky said: “The creative activity of the imagination is directly dependent on the richness and diversity of a person’s previous experience, because experience represents the material from which fantasy structures are created. The richer a person’s experience, the more material his imagination has at his disposal.”
There are several forms of image synthesis:
1. agglutination- “gluing” of various qualities, properties, parts that are not connected in everyday life (mermaid, amphibious tank...);
2. hyperbolization, which is characterized not only by an increase or decrease in the object (a boy with a thumb), but also by a change in the number of parts of the object and their displacement (a dragon with 7 heads);
3. sharpening, emphasizing any features (caricatures, caricatures);
4. typing, which is characterized by the identification of the essential, repeated in homogeneous facts and their embodiment in a specific image.
The activity of imagination is associated with the formation of a number of moral and psychological qualities of the individual, such as ideological conviction, sense of duty, patriotism, humanity, sensitivity, determination, and perseverance.
2. Physiological basic processes of imagination
The physiological process of imagination is the process of formation of new combinations from already existing neural connections in the cerebral cortex.
Images of the imagination are formed in the process of mental construction of such objects, the prototypes of which do not exist in the environment. Cash conversion visual material, as a result of which additional information about it arises, and constitutes the main moment of creative imagination.
Cognitive images can be divided into:
sensually visual
rational (conceptual).
Images that in an abstract form reflect the most general and essential aspects, connections and relationships of the objective world, inaccessible to the senses.
At the same time, there are no sensory elements that are completely devoid of rational content. Any signals received through the senses, becoming facts of consciousness, are at the same time subject to logical processing and enter into the ordered structure of our knowledge. Sensory images are included in complexes of judgments and inferences, outside of which they would be devoid of general meaning.
3. Functions of imagination and its development
The human mind cannot be in an inactive state, which is why people dream so much. The human brain continues to function even when new information does not enter it, when it does not solve any problems. It is at this time that the imagination begins to work. It has been established that a person, at will, is not able to stop the flow of thoughts, stop the imagination.
- Gnostic function. Imagination actively contributes to cognition (for example, in order to understand an unknown phenomenon one has to imagine it); the image created by the imagination facilitates the process of assimilation, especially with the participation of imaginative thinking.
- Prognostic function. Imagination allows you to see. replay an episode, a situation in your consciousness, correct its details.
- Educational function. It occurs during the deliberate creation at the level of fantasy and the subsequent implementation of certain human qualities.
- Protective function. A person uses a compensatory mechanism of the psyche, imagining himself in a quality that he lacks in reality: strong, resourceful, successful (A child in a game imagines himself as a leader when the sociometric level in the class is low)
- Communicative function. Any creative product is always addressed to other people. (When writing a book, a writer always focuses on potential readers, even if it will not be published).
4. Types of imagination
There are several types of imagination, the main ones being:
Passive imagination is divided into voluntary (daydreaming, daydreaming) and involuntary (hypnotic state, sleep). It is subject to internal subjective factors, i.e. subordinated to desires that are imagined to be fulfilled in the process of fantasy. In the images of passive imagination, unsatisfied, mostly unconscious, needs of the individual are satisfied. The images and ideas of passive imagination are aimed at strengthening and maintaining positively colored emotions and at repressing negative emotions and affects. The materials of passive imagination are images, ideas, elements of concepts and other information emphasized through experience. Transformation of images can occur arbitrarily and not arbitrarily. An arbitrary transformation of images is called daydreaming - a fantasy deliberately caused by images, not associated with the desire to bring them to life. The involuntary transformation of images consists in the fact that they emerge before the imagination, and are not formed by it.
- involuntary imagination. The simplest form of imagination is those images that arise without special intention or effort on our part (floating clouds, reading an interesting book). Any interesting, exciting teaching usually evokes a vivid involuntary imagination. One type of involuntary imagination is dreams. N.M. Sechenov believed that dreams are an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.
Voluntary imagination manifests itself in cases where new images or ideas arise as a result of a person’s special intention to imagine something specific, concrete.
Based on the degree of independence and originality of imagination products, two more types are distinguished.
Active imagination includes artistic, creative, recreative and anticipatory. Always aimed at solving a creative or personal problem. In an active imagination there is little daydreaming and endless fantasy.
Recreating Imagination - one of the types of active attention . Presentation of objects new to humans in accordance with their description, drawing, diagram. This type is used in most various types activities. It plays an important role in learning because, while mastering material expressed in verbal form (a teacher’s story, the text of a book), the student must imagine what is being discussed. But in order to imagine this correctly, you need to have certain knowledge. Recreating imagination relies only on knowledge; if it is insufficient, then ideas can be distorted.
Creative imagination is a type of imagination during which a person independently creates new images and ideas that are valuable to other people or society and which are embodied in specific original products of activity. Images of creative imagination are created using various intellectual operations:
operations with the help of which ideal images are formed,
operations on the basis of which finished products are processed.
T. Ribot identified two main operations: dissociation and association.
Dissociation is a negative and preparatory operation during which sensory experience is fragmented. As a result of such preliminary processing of experience, its elements are able to enter into a new combination. Dissociation is mandatory for creative imagination - this is the stage of preparing the material. Lack of dissociation is a significant obstacle to creative imagination.
Association is the creation of a holistic image from elements of isolated units of images. Thanks to association, new images and new combinations appear.
Anticipatory imagination - This is a person’s ability to anticipate future events, to foresee the results of their actions. Thanks to this type of imagination, a person can mentally imagine what will happen in the future to him and other people. Young people's imagination is directed more towards the future, while older people's imagination is more focused on events of the past.
Critical Imagination- looks for what exactly in a given object (technology, education system, social life in general) is imperfect and needs improvement.
Artistic imagination- ability to interact with stage objects.
A special form of imagination is dream. The essence of this type of imagination is the independent creation of new images. At the same time, a dream has a number of significant differences from creative imagination. Firstly, in a dream a person always creates an image of what he wants, whereas in creative images it is not always the desires of their creator. Dreams contain all the figurative expression of what attracts a person, what he strives for. Secondly, a dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, i.e. not immediately and directly providing an objective product in the form of a work of art, a scientific discovery, a technical invention, etc.
Dream- a necessary condition for the implementation of human creative powers, which are aimed at transforming reality.
The dynamics of a dream is that, initially being a simple reaction to a highly exciting (usually traumatic) situation, it then often becomes an internal need of the individual.
In children's and adolescence the object of desire can be so unreal that the dreamers themselves realize its impracticability. This dream games, which should be distinguished from their more rational form - dream-plan .
The younger the dreaming child, the more often his dreaming does not so much express his orientation as create it. This is the formative function of dreams.
Fantasy – important condition normal development of the individual, it acts as one of the most important conditions for the assimilation of social experience. The development and education of fantasy is an important condition for the formation of a person’s personality.
5. Psychological characteristics of imagination in children
Creative imagination depends on many factors: age, mental development and developmental characteristics (the presence of any disorder of psychophysical development), individual characteristics personality (stability, awareness and direction of motives; evaluative structures of the image of “I”; communication features; degree of self-realization and assessment of one’s own activities; character traits and temperament), and, very importantly, on the development of the learning and education process.
A child’s experience develops and grows gradually; it is deeply unique compared to the experience of an adult. The child’s attitude to the environment, which with its complexity or simplicity, its traditions and influences stimulates and directs the creative process, is again completely different. The interests of a child and an adult are different and therefore it is clear that a child’s imagination works differently than an adult’s.
As noted above, a child’s imagination is poorer than an adult’s. At the same time, there is still an opinion that a child has a richer imagination than an adult. Children can make everything out of anything, said Goethe. The child lives in a fantasy world more than in the real one. But we know that a child’s interests are simpler, more elementary, poorer; finally, his relationship with the environment also does not have the complexity, subtlety and diversity that mark the behavior of an adult, and these are all the most important factors that determine the work of the imagination. As a child develops, his imagination also develops. That is why the products of real creative imagination in all areas of creative activity belong only to already mature imagination.
The French psychologist T. Ribot presented the basic law of imagination development in three stages:
childhood and adolescence– the dominance of fantasy, games, fairy tales, fiction;
youth– a combination of fiction and activity, “sober, calculating reason”;
maturity- subordination of the imagination to the mind and intellect.
A child’s imagination begins to develop quite early; it is weaker than that of an adult, but it occupies more space in his life.
What are the stages of imagination development in children? preschool age?
Until 3 X For children, imagination exists within other mental processes, where its foundation is laid. At the age of three, the formation of verbal forms of imagination occurs. Here imagination becomes an independent process.
At 4–5 years old, the child begins to plan, to make a mental plan for upcoming actions.
At 6–7 years old, imagination is active. Recreated images appear in various situations, characterized by content and specificity. Elements of creativity appear.
Psychologists believe that for the development of imagination, certain conditions must be present: emotional communication with adults; object-manipulative activity; necessity different types activities
The beginning of 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 (symbolic function). Imagination is further developed in games, where symbolic substitutions are made quite often and using a variety of means and examples. The development of children's imagination in preschool age is judged not only by the ideas and roles that children take on in games, but also on the basis of an analysis of the material products of their creativity, in particular crafts and drawings. In the first half preschool childhood The child's reproductive imagination predominates, mechanically reproducing received impressions in the form of images. These can be impressions received by the child as a result of direct perception of reality, listening to stories, fairy tales, watching videos and films. In this type of imagination there is still little exact resemblance to reality and there is no proactive, creative attitude towards the figuratively reproduced material. The very images-imaginations of this type restore reality not on an intellectual, but mainly on an emotional basis. The images usually reproduce something that made an emotional impression on the child, caused him to have very specific emotional reactions, and turned out to be especially interesting. In general, the imagination of preschool children is still quite weak. Small child, for example, a three-year-old is not yet able to completely restore a picture from memory, creatively transform it, dismember it and then use individual parts of what was perceived as fragments from which something new can be put together. Younger preschool children are characterized by the inability to see and imagine things from a point of view different from their own, from a different angle. If you ask a six-year-old child to arrange objects on one part of the plane in the same way as they are located on another part of it, turned to the first at an angle of 90 degrees, this usually causes great difficulties for children of this age. It is difficult for them to mentally transform not only spatial, but also simple planar images. In older preschool age, when arbitrariness in memorization appears, the imagination from reproductive, mechanically reproducing reality, turns into creatively transforming it. It connects with thinking and is included in the process of planning actions. As a result, children’s activities acquire a conscious, purposeful character. The main type of activity where it manifests itself creative imagination children, everyone improves cognitive processes, become plot role-playing games. Imagination, like any other mental activity, goes through a certain development path in human ontogenesis. O. M. Dyachenko showed that children's imagination in its development is subject to the same laws that other mental processes follow. Just like perception, memory and attention, imagination from involuntary (passive) becomes voluntary (active), gradually turns from direct to mediated, and the main tool for mastering it on the part of the child is sensory standards. By the end of the preschool period of childhood, in a child whose creative imagination has developed quite quickly (and such children make up approximately one fifth of children of this age), imagination is presented in two main forms: a) the child’s arbitrary, independent generation of some idea b) the emergence of an imaginary plan for it implementation. In addition to its cognitive-intellectual function, imagination in children plays another, affective-protective role. It protects the growing, easily vulnerable and weakly protected soul of a child from excessively difficult experiences and traumas. Thanks to the cognitive function of imagination, the child learns better the world, solves the problems that arise before him more easily and successfully. The emotional-protective role of imagination is that through an imaginary situation, tension can be discharged and a unique, symbolic resolution of conflicts can occur, which is difficult to achieve with the help of real practical actions. In preschool children, both important functions of imagination develop in parallel, but in slightly different ways. 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 an arbitrary, sign-mediated process and is divided into cognitive and affective. Cognitive imagination is formed by separating the image from the object and designating the image using a word. Affective imagination develops as a result of the child’s education and awareness of his “I”, the psychological separation of himself from other people and from the actions he performs. At the first stage of development, imagination is associated with the process of “objectification” of an image through action. Through this process, the child learns to manage his images, change, clarify and improve them, and, consequently, regulate his own imagination. However, he is not yet able to plan it in advance, to draw up a program of upcoming actions in his mind. This ability appears in children only at 4-5 years of age. Children's affective imagination from the age of 2.5-3 years to 4-5 years develops according to a slightly different logic. At first, negative emotional experiences in children are symbolically expressed in the characters of the fairy tales they hear or see. Following this, the child builds imaginary situations that compress threats to his “I” (children’s stories-fantasies about themselves as supposedly possessing especially pronounced positive qualities). Finally, at the third stage of development of this function of imagination, substitute actions arise, which, as a result of their implementation, are able to relieve the emotional tension that has arisen; a projection mechanism is formed and begins to operate practically, thanks to which unpleasant knowledge about oneself, one’s own negative, morally and emotionally unacceptable qualities and actions begin to be attributed by the child to other people, surrounding objects and animals. 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.
When characterizing children's imagination as rich or poor, it should be borne in mind that there are different points of view on this issue. According to some ideas, the imagination of preschoolers is much richer than that of adults, since young children generally live half in the world of their fantasy. Others believe that since the main source of imagination is real, practical experience, it will naturally be poorer and more primitive in a child than in an adult. L.S. Vygotsky showed that a child’s imagination develops gradually, in the process of accumulating life experience, and all images of imaginative activity, no matter how bizarre they may be, are based on impressions real life. Therefore, it is impossible to say that a child’s imagination is richer than that of an adult. Other psychologists share the same opinion.
The activity of the imagination turns out to be very complex and depends on a number of very different factors. In general terms, imagination can be defined as the ability to recombine images. The essence of imagination is that it “grabs” the whole before the parts, and builds a complete image on the basis of a separate hint. A distinctive feature of imagination is a kind of “departure from reality”, the creation of a new image, and not a simple reproduction of known ideas, which is characteristic of memory or an internal plan of action. Psychologists have explained the possibility of a child constructing a new, imaginary world in different ways. The creator of psychoanalysis, S. Freud, considered imagination as the primary, original form of children's consciousness. The principle of pleasure, which dominates early childhood, is reflected in the child’s fantasies and dreams. According to Freud, the consciousness of a child up to a certain age is free from reality and only serves his desires and sensual tendencies.
Piaget continues and develops approximately the same position. The starting point of child development, according to Piaget, is thinking that is not aimed at reality, i.e. mirage thinking or imagination. Children's egocentrism is a transitional stage from imagination to realistic thinking. How younger child, especially since his thought is directed towards the imaginary satisfaction of his desires. Only at a later age does the child begin to take reality into account and adapt to it.
A powerful step in the development of imagination, as Vygotsky emphasized, is associated with the acquisition of speech. Observations show that delays in speech development always lead to underdevelopment of the child’s imagination. It is known that patients suffering from aphasia (that is, patients whose speech is impaired as a result of some brain disease) exhibit a sharp decline in fantasy and imagination. Speech frees the child from immediate impressions, promotes the formation and fixation of ideas about the subject; It is speech that makes it possible to imagine this or that object that he has not seen, to think about it and mentally transform it. A child can express in words something that does not coincide with his real perception; This is precisely what gives him the opportunity to handle extremely freely in the sphere of impressions created and expressed in words. Thus, the main means of imagination, as well as thinking, is speech. Imagination becomes possible thanks to speech and develops along with it. Consequently, it is not a primary function initially inherent in the child, but the result of his mental and, most importantly, speech development.
Imagination plays a greater 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. The experiences that are caused by imaginary events are completely real for them and much stronger than for adults. Children 3-5 years old can mourn the fate of the little gray goat and bun, threaten the evil wizard and try to beat him during the performance, come up with ways to escape from the cunning fox, etc. What happens in an imaginary space (in a fairy tale, in words, on stage) , evokes the strongest emotions in them, an imaginary character can become a real threat or salvation for them. It is known that adults, for educational reasons, introduce various invented characters into the life and consciousness of a child: Baba Yaga or the snake Gorynych, who take away naughty children, or good fairies who bring wonderful gifts and create all sorts of magic. These characters become alive and completely real for the child. Children begin to seriously fear the fictional Baba Yaga and wait for the good fairy. Cruel jokes from older children on the street: “Baba Yaga is flying!” - cause tears and panic flight of a preschooler. Even at home, in an intimate and safe environment, fear of imaginary events can arise. Numerous children's fears, which are often encountered at this age, are explained precisely by the strength and vividness of children's imagination.
Increased emotionality is an important distinguishing feature of a preschooler’s imagination. Invented characters acquire personal significance for the child and begin to live in his mind as completely real.
6. Forms of manifestation of a preschooler’s imagination
The origins of a child’s imagination, as well as other mental processes, must be sought in the child’s relationship with an adult. N.N. Palagina, having analyzed the techniques of folk pedagogy, revealed that many of these techniques widely use the inclusion of the child in an imaginary context. IN folk nursery rhymes creates an imaginary image using sounds, words and movements. For example, taking the baby on his lap or shoulders, an adult offers to “ride” a horse or a camel. The famous nursery rhyme “On a flat path, over bumps, over potholes, into a hole - bang!” allows the child to create and feel an image dangerous road, at the end of which he imagines in advance and joyfully awaits “falling into a hole.” Many other games and fun with small children (“Goat”, “Magpie-Crow”), borrowed from folk pedagogy, include the child in an imaginary context and allow him to imagine what he does not really perceive. In addition, adults very early begin to stimulate the child’s imaginative actions - they ask to show how a bear walks, how a rooster flaps its wings, how a cat meows. At the same time, the child himself, with his conditioned actions, creates an imaginary situation, but creates it for the adult and according to his interpretation. Creating an image for others, at the request of “Show me how...”, contributes to the creation of an imaginary situation where everything is “as if.” Action of the “as if” type, according to N.N. Palagina, is the original form of imagination. These actions begin at early age Therefore, we can talk about the beginning of imagination in children after they reach 2-3 years of age. But it reaches its true peak in preschool age. Imagination manifests itself most vividly and interestingly in a role-playing game. Moreover, in this activity the imagination works in several directions. First, children use objects in new ways and give them a variety of imaginary functions.
Over the course of an hour, an item can acquire up to 10 different meanings. Thus, an ordinary handkerchief can be a flag, a bunny, a snake, a veil for a bride, a blanket, a flower, a scarf, a raincoat for a doll, etc. Children also show extraordinary ingenuity in creating a play environment. The same room turns into an ocean, a battlefield, a store, a dense forest, etc.
Secondly, the image of an imaginary role has a huge influence on the child. As soon as any boring activity is translated into a role-playing activity, the child immediately willingly performs it. Palagina describes the following situations.
The girl spent a long time and enthusiastically cutting paper with scissors, but refused to clean up after herself, and no amount of threats or persuasion from adults helped. But as soon as grandpa offered the game to the store where he buys pieces of paper, she happily collected everything down to the smallest scrap and took them to the “buyer.” Preschoolers invent and take on the most incredible roles:
Let me be the puck, and you the stick, and we’ll play hockey ourselves.
I will be the piano, you will play it on me, and I will be like this: la-la-la!
From these examples it is clear that roles do not arise only from the desire to take the position of an adult. The child represents the structure or action of an object through his own action, taking on a role as an image in action. By refracting the role of a living or inanimate object through himself, through his action, the child builds an image of this object. In this case, the role acts as a support for the image.
The imagination of preschoolers is very bright in the director's game. Even 3-year-old children enjoy assigning roles to toys and playing out various stories with them.
With age, more and more space is given to speech in game plots, and action takes up less and less time. Imagination is increasingly separated from action and transferred to the speech plane. And since internal speech has not yet developed, the child needs a partner who mainly acts as a listener. This partner may not interfere in the game, but he is still needed as a support for the image. The child himself tells the content of the game and pronounces the lines of both his own and someone else’s character.
Beginning and being formed in play, imagination moves into other types of activity of the preschooler. It is most clearly manifested in drawing and writing fairy tales and poems. Here, just as in a game, children first rely on directly perceived objects or strokes on paper that appear at their fingertips, and then they themselves plan their work. 3-4 year old children can change their idea several times during the drawing. The hump of a conceived camel can turn into the wing of a butterfly, which then becomes a bird, the moon becomes the sun, and the sun turns into a star or a flower. All these transformations are actively commented on in the speech of children and become clear only from these comments, since the images themselves vaguely resemble something specific. But children are not too picky about the quality of the drawing; their imaginations are much richer. Than images. Dots and dashes on paper represent forests, berries, wolves and hares, etc.
Verbal creativity opens up richer possibilities, not limited by any technical techniques. We have already noted that children are sincerely involved in literary works and live in this imaginary world. Many children themselves create various stories in which fantasy intersperses with reality.
CONCLUSION
So, we got acquainted with the most general aspects of development
children's imagination. We have seen how important this feature is for general development
child, for the development of his personality, for the formation of life
experience. Due to the importance and significance of imagination for a child, it is necessary
assist in its development in every possible way and, at the same time, use it for
optimization of educational activities. The formation of imagination at an early age occurs as a change in the child’s innate activity into transformative activity. The decisive factor in this case is the need for new experiences and communication with an adult who opens up ways to receive impressions. When cultivating children's imagination, it is necessary to ensure that it is connected with life, so that it is a creative reflection of our reality. Getting acquainted with the life around him on walks and in conversations with teachers, the child then reflects what he perceived in his drawings and games, and in the process of this creative processing of accumulated experience, the imagination is formed.
It must be remembered that a preschooler’s imagination develops through activity: in play, in drawing, in classes in his native language. Therefore, the organization of these types of activities and their pedagogical guidance are crucial for the development of imagination.
Artistic education of children plays an important role in the development of imagination. Listening to fairy tales and fiction stories By attending performances and looking at works of painting and sculpture that are understandable to him, the child learns to imagine the events depicted and his imagination develops.
The development of imagination is not the result of direct instruction. It is due to the growing transformative activity of the child and the mechanisms of self-development of imagination: the opposite direction of varying and modeling elements of experience, schematization and detailing of images.
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Annex 1.
Basic types of imagination.
Imagination depends on many factors: age, mental development and developmental characteristics (the presence of any disorder of psychophysical development), individual characteristics of the individual (stability, awareness and focus of motives; evaluative structures of the image of “I”; characteristics of communication; degree of self-realization and assessment of one’s own activities ; character traits and temperament), and, what is very important, on the development of the learning and education process.
A child’s experience develops and grows gradually; it is deeply unique compared to the experience of an adult. The child’s attitude to the environment, which with its complexity or simplicity, its traditions and influences stimulates and directs the creative process, is again completely different. The interests of a child and an adult are different and therefore it is clear that a child’s imagination works differently than an adult’s.
Imagination plays a greater 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. Imagination allows the baby to explore the world around him, performing a gnostic function. It fills gaps in his knowledge, serves to unite disparate impressions, creating complete picture peace
The baby's growing cognitive needs are largely satisfied with the help of imagination. It seems to remove the distance between what the child can perceive and what is inaccessible to his direct perception. The child imagines a lunar landscape, a flight in a rocket, tropical plants. Consequently, imagination significantly expands the boundaries of his knowledge. In addition, it allows the preschooler to “participate” in events that do not occur in everyday life. For example, in the game a child saves his comrades during a storm and courageously pilots a ship. This “participation” enriches his intellectual, emotional, moral experience, allows him to more deeply understand the surrounding, natural, objective and social reality.
A child’s imagination begins to develop quite early; it is weaker than that of an adult, but it occupies more space in his life.
What are the stages of imagination development in preschool children?
Until the age of 3, children’s imagination exists within other mental processes, where its foundation is laid. At the age of three, the formation of verbal forms of imagination occurs. Here imagination becomes an independent process. At first, the imagination is inextricably linked with the object, which serves as an external support. So, in the game, a child of 3-4 years old cannot rename an object if he does not act with it. He imagines a chair as a ship or a cube as a saucepan when he works with them. The substitute item itself must be similar to the item being replaced. It is toys and objects - attributes that lead the baby to one or another plot of the game (M. G. Vityaz). For example, I saw white robe, - began to play hospital, saw the scales, - became a “salesman.” Gradually, the imagination begins to rely on objects that are not at all similar to those being replaced. Thus, older preschoolers use natural materials (leaves, cones, pebbles, etc.) as play material. The role of visual support in recreating literary text. This is the illustration, without which the youngest preschooler cannot recreate the events described in the fairy tale. For older preschoolers, the words of the text begin to evoke images without visual support. Gradually, the need for external supports disappears.
At 4 - 5 years old, the child begins to plan, make a mental plan for upcoming actions, especially in play, manual labor, telling and retelling. At the age of 5 years, dreams about the future appear, and specific planning, which can be called stepwise, begins. Dreams are situational, often unstable, caused by events that caused an emotional response in children. Imagination turns into a special intellectual activity aimed at transforming the surrounding world. The support for creating an image is now not only a real object, but also ideas expressed in words. A rapid growth of verbal forms of imagination begins, closely related to the development of speech and thinking, when the child composes fairy tales, reversals, and ongoing stories. The preschooler's imagination remains largely involuntary. The subject of fantasy becomes something that greatly excited, captivated, and amazed him: a fairy tale he read, a cartoon he saw, a new toy.
At 6 - 7 years old, imagination is active. Recreated images appear in various situations, characterized by content and specificity. Elements of creativity appear. External support suggests a plan, and the child arbitrarily plans its implementation and selects the necessary means.
The increase in the focus of imagination throughout preschool childhood can be concluded from the increase in the duration of children’s play on the same topic, as well as from the stability of roles. Younger preschoolers play for 10 - 15 minutes. External factors lead to the appearance of side lines in the plot, and the original intent is lost. They forget to rename items and start using them according to their actual functions. At 4 - 5 years old, the game lasts 40-50 minutes, and at 5 - 6 years old, children can play enthusiastically for several hours and even days.
For the development of imagination, certain conditions must be present: emotional communication with adults; subject-manipulative activity; the need for different types of activities.
When developing a child’s imagination, it is important to remember that the material for his fantasies is the entire life around him, all the impressions he receives, and these impressions must be worthy of the bright world of childhood.
The creative nature of imagination depends on the extent to which children master the methods of transforming impressions used in play and artistic activity. The means and techniques of imagination are intensively mastered in preschool age. Children do not create new fantastic images, but simply transform already known ones, using such imagination techniques as anthropomorphization, agglutination, hyperbolization and others. Mastering the techniques and means of creating images leads to the fact that the images themselves become more diverse, rich, emotional, imbued with aesthetic, cognitive feelings, and personal meaning.
So, let’s highlight the main features of imagination development at an early age:
· its prerequisites, representation and delayed imitation are formed;
· imagination appears in the game when an imaginary situation arises and game renaming of objects;
· imagination functions only with the support of real objects and external actions with them.
Features of the development of imagination in preschool age are as follows:
· imagination acquires an arbitrary character, suggesting the creation of a plan, its planning and implementation;
· it becomes a special activity, turning into fantasy; the child masters the techniques and means of creating images;
· imagination goes into the internal plane, there is no need for visual support for creating images.
It must be said that the development of imagination is fraught with some dangers. One of them is the emergence of childhood fears. All parents notice that children from the age of four or five have a variety of fears: children can be afraid of the dark, then more definitely - skeletons, devils, etc. The appearance of fears is a companion and a kind of indicator of the developing imagination. This phenomenon is very undesirable, and when fear appears, you need to help the child get rid of it as soon as possible.
Of course, first of all, you should try to prevent those influences that can traumatize the child and evoke painful images in his imagination. Often, children's fears appear after films and books that are very harmless and funny in our opinion. But we must remember that the child’s imagination completes what he does not yet know, replaces for him that information about reality that he does not have and which we, adults, have. It is obvious to us that Viy is a fiction, that Baba Yaga does not exist, and Kashchei the Immortal is very cute in the fairy tale film. But imagine yourself in the place of a child, try to look at everything through his eyes. For him, all this can be a reality, and such that his imagination helps him see this reality in his life, transfer it into his world. Therefore, we must be very careful about the impressions that the child receives and select them in accordance with the age and characteristics of the baby’s nervous system. After all, the fear that arises can become obsessive and develop into neurosis, and then the child will need the help of a pediatric neurologist or psychiatrist.
But if fear has already arisen, then, of course, we must try to rid the child of it as soon as possible. It is characteristic that it is often the most effective to follow not the logic of reality, but to move into the logic of the child’s imagination. It will not always help to say that there are no devils, that it is stupid to be afraid of the dark, that there are no skeletons, etc. Psychologist 3.N. Novlyanskaya gives an example of a girl who was afraid that a black flower would fly into her room. No amount of persuasion helped, but when the mother, on the advice of a psychologist, said that the cactus on the window was protecting the girl and would not let the black flower come to her, the child calmed down and the fear disappeared.
The second danger lurking in the development of imagination is that the child can completely withdraw into the world of his fantasies. Indeed, already from the senior preschool age, a child can act out all imaginary situations to himself, without in any way accompanying this with external actions. And this is where the danger of leaving reality lurks in fantasy, daydream, dream, which especially often happens in adolescence and adolescence. It is impossible to live without a dream, but if a child lives only with dreams and fantasies, without realizing them, then he can turn into a fruitless dreamer.
That is why, starting from the senior preschool age, it is important to help the child realize his plans, help subordinate his imagination to certain goals, and make him productive.
Having analyzed the above, we can conclude: the child’s imagination is manifested and formed in the process of activity. Specific preschool activities are important in his development - playing, drawing, modeling, etc. An adult plays an important role in the formation of a child’s imagination - his pedagogical position, creativity, and his personality as a whole. The teacher must not only create conditions for the expression of children's imagination. In the process of organizing and directing children’s activities, it is necessary to enrich the ideas of preschoolers and teach them effective techniques manipulating images of the imagination, using special exercises that stimulate children's imagination, etc. It is important that the content and form of communication between an adult and a student create an opportunity for the child to enter the “zone of proximal development” and contribute to the realization of his potential in creative activity.
I have said many times that I am not particularly involved in the systematic development of children. And the only thing that I personally can do, and that I like, is to stimulate the development of imagination in children. It's so interesting and fun that I enjoy it myself. If you remember, it is imagination that is the basis thanks to which other intellectual processes (memory, thinking) can easily and quickly develop.
So, let me remind you why the rest of the development system passes me by:
- I'm just being lazy. Yes it is. And this is the first point. Sometimes there are influxes of desire to do something with children. And then I use these influxes, we all enjoy doing everything we can together. And children, from the rarity of such activities, squeal with pleasure and grasp everything on the fly. It would seem a little selfish, but it brings so much benefit!
- Children themselves have enormous potential for curiosity. And I try not to suppress their natural need to learn with activities I have invented. At the same time, if the child himself asks to do something (he wants to know the letters, asks for numbers, wants to know the structure of the rocket), then I answer and tell. Children themselves become the initiators of lessons and activities.
- Play is important for preschoolers and younger schoolchildren. Not classes in game form, namely the game itself. And this is their main occupation and main lesson.
And yet there is one thing that I try to develop, although this verb does not fit very well (I try, rather, to stimulate). This is the development of imagination in children. And here we are not talking about making an applique or drawing a house with the sun. In my opinion, “repeat and do as I do” classes can hardly be called real, creative. They are interesting, useful, important, but this is not real creativity. True creativity involves creating something that has not yet existed. So, what ideas and principles do I use when stimulating the development of children's imagination? 
Developing Imagination in Children: Ideas and Principles
Games. Everything should be a game. Not in a playful way, but through play. It may or may not have rules. Moreover, children create these games themselves. I can start, but they continue.
If the child doesn't want to, we don't do it. something that develops the imagination. There is no point in developing such a skill by force; nothing will come of it anyway. By the way, if I don’t want to do it, I don’t do it either.
No special classes, everything is included in life and games. There is nothing more boring than sitting and deliberately doing monotonous exercises. Any of the methods described below can be applied anytime, anywhere.
The ideas, I think, are clear. And then it’s possible useful development torture a child. But, as you understand, I am against this. Now let's move on to specific examples. By the way, here I will talk more about the development of creative imagination in preschool children, this is closer to me. For older children, you can come up with more games. When my children grow up, I will write an article about this too.
Development of imagination in children. Traditional activities:
Fairy tales. Reading books with fairy tales is one of the oldest methods of developing imagination. A child, like many adults, lives the whole story as if they themselves were there, inside a fairy tale.
Role-playing games. Almost all preschool children love to play this. Imagine that you are a butterfly (puppy, KAMAZ, space rocket) and you fly to another clearing (planet). Tell your child the beginning of the story, that he met someone there, something happened. And then let the child come up with the plot himself. Young children will more often rely on your tips, and older children will invent their own. Let them have incredible adventures, escape from villains or find treasures. Probably every child has his own favorite game. I don’t limit children’s imagination; they can invent whoever and anything they want. Sometimes I come up with something interesting with them and together we “go down into the dungeon to look for treasure.” And we do all this, we lose, we crawl. Children are so captivated by this most ordinary but important game that they truly believe in everything and live the whole story. 
Free drawing. When a child draws himself and whatever he wants, even if it’s scribbles. Let the child mix colors and draw different shapes. It doesn't matter what he draws, it's the process that matters. And then you can ask what it is drawn. and let the kid answer what his drawing looks like.
Games to develop imagination in children: my examples
Non-existent. Suitable for quiet games. We decide that we will invent non-existent animals (objects, inventions, plants, people). We choose one thing and begin to fantasize. The children themselves describe who or what it is, what it does, what its name is. For example, let’s invent a non-existent animal: “His name is GINKOZYAVA. This is a purple caterpillar, but with wings like a bat, and its belly bifurcates, and then connects again, it looks like there is a hole in its stomach and it can carry something in this hole. She has eyes in front and behind so she can see clearly, and she also has fur, but it does not grow everywhere, but only in a narrow strip like a mane.” Even children 2.5-3 years old get involved and start coming up with very original things.
What useful things can be done from... We choose a simple object (pencil, piece of paper, apple core) and come up with unusual inventions from this object. For example, a pencil: with a small file you can cut out doors, windows and rooms and make a home for ants or other small insects.
Your own tales. If we get a little bored with ordinary fairy tales, we begin to invent our own. These can be very short mini-fairy tales or entire large works. Moreover, my three-year-old child is able to come up with and tell a little story, and my 5-year-old daughter comes up with full-fledged fairy tales with a plot. Here are some examples of mini-fairy tales:
Once upon a time there lived a fish. And she was rainbow-colored, all her scales were multi-colored like a rainbow. But she was bored in her lake because she was the only one so bright. One day one of her old scales yellow color fell out and fell on another fish. And suddenly this fish began to become colored too. The rainbow fish then rushed to the pebble and quickly scratched its back on the stone so that the old scales would fall out faster, and then it spread these scales throughout the lake and scattered them on all the fish, frogs, fry and other living creatures. After some time, the entire pond was filled with rainbow animals. And the fish began to live very happily.
Just imagine... Often in simple tasks and games I ask the following question: imagine that you are a comet (rocket, ant, wind, house, bucket, fire), what would you do? You can’t imagine how interesting it is to watch a child’s reaction when he imagines himself as something or someone. More is written on his face than he can say. After one such question there can be a long explanation with an incredible number of interesting events. Then all this can smoothly transition into playing this creature. Children love this. Example: “Imagine that you are a yellow leaf that comes off a tree in the fall, where would you fly?” My children answered: “I would fly to Moscow. Then she would fly there and fall to the ground. then she would fly, then she would come back. Then you would pick me up and take me for yourself, put me in a locker for beauty. I would be red and green, shaped like fire, only I would have 4 tips.” 
Developing Creative Imagination: Develop Yourself
In the beginning, especially if you haven't played these types of games before, you need to set an example of how to play. Come up with all these non-existent animals and unusual situations yourself. And over time, the kids will connect to you. And you will be surprised at how rich the imagination of children is.
In fact, there may be more games, it all depends on your imagination. Developing imagination in children is not a strictly regulated activity; it can be anything, as long as it brings joy to you and the children, as long as it provides a wide scope for imagination. Especially in childhood, all the fruits of the imagination are felt so vividly that each child lives many different lives and stories, and this in itself develops the child.
Irina Permyakova
PS. And yes, if you want more varied activities, either for yourself or for older kids, I have .
Imagination- fantasy, human mental activity, is the most important aspect of our life. If we did not have imagination, we would lose almost all scientific discoveries and works of art, images created by writers and inventions of designers. Guess and intuition leading to discovery are impossible without imagination. Along with a decrease in the ability to fantasize, a person’s personality becomes impoverished, the possibilities of creative thinking decrease, and interest in art and science fades.
The main task of imagination— presentation of the expected result before its actual implementation. With the help of imagination, an image of something that has never existed or does not exist is formed. this moment object, situation, conditions.
Another function of the imagination is related to the planning of one’s actions necessary in the labor process. It is thanks to imagination that a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities.
There are two types of imagination: re-creative and creative.
Recreating Imagination consists in creating images of objects that were not previously perceived, in accordance with their description or conventional image (drawing, topographic map, literary text, etc.).
Creative imagination consists in the independent creation of new images, embodied in original products of activity.
The idea that the more bizarre and outlandish a work is, the more imaginative its author is, is fundamentally mistaken. After all, the more realistic the work, the more powerful the imagination must be in order to make the picture being described visual and imaginative. Powerful creative imagination is recognized not so much by what a person can invent or invent, but by how he knows how to transform reality in accordance with the requirements of an artistic concept.
Imagination develops in the process of creative activity. A prerequisite for the high development of imagination is its education, starting from childhood, through games, training sessions, introduction to art. A necessary source of imagination is the accumulation of diverse life experiences, the acquisition of knowledge and the formation of beliefs.
Creative activities develop children's senses. While creating, the child experiences a whole range of positive emotions both from the process of activity and from the result obtained. Creativity contributes to the development of memory, thinking, perception, attention. Creative activity develops the child’s personality, helps him to assimilate moral and ethical standards - to distinguish between good and evil, compassion and hatred, courage and cowardice. By creating works of creativity, the child reflects in them his understanding of life and the world, his positive and negative qualities, in a new way comprehends and evaluates them. Children aged 6 years in their works not only convey processed impressions, but also begin to purposefully look for ways to convey this. The possibilities for choosing such methods are directly related to the child’s learning characteristics, primarily to his mastery of the culture of play and elements of play during preschool childhood. artistic creativity. At this age, the child can already build a plan for their implementation before starting actions and consistently implement it, often adjusting it as it progresses. Creativity also develops aesthetic feelings. Through this activity, the child’s sensitivity to the world and appreciation of beauty are formed.
All children love to make art. They enthusiastically sing and dance, sculpt and draw, compose music and fairy tales, perform on stage, participate in competitions, exhibitions, quizzes, etc. After all, creativity makes a child’s life richer, fuller, more joyful and interesting.
With the help of creativity and imagination, the child forms his personality. And there is a special area of a child’s life that provides specific opportunities for personal development, - It's a game. By imagining game situations and implementing them, the child develops a number of personal qualities, such as justice, courage, honesty, a sense of humor and others. Through the work of imagination, compensation occurs for the child’s still insufficient real opportunities to overcome life’s difficulties and conflicts.
Children aged 6 years and older actively play role-playing games: shop, hairdresser, family, kindergarten etc.
The child should be taught to look for a solution, taking into account, if possible, all possible consequences.
Encourage children to speak up own ideas about the problem being solved.
Space trip
◈ Cut out several circles of different sizes from paper and arrange them in random order. Invite your child to imagine that the circles are planets, each of which has its own inhabitants. Ask your child to come up with the names of the planets and populate them with various creatures.
◈ Gently guide the child’s imagination, for example, suggest that only good creatures, on the other - angry, on the third - sad, etc.
◈ Let the child show his imagination and draw the inhabitants of each planet. Cut out of paper, they can “fly” to visit each other, get into various adventures, and conquer other people’s planets.
Uninhabited acute
◈ Invite your child to play as travelers who find themselves on a desert island. The roles of the main characters can be played by your favorite toys.
◈ Land the heroes on the island and start planning: what travelers need in order to build a house and improve their life.
◈ Consider the most unusual versions, for example: a house or hut can be built from palm leaves or hollowed out in the trunk of a thick tree using a pointed stone. From long seaweed you can weave a rug that will serve as a bed, etc.
◈ Discuss who travelers might meet and what dangers they face.
Make up a riddle
The game develops imagination and thinking
◈ Teach your child to come up with riddles. The wording of the riddle can be simple (What is the same color in winter and summer?) or characterize the object from several sides (It burns, not fire, a pear, not edible).
Magic transformations
The game develops imagination and figurative memory, figurative movement(ability to depict animals, some objects)
◈ The task is to depict an animal or some object using gestures, facial expressions, and sounds.
◈ Other players must guess what was shown and tell how they guessed.
What am I good for?
The game develops imagination, fantasy, creative thinking
◈ Select an item. The task is to come up with and name all possible uses of this item.
Modeling
Develops imagination and fine motor skills
Necessary equipment: plasticine, clay, dough.
◈ You can sculpt anything from plasticine - dishes for a doll, letters, animals. You can create characters from your favorite fairy tale and bring it to life - hold a puppet show. Perhaps all the wonders of the plasticine world will be clumsy at first, but over time the child will learn to create more and more complex figures.
Waders, constructors
Contribute to the breakdown of imagination, creative thinking, perception
◈ You can build anything from cubes (constructor set) - a house, a road, a city, an apartment with furnishings and place residents there.
Evening windows
◈ In the evening, the windows of neighboring houses, in which the lights are on, form intricate patterns. What are they like? Maybe these are some letters or someone's smile?
◈ Imagine with your child.
Clouds
◈ Clouds truly give room for imagination. What are they like? They look like everything! They also move across the sky, catching up with each other and constantly changing their shape.
Homemade gifts
◈ I have the same experience with my eldest daughter - she happily makes gifts for someone: a postcard (with applique) for her grandmother, a picture from various cereals (for information on how to make it, see the article “Development Games fine motor skills"), beads, photo frames, even a voluminous garden with paper butterflies and flowers. And one day we were making chocolates.
◈ Your child probably has a lot of ideas in his head. Encourage your child's applied creativity, guiding him so that he learns to complete his plans and work carefully.
Gift wrapping
◈ Show your child how to wrap a gift beautifully - in special paper, or a box, or a holiday bag.
◈ If there are no suitable materials at home, go with him to the department that deals with gift wrapping and pick up something.
Fairy tale by roles or puppet theater
◈ Any child will love this kind of fun. Theater or role-playing is one of the the best ways development creativity. The most valuable thing in these games is the opportunity for direct and free self-expression.
◈ Choose a well-known fairy tale or story, assign roles (play with the whole family or company) and have fun. It doesn't have to be a standard plot development - maybe your child will come up with a different ending to the story.
Fairy tales
Promote the development of speech, imagination, memory
◈ Compose fairy tales with your child. Stories about your favorite animal, about pieces of furniture. Remember or write down these stories - you can always continue them later or simply read them to your grandchildren many years later.
Paper figures
Required equipment: white and colored paper, threads, glue.
◈ Take paper, crumple the sheets and wrap them with threads - here are the ready-made balls for the game.
◈ Balls can be connected to each other (sewn, glued or knitted) and get fancy three-dimensional toys. Glue buttons or beads as eyes, nose and mouth, make loops, and you are ready to decorate the Christmas tree.
Colored rug
Necessary equipment: colored paper, scissors, glue.
◈ Cut strips from colored paper. Show your child how to weave rugs from them. Use a backing to secure the edges of the strips or carefully glue them together.
◈ Stripes can be made of different widths, then the pattern will be even more interesting.
New Year decoration
Necessary equipment: foil, colored paper, scissors, glue.
◈ Cut strips from colored paper and glue them together New Year's garlands. You can also make three-dimensional balls and lanterns.
◈ When your child is confident in using scissors, teach him to cut out snowflakes from foil.
◈ You can make various applications, including three-dimensional ones, from leftover paper.
Crafts made from natural materials
Required equipment: leaves, acorns, shells walnuts, traffic jams, cones.
◈ Make it from scraps natural materials funny figures, animals, paintings.
Movie
Required equipment: video camera.
◈ Make videos with your child based on invented stories. Start with simple stories. If necessary, use props - costumes, makeup, scenery.
These are not just invented thoughts and fantasies about anything - this is a very important protective function of the child’s psyche. With the help of imagination, he compensates for negative emotions and situations and protects himself. Therefore, do not be surprised if the baby begins to draw Baba Yaga or other fairy-tale characters with a negative image.
Children's imagination begins to develop at about three years of age. From this age, the baby develops two types of imagination - affective and cognitive. The first is to worry and protect your “I”, and the second is to build a picture of the world.
THE FIRST STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD'S IMAGINATION
The first stage of imagination development begins at approximately 2.5-3 years. From this age, the child distinguishes his “I” from the general picture of the world. Also, the baby has active and visually effective thinking. By the way, speech is of particular importance for the imagination. The more extensive a child’s vocabulary, the better his imagination develops. This is due to the fact that the baby can already describe an object or situation not only emotionally, but also in words. So, deaf children have a rather poor imagination.
Three-year-old children who already know how to draw show their abilities on paper. But so far the baby lacks an important component of imagination - a plan for implementing the idea. At this age, children only have the image of an idea. Therefore, first the child draws something, and only then comes up with a description for it. If you ask your child to make a plan and act on it, he is unlikely to be able or want to draw further.
From the age of three, a child can experience his fears through games. If you notice that your child is afraid of something, use games to help him overcome his fear. Strong emotional experiences can be expressed in drawing or modeling. Don't worry if your child draws scary animals. This is how he works through his fears.
SECOND STAGE OF IMAGINATION DEVELOPMENT
The second stage of imagination development in children begins at 4-5 years of age. At this age, the baby becomes familiar with generally accepted norms of behavior and rules. This strengthens his “I”, he behaves more consciously.
The stable are fading away. But the child still plays out serious experiences and traumas. So, if a child has had to undergo surgery, he can play out this situation with his toys: give them injections, remove stitches.
The child plays more role-playing games, draws, and sculpts. In all this, he reproduces patterns of behavior already known to him. But a certain “upgrade” is also happening. Since the baby’s speech is already more developed, he is already beginning to plan. Now his drawings are more conscious. He draws them step by step. “Now I’ll draw a square,” says the baby and does what he planned. “And now it’s home,” he continues. This is step planning. It also helps children come up with fairy tales, “stringing” events on top of one another.
