Playful activity is the only effective way for a child to enrich his social experience and expand the boundaries of knowledge. Fun cannot be perceived only as a way to entertain children; it is a completely separate world, the diversity and potential of which opens up wide educational opportunities for both parents and kindergarten teachers. In this context, it is worthwhile to dwell separately on games in the preparatory group for children 6–7 years old, who will soon move to the next educational level and become schoolchildren. That is, it is important for them not only to achieve a certain level of physical and intellectual development, to master the necessary skills, but also to successfully adapt to a new environment.

The essence of play activities in kindergarten

Play in a preschool educational institution (DOU) is a form of social life of a child that promotes his physical, mental and intellectual growth, as well as cultivating strong-willed, moral qualities and creative abilities.

Through play, children learn to be creative

Goals

Based on the definition of play activity, it is possible to compile a list of target guidelines that determine its significance in kindergarten.

Educational

This group includes:

• organization of cognitive activity (as follows from practice, children quickly learn new knowledge in a playful way);
• broadening one's horizons (new types of activities or other forms of already familiar games reveal some unknown phenomena and facts for children, for example, by conducting a research game on growing a flower in a preparatory group, the children get acquainted with the concept of “cutting”, understand such a phenomenon as “anabiosis” etc.);
• the formation of skills and abilities (for example, during games on a walk, children learn by helping the janitor to remove snow from the paths, while the game task consists not only of the quality of cleaning, but also of speed, which fosters a sense of healthy competition).

Developmental

In this case, the mission of the game is to develop:

Educational

Part of the triad of the target component of education in the game is implemented by education:

• independence (in the process of play activity, children 6–7 years old not only perform play actions themselves, but also come up with rules, for example, for role-playing fun);
• self-regulation (children learn not to give up what they start, to finish things, and not to give in to momentary feelings);
• sociability (interaction in most games involves communication with each other and with adults);
• feelings of cooperation;
• moral and aesthetic positions.

Tasks

In the context of achieving the set goals, organizing and conducting games, the teacher solves the following tasks:

Classification of types of gaming activities

There are several approaches to dividing fun into types. In preschool educational institutions, it is customary to use a classification that combines factors of content, degrees of independence and form of organization.

Didactic

These are fun games that involve

• a clear framework for the activities of each participant;
• strict rules;
• goal and inevitable end result.

These games are used to introduce new material (for example, an experimental game to determine the speed of snow melting at different temperatures), to consolidate knowledge (for example, to practice addition within 10, children put together puzzles in which the missing elements are addends or sums).

Types of didactic games

To formulate conclusions regarding the level of development of the child’s play activity, the teacher uses the results obtained, describing them in free form based on the data obtained.

Higher philological education, 11 years of experience teaching English and Russian, love for children and an objective view of modernity are the key lines of my 31-year-old life. Strengths: responsibility, desire to learn new things and self-improvement.