Methodical development "Geography in preschool educational institution - the way of knowing the world around"

This material on the exchange of experience can be used in their work by methodologists (senior educators), preschool teachers, parents. Here is a system of work with children of senior preschool age to get acquainted with the environment, acquaintance with the science of "geography" in conjunction with "ecology". Here you can find the answer to the questions of how and what to interest children in studying such serious sciences.

Goals:
1. The development of elementary natural-scientific ideas about the earth, about nature, about the population of our planet;
2. Development of cognitive activity of children of senior preschool age;
3. Teach children to explore the world around them, learn to protect and love nature.

Tasks:
1. To develop in children ideas about the unity of the surrounding world;
2. Develop children's cognitive interest and curiosity;
3. To cultivate love for nature, the desire to preserve its beauty and originality;
4. Lay the foundations for the moral attitude of children to nature, education
ecological culture.

"Geography Foundations
Forced to become a poet!
Can't describe with a dull word
Our bright planet...
I.I. Landau

Children and geography... Some may say that school terms do not agree with preschoolers. Not at all, and I will try to show this in my work. An inquisitive child's mind absorbs all the information that interests him, especially if it is provided in the form of a game. The first foundations in the study of the surrounding world should be given by teachers of preschool institutions. The study of the surrounding world can be varied by studying the basics of geography.
The study of geography in kindergarten is very little advertised, the material must be collected bit by bit, using scientific and methodological literature in the form of children's encyclopedias, geographical fiction, geographical board games, Internet resources. This subject is not included in the preschool program, so there is a need to collect material, summarize it and present it in a form that is convenient for working with children.
The first ideas of children about themselves and the world around them are often very scattered, unsystematic. The task of teachers and parents is to help them realize that each person is a part of this vast world.
Geography is the science of the surrounding space, filled with mysterious and completely unusual things, replete with exciting travel stories. This work is about how and what to interest children and parents in the study of this interesting, multifaceted, fascinating science.
Today, in our era of rapid development of civilization, humanity is increasingly faced with environmental problems. Man is used to taking everything from nature and giving nothing away. Living under the slogan: "We can not wait for the mercy of nature", human society is increasingly damaging the environment, and this is taking on enormous proportions, affecting our health. Our planet Earth can be saved only by man himself, deeply understanding the laws of nature, realizing that he himself is a part of this nature. We see that moral, environmental education and upbringing of a person is becoming increasingly important.
It is sad to realize that the development of industry is increasingly damaging the environment. When extracting minerals, we see that most of them go to waste, because the latest technologies are not used enough. What about human pollution? Overcoming the ecological crisis only by technical means is impossible, it is necessary that a person understands his place in the world around him. We all need to educate environmental consciousness, and today it is the duty of every teacher to form this consciousness among preschoolers and schoolchildren, our younger generation, among those who will competently continue our traditions of preserving nature for future generations. Ecological consciousness has an interdisciplinary character, in which the main role is played by natural science disciplines: geography, physics, biology. Therefore, the value of studying geography for preschoolers is to teach children, and often parents, to take care of their home, street, city, realizing that this is our habitat, which must be kept clean for their own good, health.
Preschool children are by nature explorers of everything that surrounds them, they are interested in learning everything. Every day they discover new objects and unusual phenomena for themselves. Preschool children are interested in everything, it encourages them to think, to ask interesting questions. Sometimes they comment on what they have learned, introducing their vision, using a non-standard, interesting explanation.
Children are prone to discoveries, they are excited about traveling to distant countries, and in this the teacher will be of great help to them, studying geography with them. Satisfying their curiosity, learning and exploring the world around them, children master cause-and-effect, classification, spatial and temporal relationships that allow linking individual ideas into a single picture of the world.

Geography is the science of the surrounding space, which is filled with mysterious and completely extraordinary discoveries and travel stories. In order for children to be imbued with this science, it is advisable to introduce them to it already at preschool age. Traveling on the map contributes to the development of geographical representations, connecting the serious with the game. For such games, physical and political maps of the world, a globe, a map of a city, district, region, republic (country), small flags of various countries to indicate the travel route are needed as material. The main motto of such games is to recognize, compare, distinguish and connect facts and phenomena in space.
The importance of this work is to awaken the feelings of the child, to interest him in studying the world around him, not only within the city, district, region, but throughout the world. It is necessary to teach the child to evaluate human behavior in the world around him, to express his opinion. Preschool teachers should create appropriate conditions for this, using a variety of materials to familiarize children with the science of "geography". A prerequisite for achieving the goals of the project is working with parents. Parents should be aware of what teachers teach children, support children's interest and curiosity.
Where should a teacher start? Of course, with the study of scientific and methodological literature, a selection of interesting information for the child, the selection of photographs, illustrations. It must be remembered that the main thing for a teacher is not to give the child ready-made knowledge, but to interest him so that he himself tries to learn something, ask, find.
Classes with children are based on the principle of game developmental learning and are aimed at developing curiosity, inquisitiveness of the mind, developing the ability to analyze their own observations, compare them with others, generalize and draw conclusions. The teacher teaches children to ask questions, to see and understand the beauty of the world around them, to conduct experiments.

A variety of methods are used in the classroom: conversation, reading fiction, the method of cognitive games, posing problematic questions, looking at photographs, illustrations, paintings, telling, guessing riddles, coloring coloring pages on a geographical theme, observation, experience, watching videos "Fashion Geography".
Subject to systematic work at the end of the academic year
expected results are:
- Formation in children of senior preschool age of elementary natural-scientific ideas about the Earth;
- Increasing interest in nature and respect for the planet Earth;
- Children use special terminology in their speech, replenish their vocabulary with geographical concepts;
- In children, the growth of the level of observation increases;
- Children are able to draw conclusions, put forward hypotheses;
- The interest of parents in studying this science with children, the collection of interesting material, the accumulation of practical materials.

How to start an imaginary journey?
1. Choose a country
2. Choose the type of transport that will be more convenient to travel
3. We study the symbolism of the selected country, its natural zone, characteristic features.

What can we meet on the way?

Such trips help to master the cardinal points, get acquainted with the compass, learn the names of the seas and oceans, compare the flora and fauna of different climatic zones, find out what kind of people live there, what they do, what houses they have, architectural monuments.

In a playful way, it is much easier for preschool children to master the natural and cultural symbols of different parts of the world: for Africa - giraffe, hippopotamus, desert, savannah, for Antarctica - icebergs, penguins, for Australia - kangaroos, platypuses, koalas, etc.)
During such in-game journeys, the map gradually “comes to life”: the flags of the states that have been studied appear on it. Children have the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge. Seeing a map with symbols, children better remember the countries they met, visibility is very important for a preschooler. Sometimes children ask to repeat the trip to the country they like.

On every continent there are countries that differ in climate, flora and fauna, landscape, cities, flags, hymns and coats of arms.

Children really like to guess riddles about countries, about capitals, coloring coloring pages on a geographical theme.

Traveling on the map is also accompanied by reading works of art written by storytellers from different countries: The Brothers Grimm, G. Uhland - Germany, Charles Perrault - France, L. Carroll, R. Kipling, E. Seton-Thompson, A.A. Milne - England, S. Lagerlöf - Sweden, D. Harris, M. Goram - American writers, G. H. Andersen - Denmark, D. Rodari - Italian writer. A variety of children's literature carries a lot of interesting information, including geographical knowledge. The more children read, the more extensive their understanding of the world around them will be. Before reading, you need to talk about the author, find on the map the country in which he lived and wrote his works. If the book describes any country, area, you need to find it on the map and talk. So, reading about the tricks of Carlson, we will find the country of Sweden on the map. Reading the well-known fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood", we will tell you what its storyteller Charles Perrault, who lived in France, wrote. If we are going to read the fairy tale "Cipollino", we will find on the map Italy - the country of the storyteller Gianni Rodari. Kipling's fairy tales will introduce young geographers to the animal world of India. Traveling with Dr. Aibolit, children get acquainted with the wildlife of Africa. It is very good if the books are rich in illustrations, biological and historical objects. Children love to look at them, remembering a lot of useful information, which will then greatly facilitate further schooling.

The video for children “Fashion Geography” is very informative, where in an interesting way children get acquainted with the peculiarities of countries: Russia, Canada, Japan, Egypt, Australia, Switzerland, Great Britain, USA, Germany, Greece, Mexico, India, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain and others.

The board game “Traveling the Continents” is also interesting for children, which introduces children and consolidates knowledge about the six continents and the four cardinal points: North, South, West, East. Along the way, I recall the animals that inhabit these continents. The word game "Mail" consolidates knowledge of the names of cities.

An approximate list of questions and answers on the study of geography for children:

What is travel for? (Get knowledge about the world, countries, diversity of flora and fauna)
- What does geography study? (Geography studies countries and seas, islands and continents, rivers and lakes, cities and villages. Or rather, their location)
- What is common and how do the globe differ from the map of the world? (A globe is a model of the globe, and a map is a flat image of a piece of the earth's surface)
How many oceans are on the Earth and what are they called? (4 oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic)
- What is the largest ocean? (Quiet)
- What is the smallest ocean? (Arctic)
- The coldest place on Earth? (The North Pole of Cold is located near the village of Oymyakon in Yakutia. The lowest temperature recorded there is -71.2 ° C. A new minimum temperature record was recorded by scientists in Antarctica. It turned out to be two degrees lower than the previous one and amounted to -91.2 ° C. In such conditions, a person’s eyes and lungs can freeze in a couple of minutes)
What continent does not have seas and rivers? (Antarctica)
- What seas have colored names, why were they given such names? (Black Sea, Red Sea, Yellow Sea, White Sea. The name of the Yellow Sea was given by the "yellow" river (as translated from the Chinese Yellow River), which flows into it. It is so muddy and dirty that it makes sea water yellow. In addition, in In the place where the sea is located, strong storms very often occur in the spring, carrying yellow dust. This dust turns the water of the sea yellow. The Black Sea got its name due to the fact that in ancient times this word meant "inhospitable": so the sea was nicknamed by the Turks, who tried to completely take over it. Also in ancient times, the north was called "black": the sea located in the north, and received such a name. The easiest way to understand the origin of the name of the northern - the White Sea: this is the whitest sea from snow and ice. Red the sea gets its name from the large amount of red-brown algae floating on the surface.Also in ancient times, the south was called "red": the sea located in the south received this name.)
- What is the jungle? (Moist impenetrable forests with shrubs and lianas)
- What is a desert? (The word "desert" speaks for itself: desert means empty. There are no seas, no rivers, no lakes in the desert, so it rains very rarely here. evaporates)
- Where do birds of paradise live? (In Australia and New Guinea)
- Why are lakes Baikal and Chernilnoe interesting? (The deepest lake in the world, Baikal, is located in southern Siberia. Baikal, one of the greatest lakes in the world, the cradle of many ancient tribes and peoples, stretches over the surface of the planet for 600 km. Due to the amazing shape, natural features and structure of the bottom, the bowl of Baikal has long been Since then it has been divided into three independent parts - Southern, Northern and Middle. Each of them is unique, each has its own character, vegetation on the banks, landscape and even climate. In Algeria there is a natural lake filled with ink. It is called Ink Lake. In this lake no fish or plants, as the toxic dark blue ink is only good for writing.)

Each country has its own identity and flag. Children get acquainted with some countries, their location features, architectural monuments and flags.

Children are very fond of geographical riddles-jokes:

What city can be in the air? (Eagle)
- Which city is the most angry? (Terrible)
- Which city is the sweetest? (Raisin)
- Which island considers itself clothing? (Jamaica)
- Between what two letters can you put a small horse to get the name of the country, the island? (Japan)
What city is named after the fish? (Zander)
What city is bleeding? (Through Vienna)
What river can be cut with a knife? (Rod)
- Which city is called the gate to the Donbass (Kharkiv)
What sea does not have fish? Why? (In the Dead. Very salty water.)
- What country can be worn on the head? (Panama)
- The contour of which country resembles a boot? (Italy)
- Where do dry rivers flow? (On the map)
What river is in our mouth? (Gum)
- What river is named after dishes? (Taz)
The study of the native land on the example of our city, district.
Hometown is a small world from which a child's acquaintance with the big world begins. It is very important to form in children the understanding that their native land is a part of a great power. And when children learn to love and preserve the land where they live, they will also relate to different beautiful areas throughout the country. For example, the children of our city of Novoazovsk are studying the nature of the BOOPTRZ "Khomutovskaya steppe - Meotida" with interest. The area that they study with their teachers, they can observe with their parents. What teachers give them, they consolidate with their parents. What is interesting about the protected area "Meotida"? These are unique sections of the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, they still well preserved the main features of the original nature of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, wetlands of international importance "Gulf and Curve Spit" and "Gulf and Belosarayskaya Spit", the uniqueness of the vegetation cover, the richness of the flora with rare species. The rich fauna of the park has no equal in terms of species diversity of birds. Even in harsh winters, snowy owls and snow buntings feel comfortable near the ice-covered sea, graceful mute swans settle on the estuaries. The pride of the park is the numerous colonial settlements of hydrophilic birds on the spit of the Krivoy Spit - unique in Europe.
The symbol of the park is the avocet, a beautiful bird that lives mainly on the sea coast. The number is declining everywhere, but in "Meotida", thanks to close protection, this is a common species. Children travel not only in natural landscapes, but also in historical time, when the Sea of ​​Azov was called the Meotian Lake, and the territory from the Azov to the Black Sea was called Meotida.
Children of the ecological group get acquainted with the secrets of protected places. The reserve is a place where rare and valuable plants, birds, animals, unique parts of nature, cultural values ​​are protected and preserved. "Reserved" means inviolable.
Botanical reserve "Khomutovskaya steppe" (Khomutovo village, Donetsk region) (received the status of a reserve in 1926), National natural park "Holy Mountains" (Svyatogorsk, Donetsk region) (created on 13.12.1997 by the Decree of the President of Ukraine ), Meotida National Park (the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov) (created on 06/30/2000 by the decision of the Donetsk Regional Council, and on 10/03/2001 it was accepted into the international organization EUROPARC Federation, in December 2009, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine, the status of national was granted)), in 2015 it was renamed into BOOPTRZ "Khomutovskaya steppe Meotida" (Biospheric specially protected natural area of ​​republican significance "Khomutovskaya steppe - Meotida" was created in accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Donetsk People's Republic of 03.06.2015). The rich illustrative and artistic material contributes to the development of children's interest in exploring the corners of the unique virgin nature.
While getting acquainted with the reserved corners, the thought constantly passes: “The fate of these places and their inhabitants depends, first of all, on YOU!” The task of teachers is to do everything to ensure that children do not remain indifferent to the environment, to the problems that exist around them. It is necessary to involve parents in cooperation, to conduct active explanatory work among them. The educators have an important task - to interest, teach, consolidate the knowledge gained, and most importantly - to educate children in such behavior in nature, which will become in the future a life position for the preservation of the environment. Systematicity, continuity in environmental education, accessibility in teaching material are the necessary conditions for achieving the desired results. And it is very important that the work that is carried out in a preschool institution be continued by teachers at school. Only then the sown seed of interest and knowledge in children's souls will give sprouts and fruits in the future. Only then in the behavior of children will not be observed negative manifestations of the objects of nature, there will be sympathy for nature, as a living part of human life.
Let's establish the relationship of two sciences: geography and ecology. Geography is a Greek word meaning "description of the earth". The word "ecology" comes from two Greek words and is translated as "house" and "science", that is, the science of the house. And a house for a person most often is walls and a roof, for an animal - a forest, field, mountains, for fish - oceans, seas, rivers, lakes. This means that all living things seem to have their own home, and for all together - our planet Earth. And it is very difficult for very different creatures to live together in the same house. Here you can quarrel, and it’s better to take a place, or even just do harm. And if you start a war with each other, then not for long and the whole house will fly into the air. Here is the science of "ecology" and is called upon to study thoroughly in all its subtleties how individual residents of our large "communal apartment" not only get along, but also interact with each other. After all, for example, cut down the forest - the forest river will dry up, the animals will disappear without drinking, the earth and even the air will deteriorate, since the forest is a source of oxygen. Or, let's say, on the contrary, the wind will drive the air from the factories, spoiled by toxic impurities, to the forest, and the forest will die, and then everything will again follow the same nasty chain. Teachers introduce children to the mistakes of mankind on the example of different countries: Canada (the story of beavers), China (the story of sparrows), England (the story of wheat and mice).
Nature requires a careful attitude towards it, and not only scientists, for whom the reserve is a laboratory, but also all observers of this beauty are responsible for it. The attitude of man to nature is considered one of the indicators of the level of development of the individual, the criterion of humanity. Man must feel and realize himself as a part of nature. These connections with nature must constantly live in his mind, in his relation to the environment. And how adults (parents, educators, teachers) teach children to relate to this environment depends on their health and future in general.
It has already become customary for the inhabitants of our planet to celebrate World Earth Day on April 22 every year. Together with their parents, children participate in the ecological landing "Let's Decorate the Earth with Trees and Flowers" - they plant trees, flowers, and then take care of them.
When getting acquainted with their native land, children need to be introduced to the map of their country, region, find their district, their city. In order to find your street and your house, you need a map of the city. So children get an idea of ​​​​several types of cards.
An interesting technique when getting acquainted with geography is to invite children to talk about their travels to other cities and countries, that they saw so interesting things that they were most struck by, what souvenirs they brought from there, to show children photographs of memorable places. Children relive the emotions of the journey, learn to tell their comrades about them.
Geography is one of the most interesting areas of knowledge for children. Any child shows interest in the arrangement of the world around him, he is excited about traveling to distant countries, people and animals that live there are interested. Children ask a lot of questions about why the seas and oceans are called that, why there are earthquakes and volcanoes erupt, why the water in the sea is salty, what is at the bottom of the sea and ocean, can dolphins talk to humans and much more.
It is easy for children to remember that rivers, lakes, seas, oceans are indicated in blue on the map and globe. Acquaintance of children with the water resources of the planet can begin with the "colored seas". They will be interested to know that our planet has the Black, White, Red and Yellow Seas. We found them on the map and made a trip to find out why they got such a name. The Yellow Sea has a yellow tint. The name comes from the color of the water, caused by sediment from Chinese rivers and, to a lesser extent, by dust storms. In spring, yellow dust storms are so strong that ships have to stop moving. Red algae live in the Red Sea. During the period when the algae are growing rapidly, it seems that the water turns red. The White Sea really has an almost white color of water. The Black Sea was nicknamed so because of its restless temper and the black color of the water during severe storms. We found out the features of the name, now you can study which countries surround these seas, what kind of people live there, what do they do? It is very good to draw your impressions in the form of a picture. Such trips will not only expand geographical knowledge, but also train thinking, memory, and develop imagination. Why the Mediterranean Sea has such a name, children can guess for themselves if they carefully examine the map where it is located. It will not cause difficulty explaining why they have such names as the Sea of ​​Japan, the South China Sea. But you will have to think about the origin of the name of the Dead Sea and look for the answer together with adults in the encyclopedia or the Internet.

In addition to classes, games, where else can you study the science of the Earth? Of course, on a walk. We just draw the attention of children to the world around us and tell. For example, about the soil. What is black soil, how is it formed, what plants grow on it. What plants grow on sand? What is better for plants: black soil, sand or clay? How do they differ in their properties? You can take a compass with you for a walk - an essential tool for a traveler. This is a great opportunity to introduce children to parts of the world. Children should know that in the morning the sun rises in the East, and in the evening it sets on the other side - in the West. Can the sun get confused and rise in the West? Children should have an idea that this is impossible, because the Earth always rotates only in one direction. On a walk, each child needs to be taught how to use a compass. The red arrow points to North. If the child is facing the North, then the South is behind him, the West is on the left, and the East is on the right.
The game "Find the treasure" is very interesting with the children on a walk. A map-plan is drawn in advance, on which buildings, trees, stumps, sports equipment, etc. are applied with symbols. Children participate in the discussion and then look with interest for the cache indicated on the map. Such a game not only expands geographical knowledge, but also trains children's spatial thinking.
For children with their developed fantasy and wild imagination, any event, insignificant in our opinion, can become a geographical adventure. But you can go in search of the poles. Children learn that the Earth has two poles: North and South. A globe is very useful here, so that on a model of the globe, the child sees that the poles are opposite. The top pole is North and the bottom pole is South. It will be interesting to know that less solar heat falls on the poles than on other continents, so here are the coldest places on Earth: the Arctic and Antarctica. Children are given the concepts of "polar day", "polar night", "iceberg", children get acquainted with the animal world, with natural conditions. Gradually, children get acquainted with all the continents.

Children can be introduced to such a concept as the "equator". It surrounds our Earth like a belt. This is the place on Earth where it is always hot, because the sun's rays hit the most than other places on Earth. Children will be interested to know that there is no winter at the equator. Children get acquainted with hot equatorial countries and their inhabitants, with deserts, jungles, with the animal world.
Children are very fond of fairy tales, so they will be interested in the theme of the treasures of the Earth. Can we really see these treasures for ourselves? The most amazing thing is that the treasures are near us! These are minerals.

Fossils are called so because they need to be searched for and dug out of the ground, and useful are called so because they are of great benefit to all people. What minerals are around us? Mom cooks food on natural gas. This is a natural resource. Cooking is impossible without salt, salt is also a mineral, it is mined in salt mines. The dishes from which we eat are made of clay, the glass is made of sand. Who has furnace heating in the house, those people use coal. Monuments in squares and parks are made of marble and granite. All of these are minerals. Chalk, which is used to write on the blackboard at school and with which children draw on asphalt, is also a mineral - chalk. The favorite pastime of many children is drawing. So next to us is also a mineral - graphite, from which the pencil lead is made. Children will be very interested to know that there are still minerals from which expensive jewelry is made. Diamonds are made from diamonds, gemstones (ruby, opal, sapphire, emerald). With interest, children get acquainted with the photographs of these stones, and also learn that these stones are expensive, because they are rare and working with them is very painstaking, requires knowledge and skills.
The topic of getting acquainted with geography is very extensive, but no matter how much theoretical knowledge a child receives, traveling with their family is the best study of geography. It is very good when children tell their peers about their trips, about what they saw interesting, show photos of the places they have been. Traveling children with their parents broaden their horizons, diversify their understanding of the world. It is important for teachers to teach a child to see this diversity, to understand the reason for the difference between different natural zones depending on the geographical location of cities and countries. Why, when it snows in the cities located north of our city, and we have a rather warm autumn? Why don't they wear winter boots and fur coats in Africa? Pretty simple questions for adults. In order for the child to answer them, he needs to have information, be able to draw conclusions. And this is what we must teach them.
In early childhood, children develop the ability to perceive new impressions, it is desirable that they be bright, interesting. In the future, curiosity develops, the desire to find interesting things in the world around us. And it is not necessary to make only long trips, not all parents can afford it. Even trips around their native city, district, region will enable children to better understand the structure of our Earth (seas, steppes, mountains, forests, plains, hills, ravines, etc.). Children learn to observe and draw conclusions from what they see. To study geography by preschool children, it is necessary to use various material that is available in cognitive and fiction, in board games of a geographical nature, in videos, in puzzles of a geographical nature, in coloring pictures of cities in different countries. Acquaintance with geography begins with the native street, city and ending with huge continents and oceans.
Based on the foregoing, the educator can build his work, the educational process on the basis of gaming, research activities, combining all possible forms of enhancing the knowledge and creativity of children. And this work will captivate children only when the educator himself puts his soul into it, finds such interesting material that cannot leave the inquisitive mind of the child indifferent. Introducing preschool children aged 5-7 years to Russian folk culture

It often happens that parents reduce the acquaintance of a preschooler with geography only to studying a map, memorizing the capitals of states and memorizing flags. But geography is very vast, has many sections and concerns almost every aspect of our life. It's not just a map...

The concept of geography also includes meteorology, ethnography, geology, ecology, local history, geodesy, geophysics, tectonics and many other related sciences. And this is perhaps the most interesting area of ​​\u200b\u200bknowledge for the baby. After all, any little man is very interested in the structure of the world around him. He is excited about travel and distant countries, people and animals that live there. He asks many questions about why there are earthquakes and volcanoes erupt, why the sea rolls waves all the time and why the water in it is salty, what is underground and at the bottom of the ocean ...

Our home is Earth

The first ideas of the baby about himself and the world around him are usually very scattered and unsystematic. Our task as parents is to help the baby realize that every person (including the baby himself) is part of this world. Where to start? First of all, introduce the baby to our amazing planet. Your story may sound something like this: "Every person has his own house. You also have it. You live in it with your mom and dad. But all, all people have one more big common home - our beautiful planet Earth. Sky it looks like a huge blue ceiling, and the ground on which we walk is the floor. One big sun shines for everyone. It rains on us like a shower, and the breeze blows. Long, many, many years ago, people knew nothing at all about our planet. They thought that the Earth looked like a big pancake and lay on the backs of three whales or on three elephants that stand on a giant tortoise. When the animals began to move, earthquakes happened on the Earth. " You can draw these elephants, and the turtle, and the Earth on their back together with the baby and laugh together, because anyone, even the smallest child, knows perfectly well that the Earth is not a pancake, but a huge ball. Of course, a globe is very useful to you. After all, only with its help the baby will be able to imagine at least a little how our planet actually looks. Perhaps this is how astronauts see it from deep space. Here is the same tiny, like a ball.

Ancient people once decided to swim to the ends of the earth. They boarded a ship and after many days of sailing they returned home again, but from the other side. This is how people learned that the earth is round. Find with the baby on the map the point where you live. Let the baby put his finger on it and, like ancient travelers, move with his finger across the globe straight, without turning anywhere. Came back home"?

Where does Carlson live?

The sooner a geographical map appears in the baby's room, the better. Do not think that the baby will not understand and will not remember anything. It is enough just from time to time to draw the attention of a young geographer to a map, to show and name geographical objects, and very soon the child will know parts of the world, and oceans, and even many countries with their capitals.

A variety of children's literature is a real treasure trove of geographical knowledge. And the more we read to the baby, the wider his ideas about the world around him will be. And not just read, but by all means look for the places where events take place on the map. For such games, it is most convenient if the card hangs directly above the children's bed. So, reading about the tricks of Carlson, we will find the country of Sweden and remember its capital - Stockholm. Getting acquainted with the book about the onion boy Cipollino, we will find on the map his homeland - Italy. And we will also find out where the naughty Pippi visited during her sea voyages with her father-captain. The children's map of the world is especially good with all kinds of biological, historical and fairy-tale objects-icons. Kids are very fond of looking at them, while remembering a lot of useful information. But an ordinary physical map of the world or a map of the hemispheres is also suitable. And it’s easy to make a “developing” card on your own from the most ordinary one. You can stick stickers and pictures with animals and fairy-tale characters on the image of the continents. For example, let's place a sticker with cartoon characters "Madagascar" near the island of the same name. And at the same time we will find something interesting in the encyclopedia and read something interesting about this island together with the baby. And let's not forget to follow the path of the zebra Marty and her friends from New York to Madagascar. If you find old magazines or atlases from which you can cut flags of different states, stick them together with the crumbs on the map. Such games will bring undoubted benefits to the crumbs and will greatly facilitate further schooling.

Kipling's fairy tales are the best way to introduce the little geographer to the animal world of India. Let the kid remember the location on the map and this country. Travel around the map together with Dr. Aibolit, who went to Africa to treat sick monkeys, and together with Niels and a flock of geese. When the baby grows up a little, read him a fairy tale about the adventures of Captain Vrungel. It is simply replete with all sorts of geographical details. Of course, do not forget to find on the map all the places where the brave captain visited on his famous yacht "Trouble". Better yet, mark his path with a pencil right on the map. In general, make it a rule to turn to the map in all cases when it comes to some place names in everyday life, whether it is reading books, watching cartoons or telling friends who have returned from a trip. This will help the baby remember a lot of useful information, teach how to use the map. And all this is almost effortless, as if by itself.

In the footsteps of Cecile Lupan

Many interesting geographical ideas can be gleaned from Cecile Lupan's book "Believe in Your Child". First of all, these are songs with the names of the capitals of states. You can tell your baby poems or sing songs that mention place names. Indeed, in verses, such information is remembered much easier. Here are some examples:

Soaring over Italy
We see the eternal city of Rome.
In Spain, Madrid
It stands in the center of the whole country.
Here in France, in Paris,
The tower of all buildings is higher!
And in Britain, no doubt,
London is the most important city.

There are many islands in the world
So many that you can't count...
But the big continents
We count six:
Africa, America
(North and South),
Australia,
Eurasia,
Antarctica
(blizzard).
What is Eurasia?
This is Europe plus Asia:
From two parts of the world arose
The biggest continent!

colored seas

Probably your baby already knows that rivers, lakes, seas and oceans are indicated in blue on the map. Acquaintance with the water resources of the planet can begin with the "colored" seas. The kid will be interested to know that our planet has the Black, Red, White and even the Yellow Sea. Find them on the map and try to figure out together why these seas are so unusually called. The Yellow Sea has a yellowish tint. Special algae live in the Red Sea. During periods of their intensive growth, it seems that the blue water surface turns into red-brown tones. The White North Sea really has a very light, almost white color of the water. And the Black Sea has long been nicknamed so because of the restless temper and the black color of the water during storms and storms.

Or maybe the baby wants to draw these colored seas? Which countries are they located near? What kind of people live there? Perhaps the baby has already visited one of these seas (for example, the Black or Red) or you are about to go on a trip. Then he will be doubly interested in learning more about these amazing seas.

And then find on the map and consider other seas. And also try to figure out the origin of their names. This will not only expand the geographical knowledge of the baby, but also train thinking, ingenuity and imagination. After all, you can put forward fantastic versions. And then, together with your mother, find information in a children's encyclopedia or on the Internet and check your guesses. After all, why the Mediterranean Sea was named that way, the child will probably guess himself. It is enough just to carefully look at the map. Will not cause difficulties and, for example, the Sea of ​​Japan and the South China Sea. But you will have to think about the origin of the name of the Dead Sea.

Geography on the walk

Where is the best place to study earth science? Of course for a walk. Better yet, arrange a real scientific expedition with the baby. For this, it is not at all necessary to go on a multi-day trip. Just one sunny fine day, tell the baby that today you are not just going for a walk. You are going on a journey. What do you need for a real trip? Comfortable clothes and shoes, a backpack and, of course, something tasty to eat at a halt. Ready? Then go!

It does not really matter where you go with the young traveler: to the forest, park, river or pond. Just draw his attention to the world around him and tell, tell, tell. For example, about the soil. What is black soil, how is it formed and what plants grow on it. Rake pine needles with a stick in a pine forest, and let the child see with his own eyes that pines grow on the sand. What is sand anyway? What about clay, granite, marble?

Be sure to take a compass with you on your mini-hike. Such a wonderful attribute will give the campaign a special significance. In addition, this is an excellent occasion to introduce the baby to parts of the world and talk about a wonderful guiding arrow. Probably the baby already knows that in the morning the sun rises in the sky in the east, and in the evening it sets on the other side - in the west. Can the sun mess up something and rise in the west? Of course not. After all, the Earth only rotates in one direction. By the way, have you watched the sunrise and sunset with your child? Does he already know what a horizon line is?

Teach your child to use a compass. Let him hold the compass in his hands and slowly rotate around him until the red arrow points to the letter N (north - north). Explain to the baby that now he is facing north. Behind him is the south, on the left is the west, on the right is the east. Let the baby determine on the way in which direction you are moving.

Right on the go, you can play the game "I know 5 names ...". Mom sets the topic: "I know 5 cities ...". And the kid continues, listing the names of cities known to him at each step: "Moscow - one, Kyiv - two ...". Topics can be very different: countries, capitals of states, seas, rivers, lakes, peaks, volcanoes. Or even like this: "I know 5 animals living in North America ..." If 5 names are easy to remember, we call 10 at once. Mom tells, the baby remembers. This is how we expand our geographical knowledge.

During a forest walk, bury a "treasure" in a secluded place - a tightly twisted glass jar with children's "treasures". Draw a map of the place where your treasure is buried using the legend. Usually kids are delighted with such games. Carefully save your map and during the next walk, try to find the cache, being guided by it. Come up with your own designations for deciduous and coniferous trees, shrubs, hemp, large stones, ravines, lakes, springs, streams. And then, already at home, look with your baby at how the same objects are indicated on real maps. The game can be continued indefinitely, drawing a map of the room, apartment, yard, street, and even invented maps of imaginary countries and islands. Such games not only expand geographical knowledge, but also train the spatial thinking of a young cartographer and treasure hunter.

When talking with a baby about such difficult things as the structure of the Earth, consider the child's ability to understand everything literally. Once, during a walk, a five-year-old daughter thoughtfully examined the crane, visible from behind the fence of the construction site. The crane was lifting concrete slabs. "And what, those slabs that are in the ground are the same as these?" I did not immediately understand what it was about. What are the plates in the ground? "Well, those that collide with each other and an earthquake is obtained." Here are those times! Once reading in a children's encyclopedia that earthquakes occur from the collision of large masses of earth (slabs), my daughter decided that these are concrete building slabs lying in the ground and colliding from time to time, apparently out of boredom. It's just that she had never seen other plates in her life and could not imagine what it was. So when explaining such complex things to kids, try to find out from them how they understood your (or book) explanation. Otherwise, confusion in children's heads cannot be avoided.

Expeditions with Winnie the Pooh

For kids with their developed imagination and wild imagination, any event, insignificant in our opinion, can become a geographical adventure. Remember how Christopher Robin, along with his friends Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Donkey and Rabbit, went on a "voyage" to find and discover the North Pole?

All our expedition
I wandered through the woods all day.
Searched expedition
Everywhere the road to the pole ...

But you can also go in search of the pole. And not only the North, but the South too. Just first show the kid these poles on the globe and tell about the earth's axis - an invented line that, as it were, pierces the Earth through and through. Those points through which our imaginary axis passes are called poles. The upper pole is called the North Pole, and the lower Pole is called the South Pole. The poles receive the least amount of solar heat, which is why the coldest places on our planet are located here. Of course, the search for the pole will be imaginary, and no terrestrial axis actually exists. But, walking, you can discuss many important and interesting things: what is called the Arctic and what is the Antarctic, which of the animals lives at which pole, what is the polar day and polar night, what are the winter and summer at the poles, what are icebergs, why icebreakers are needed, which are studied by polar expeditions and much more.

And next time you can go in search of the equator. And, of course, to talk about the fact that the equator is also an invented line. It seems to surround our Earth in the middle with a belt. This is where most of the sun's rays fall, which means it's always hot at the equator. Winter doesn't happen here. Let's remember the hot equatorial countries and their inhabitants, sandy deserts and dense jungles, tropical rains and droughts, and of course the amazing animals that live here.

Minerals

Our land keeps many real riches and treasures. And this is also an interesting and important topic for discussion with the baby. Why are natural resources called "mineral resources"? Fossils - because these riches need to be sought and dug out of the ground, and useful ones - because they bring great benefits to people. When cooking dinner with your little one, tell him about natural gas. But in the kitchen there is another valuable "fossil" - salt. Ceramic dishes are made from clay, glass from sand. All of these are minerals.

Sitting by the fire in the forest, think about coal, traveling in a car - about oil. Walking around the city will introduce the baby to rocks, such as marble and granite. They are widely used in construction. Being engaged together with the crumbs of creativity, tell us that earthly riches even help to make wonderful drawings. Multi-colored crayons for drawing on asphalt are a chalk rock. It turned out from the shells and parts of tiny plants and animals that lived many, many years ago. And the pencil lead, which leaves colored lines on paper, is made from a mineral called graphite.

Rings and beads are made of precious stones. These stones are very beautiful. They shine and shimmer in different colors. Such stones are rare in the earth, they are expensive, and therefore they are called precious. These are diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc.

Try with your baby to create your own collection of minerals. Most likely, you will not be able to find precious stones, but here are the usual salt, coal, sand, chalk, graphite, etc. rightfully take their rightful place in it.

Left bank, right bank...

And what about the basics of geography, which you can study right in the yard of your own house? Ringing streams after rain give the baby a wonderful opportunity to imagine how a real river is "arranged", what kind of relief the earth's surface has. We need a fast and sure stream and a desire to explore it. First of all, imagine with the baby that this stream is actually not a stream at all, but a wide and stormy river. It just seems so small to you. Every river has two banks - left and right. Understand with the baby where is which and go on a trip.

You can move in two directions: upstream and downstream. If you are lucky, you will even be able to find the source and mouth of your stream-river. The source (the place where the river begins) at the rain stream will most likely be at a large puddle, and if you're lucky, then at the top of a snowdrift. Real rivers begin, as a rule, high in the mountains and "feed" on melted snow and springs. So our stream at first flows in a thin stream, but along the way more and more streams join it, and it becomes wider and fuller. Small rivers that flow into large rivers are called tributaries. Moving down the stream bed, you and your baby will certainly see these tributary streams. The river bed is never straight, it bends all the time, bypassing natural obstacles and forming bends.

Along the way, you will meet miniature copies of real waterfalls, you will notice that the water flows rapidly from the hill (talk to the child about mountain rivers), and runs smoothly and leisurely along the "plain". In an ordinary stream, you can find whirlpools, shallows, and rapids. Everything is like a real river. But the branch to the side and - the lake. There is no current here, the water is stagnant, but the wind drives the waves over the puddle in the same way as over a real lake. If you are lucky, then your stream will not end in a sewer drain, but will, along with other similar streams, fall into a huge puddle. This puddle is a miniature copy of the sea. In the same way, real rivers flow into the sea, and the place of their connection with the sea is called the mouth. If the kid takes a long-handled shovel with him on a trip, then with its help he will be able to build a dam from sand and sticks. Nearby, you can dig a small hole and divert water from the stream there - here you have an artificial reservoir. And how many "near-water" topics can be touched upon during such a walk - not even listed. And then how many interesting books you can read at home on the topic of rivers, seas and ships!

By the way, "geographical" construction can be done on a sandy beach. It's so great to build mountains from the sand together with the baby, lay river beds, build dams and artificial reservoirs.

And of course, travel with your baby as much as possible. Perhaps this is the best and most useful study of geography. All kinds of trips and travels expand the horizons of the baby, let him understand that the world is not only a familiar room and a sandbox in the yard. There are also fields and forests, mountains and seas, rivers and lakes, other cities and people... In early childhood, the child develops the ability to perceive new impressions. And then curiosity and ease in mastering new skills will be strung on this rod. But not only long-distance travel, but even trips in the vicinity of his native city will enable the baby to better understand and realize the structure of our amazing planet. And, of course, they will help to get to know and love their unique land, will contribute to the formation of a competent attitude to nature, an ecological outlook. Interesting discoveries and amazing adventures for your little geographer!

Acquaintance with geography for kids you can start from early childhood, when a child visually memorizes a geographical map, mindlessly remembers the names of cities, capitals, countries, continents, oceans, seas, etc.

Geography is a multifaceted science. Therefore, studying it, the child gets acquainted not only with the geographical location of countries, continents, oceans, seas, but also with the surrounding world, wildlife, traditions, characteristics of other peoples and much more. All this arouses genuine interest in the little why.

Mindfulness Factor in Geography for Toddlers

In study geography for kids Another point is also very important - awareness. The child should be helped not only to remember the names, but also to understand the concepts of space and time, distance (close - far), right - left, north - south, west - east.

Preparing to study geography with toddlers

Spatial imagination and skills can begin to be developed by drawing up your own maps - plans. Of course, before starting to draw up a map-plan of something, it is necessary to analyze such concepts as “top view”, “size of objects and objects on the map” - they are much smaller on the map than they actually are.

It is best to start with the simplest and most understandable child, for example, build something from toys with the baby (a garage with cars, a zoo, a room for your favorite doll, etc.). When construction is complete, invite your child to draw a plan of what you have built together. And also get down to business together.

At first, the child can only watch how you draw a plan, suggest something to you. This is the time to draw the attention of the baby to such concepts as “top view” and “size of objects”. The child himself, approaching the building, from the height of his own height (or from a chair) can see what a “top view” is and how it is depicted on paper.

Similarly, with the “size of objects”: the child himself can try to place the entire building or some part of it on a piece of paper in full size - he is unlikely to succeed. Then you explain to him and show him how to draw it correctly on paper.

Next time you can do:

• kids room plan
• apartment plan,
• backyard playground plan
• make a map of the route to the kindergarten, to the grandmother's house, to the park, etc.

With the help of a map-plan, you can play interesting games, for example:

1. "Treasure hunters" - together with your child, make a map of the apartment, yard, etc. You hide a treasure somewhere and mark this place on the map. And then, together with the child, you go in search of a treasure.
2. Or you can make and bury your treasure on a walk in a park or square, and on the way back, draw up a map of your route home and mark on it where the treasure is hidden. And the next time you go for a walk, find your treasure on the map.

When the child understands and learns how to create a plan and navigate it, you can already move on to studying the physical map of the world.

Where to begin? – learning geography with kids

You can start learning geography for kids from smaller objects to larger ones, for example: starting from your own street, your district, your city, region, country, and ending with continents and oceans. Or vice versa, we define what is land, what is water. We separate them from each other and divide the land into smaller parts: continents, countries, regions, regions, cities, etc.

Both options are interesting and exciting. Which one to choose is up to the mother, she knows her child and his preferences better.

You can also travel the world with your favorite heroes of fairy tales, stories, cartoons:

• "Niels' Journey with the Wild Geese"
• "Sinbad the Sailor"
• "Aibolit",
• "The Snow Queen",
• "Madagascar",
• "Big Adventure",
• "Cars" and others.

For example, with this video you can go to Africa:

Invite the child, after watching a cartoon or reading a book, to find on the map those cities and countries that the heroes have visited and follow the same path on the map. See what distance the heroes had to overcome, what cities and countries their path passed by, what seas and oceans they sailed through.

You can make up your own trip. Find your city on the map and go on a trip to some country. Get to know the inhabitants of that country, find out what language they speak, what kind of climate it has, what animals live, etc.

Do you want to play interesting geography according to the finished abstract?

But it's best to study geography on real trips, even if it's a trip to your grandmother's village or to your country house.

What is useful when studying geography with kids:

1. The best illustrative example for studying the Earth is, of course, the globe. Now there is a very large variety of globes and the choice is yours:

• there are backlit globes (when the backlight is off, the globe shows a physical map: mountains, deserts, forests, plains, state borders, when the backlight is on, the physical map turns into a political one);
• there are globes with a relief surface, where mountains and hills are highlighted;
• There are also interactive globes.

We use the interactive VTECH globe, which allows the child not only to get an idea of ​​the relative position of the continents and other geographical objects, but also to listen to the melodies of the peoples of the world, get acquainted with the most famous sights and hear speech in different foreign languages.

Learning takes place in the form of a game: the child controls a toy airplane with a joystick (at the same time we develop hand-eye coordination), there are 5 game modes, including questions that allow you to consolidate your knowledge. The toy is designed for the age of 3-6 years, but already now (at 2 years 3 months) the son plays with the globe with pleasure, and he especially likes to dance to the melodies and rhythms of different nations.

2. Good helpers will be:

• children's atlases"The World and Man", "In the World of Animals", "Atlas for Kids" and other atlases with maps that are understandable and accessible to the child,
• children's encyclopedias,
• fairy tales and travel stories,
• educational cartoons,
• cards and posters.

I have already shown our poster " Living geography”, which allows you to give the baby the first geographical representations through acquaintance with the habitats of animals. Like others electronic posters of the Znatok company, it has high-quality colorful illustrations and several modes-options for classes. The son very funny copies the intonations of the “announcer” and asks: “Mom, where is the parrot?” or "Find out where the tallest tree grows."

It's great that not only the son is interested in playing with this didactic manual, but also the mother, as the authors picked up really interesting facts about plants, animals and geographical objects.

3. Also necessary and useful will be compass and binoculars, which are essential attributes of any trip.

I would like to dedicate today’s post and the next few to our geography classes, or rather a repetition of what has been covered (repetition, since I want to continue the topic in the fall and start a new cycle of classes in this area). Everything that I wrote and will write about, Dasha and I apply in our lives, but for various reasons, some topics are torn apart and it turns out that for several days we study water, and then we interrupt and only after a few weeks we start on the soil, etc. d. While it’s summer outside and there’s a lot you can do and try “right here and right now”, I decided to briefly repeat everything that we went through, but in a simplified version and with a great creative bias.

So, we started by remembering what shape our Earth is. Dasha pointed to a small ball and said that it was just as round, only very large. For clarity, we took a large saucer and a ball. I suggested that she send our beloved wolf on a journey and imagine that the dish is the Earth (after all, everyone used to think that it was flat, we even remembered how we built a model of elephants and a turtle that hold the earth and looked at the photo, like Dasha in the role of the turtle held the Earth). The wolf went on a journey and reached the end of the Earth (((And when we sent him on a walk around the Earth - a ball, he made a revolution around the Earth and returned home again!

Then we looked at the encyclopedia found at home (from my childhood) about the planets and the Earth, examined the drawings, which show and tell how the Earth rotates around its axis, around the Sun and where the Moon has been all this time. And then we went to experiment in the bathroom. Why in the bath? Yes, because it's dark. I gave Dasha a flashlight in my hands, and I myself ordered to shine on the Earth (ball). On the one hand, she pressed a wolf to the ball, on the other, a kangaroo. Dasha began to shine at one point, and I turned our Earth and it turned out that if it was light for a wolf, then it was dark for a kangaroo. So we figured out how day and night change.

Then we watched a piece of the cartoon Geography for the little ones, or rather a piece that is dedicated to the ocean and continents, where it came from, what it is called and how it looks. The process of disbanding the continents into several from one whole was shown very interestingly.

After watching the cartoon, we went to assemble our own puzzle))) I cut out several circles of different sizes and schematically wrote and drew the components of our puzzle: the planet Earth, the mainland, the country, the city, the house, and Dasha began to assemble it first starting from home (I told her ), and then from the Earth independently.

At the end, we drew our own planet Earth (Dasha drew it herself), and then she asked for a sheet of paper and began to draw the earth we walk on. First, she sketched the sheet with brown paint, and then began to apply other colors to it. I began to ask what she draws and why. She then replied that the earth is actually not black and not brown, it is colored, as the sun is reflected in it, grass and beautiful flowers grow on it, and all colors merge and it turns out “wow, how beautiful!”

I never thought that Dasha represents the earth in which the sun is reflected! My baby never ceases to amaze me