Ksenia Zubkova
Living corner in kindergarten
Environmental education and upbringing aimed at developing human scientific knowledge nature, beliefs and practical skills, a certain orientation and active life position in the field of nature conservation, rational use and reproduction natural resources, is objective necessity for all humanity.
For recent years process of creating new concepts preschool education and new projects for programs for the education and training of preschoolers have noticeably intensified. A modern educator is not required to strictly follow one standard program, as was the case relatively recently. Nowadays, every teacher and team of kindergarten teachers has the right to choose a program or compose it from several programs in accordance with the general educational orientation of the preschool institution and their own pedagogical guidelines.
In accordance with the three stages of preschool age - junior, middle and senior preschool age - it consists of three parts. Each part is based on general ideas, reflecting the authors' views on preschool childhood, conditions effective development child in preschool years, his full personal formation and development, readiness for schooling.
Preschool age - the most important stage in personality development. This is the period of initial socialization of the child, introducing him to the world of culture, universal human values, the time of establishing initial relationships with the leading spheres of existence - the world of people, the world of objects, the world of nature and one’s own inner world. The unique features of physical, mental, social and personal development are manifested in the unique ways and forms of cognition and activity of a preschool child. A child’s cognition of the world is carried out in an emotional and practical way: he uses various items- and examines their shape, color, size, rejoices in the bright colors of nature - and begins to comprehend the diversity of natural objects. The richness of the surrounding world, its colorfulness, sound polyphony captivate, awaken the child’s feelings and imagination, push him to independent knowledge, action, and creativity.
Features of introducing middle preschool children to the natural world
At 4-5 years old, a preschooler shows a significant and deeper interest in the nature around him: animals, plants, weather phenomena. The questions that arise at this age are “why?”, “why?”, “where from?” sometimes they puzzle adults - parents, teachers - and amaze them with the inquisitiveness of the child’s mind, the desire to penetrate into the essence of phenomena and their relationships, and the figurative form of understanding what is perceived. To satisfy children's curiosity without suppressing their interest in recognizing nature, to form ideas about it that are productive for the child's comprehensive development, to instill the first skills of activity and independent thinking - important tasks working with children in this age period.
It is extremely important for preschoolers of the fifth year of life to “discover” (identify as objects of knowledge) living beings in nature, their internal similarity despite external dissimilarity. So, it turns out that the animal and the plant are similar - they are alive: they breathe, grow, eat, feel the attitude of a person towards them. The child begins to thoughtfully reflect on the manifestations of people’s relationship to nature, experiences anger and pain from human cruelty, receives pleasure, and rejoices in kind, noble, touching deeds.
The high emotional responsiveness and empathy of four-year-old children allows them to actively form an ecologically valuable experience of communicating with animals and plants, stimulate and encourage humane manifestations of behavior and activity in nature, and cultivate joyful experiences from a morally positive act. Proposed program environmental education will help adults - teachers, parents - to begin introducing children to environmental culture, forming in them the foundations of an ecological worldview.
Setting up a living corner in a kindergarten and basic requirements for its facilities
The wildlife corner in kindergarten is one of necessary conditions visual and effective introduction of nature to preschoolers. In the corner of wildlife, preschoolers can approach animals and plants throughout the day, examine them, and conduct long-term observations of them. Children's specific knowledge about nature expands. While caring for the inhabitants of a corner of nature, labor skills, diligence, caring attitude towards living things, and responsibility for the assigned work are formed.
Zoo corners in preschool institutions arranged, first of all, with the aim of developing children's understanding of the diversity of the animal world. Direct communication with nature gives the child more vivid ideas about the world than looking at illustrations, reading books or telling stories from elders. Of course, these forms of acquaintance with the animal world should not be completely excluded. On the contrary, they will only complement and expand children’s ideas about the animal world, obtained from direct communication with animals. Children will undoubtedly enjoy interacting with animals. In addition, when performing simple work in a zoo corner, children will acquire useful basic animal care skills and will feel responsible for their pets. To set up a zoo corner, it is best to select a bright room with windows facing south or southeast. In this room you can not only accommodate the inhabitants of a living corner, but also conduct classes with children. Objects are placed in such a way that children can freely approach them and observe the animals. There must be a certain number of objects in the zoo corner. This will provide deeper cognition without distraction. When creating a zoo corner, it is very important to correctly select its future inhabitants. In this case, it is necessary to take into account some requirements for the inhabitants of the living area.
1. All animals must have bright colors in order to hold the unstable attention of children and interest them.
2. It is necessary that the living area contains several specimens of the same animal species, which will allow you to see not only the similarities between them, but also individual differences. Such observations will help children develop holistic ideas about the diversity of the animal world.
3. It is important to remember that all animals must be safe for children.
4. Animals should not require a zoo corner for their maintenance. complex equipment, caring for them should be relatively simple, consistent with the children’s strengths and the amount of free time they have.
5. When placing the inhabitants of a zoo corner, it is necessary to take them into account biological features. So, a terrarium with a turtle should be placed on sunny place, and the aquarium with amphibians - in a cool and shaded place.
The permanent inhabitants of the living corner are aquarium fish(viviparous species - swordtails, guppies, platypecilia; catfish, labeo, zebrafish, barbs, goldfish). Watching them is interesting, and care work is easy for children and is accessible to them (it consists of feeding and cleaning the aquarium). You can keep amphibians and reptiles in a living area. In addition to the permanent inhabitants of the zoo corner (clawed frogs, axolotls, turtles), you can bring local species of animals (green and gray toads, frogs, lizards) for demonstration to children.
Caring for birds will be of great interest to children. Typical representatives of the feathered inhabitants of the living area are canaries and budgies. These birds breed in captivity, and the development of chicks and the birds’ care for their offspring is valuable material for children to observe.
Mammals are valuable wildlife subjects due to their complex behavior. By watching them, children learn to recognize and distinguish them by external signs. In the zoo corner you can place rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats.
It is best to keep songbirds in a zoo corner for the younger group. They are brightly colored and easily adapt to captivity. Mammals require a lot of attention, so they are kept in the zoo corner of the senior group of the kindergarten, and cages with hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs are brought to junior groups for temporary observation. In zoo aquariums for older children, it is better to keep viviparous and egg-laying fish. Caring for amphibians and reptiles is easy. They can be kept in zoo corners of all age groups. However, most likely these animals will arouse interest among children of older groups, since they do not have bright colors that could attract the attention of children of younger groups.
The youngest children gain knowledge about animals through observation. Brightly colored tropical fish, guinea pigs with an interesting appearance and complex behavior, turtles, and hamsters are well suited for this. Children need to be introduced to animals: say their name, give their children the opportunity to look at them appearance, watch their movements, talk about the nutrition of animals, and perhaps give them food. At this age, when the child is especially willing to make contact, he can be asked to imitate the sounds of an animal, repeat the movements of animals that do not make sounds.
After such classes, children will remember information about the animal well and will perceive it better.
In addition, it is important to interest the child. Classes must take place in game form. The child must learn to recognize coat color, eye color, body shape, and its relief. At the same time, you can teach children figurative comparison, for example, to say that an animal’s fur is soft as feathers. Children will be very interested in solving riddles about animals, which will then be shown to them. Children can give nicknames to animals.
Then children need to be taught to establish cause-and-effect relationships. Why does a turtle have a shell? Why does a parrot have wings? Why does a rabbit jump and a guinea pig run? Children can be told about wild and domestic animals (demonstrate a rabbit, canary, hamsters). At this stage, children can for the first time be given the opportunity to care for animals under the guidance of a teacher. These can be simple actions: putting food in the feeder, pouring water into the drinking bowl. At this stage, children are already beginning to come up with stories and poems themselves, and draw pictures.
Children in the older group can be given concepts about the diversity of animals, their uniqueness and the need to protect them, demonstrate viviparous fish, give knowledge about the reproduction of animals, and their raising of offspring. Care becomes more complex, new skills are added - replacing bedding, independent feeding, changing water in the drinking bowl, bathing animals, caring for offspring. At the same time, children are shown films about animals and filmstrips.
Work of preschoolers in a corner of nature
As for plants and familiarization with them, in senior group children get acquainted with new indoor plants, remember their names, and identify the difference between their structure and already known plants.
Much work is being done to form and consolidate children’s ideas about the needs of plants in certain environmental conditions (water, good soil, light, heat). Formation of these ideas, consolidation of them in conditions everyday life This is best done through simple experiments.
Experience with water. Plants are selected that quickly respond to changes in soil moisture (coleus, impatiens, etc.). Observation is carried out on Monday morning after a two-day break in watering the plants. One of the plants is watered an hour before observation (without attracting the attention of children). By the time of observation, the watered plant should already be in in good condition, the other turns out to be withered, with drooping leaves.
Children, together with the teacher, examine both plants, compare, and identify the difference in their condition. Then, examining the soil, they discover that one is watered, while another lacks water. Water the plant abundantly and leave it until the evening. In the evening or in the morning next day A repeated observation is carried out in which, comparing both plants, the children discover that their condition is equally good. After this, a conclusion is made about the plants’ need for water and the timely satisfaction of this need (watering).
Soil experience. The teacher and the children plant oats in two cups, one with soil and the other with sand. “Let’s see,” says the teacher, “in which of the cups the oats will grow better, and we’ll try to take good care of one and the other planting.” Children watch the germination of oats twice a week and water both crops.
The first observation should be made when noticeable shoots appear in both cups. During observation, children can be asked the following questions: What kind of soil were the oats planted in and what did they want to find out? Did we care for the oats in the same way? Do the oats sprouted equally well? The next observation is carried out during the lesson, when a clear difference in the condition of the oats in different cups is discovered.
In the future, work is carried out on feeding and replanting plants and monitoring them.
Experience with light. Before observation, it is necessary to germinate 3 bulbs: two in the dark, one in the light. After a few days, when the difference is obvious, the teacher invites the children to examine the bulbs and determine how they differ from each other in color and leaf shape: yellow and curved leaves on those bulbs that sprouted in the dark (in the basement). To confirm this, one bulb from those that grew in the dark is exposed to the light, the other is left in the same conditions.
The second observation is carried out when the bulb with yellow leaves straightens and turns green. Then the third onion is exposed to the light. When the condition of the third bulb changes, a lesson is held where the results of the experiment are discussed. The teacher helps children generalize ideas about the importance of favorable conditions (light) for plant growth.
There are also systematic observations for the state indoor plants. Children are taught the ability to identify plants that are hungry for light (by elongated stems and pale leaves, and how to care for them: move them to a well-lit place, wash them.
Experiment with branches (identifying the heat needs of plants). IN winter time They bring in poplar branches, placing them in two vases with water. One vase is left on the windowsill, the second is placed between the frames. Then watch the branches bloom.
The first observation is carried out when leaves appear on the branches standing on the windowsill. Compare the branches in both vases, note the difference in condition, explain the reason, which lies in different thermal conditions.
In the future, children are taught to pay attention to the temperature of the water with which the plants are watered, and to the need to prepare it in advance so that it warms up.
Placing objects in a corner of nature
In kindergartens, a nature corner is organized separately for each group. Its objects are placed in the bright part of the room (on low tables and window sills) like this; so that they are well lit, but do not block the light from the window. The window for a corner of wildlife should face southwest, south or southeast.
It is not recommended to place plants close to vents and stoves, as sudden temperature fluctuations are harmful to them. When placing plants, it is necessary to take into account their relationship to light, heat and moisture. Yes, the inhabitants tropical forests and swamps, for example tradescantia, aspidistra, ivy, do not tolerate strong solar heat. It is better to place them near windows north side or in the spaces between the windows. Subtropical and desert plants grow best in the sunny side.
All plants that stand on the window require wooden stands. For uniform development, plants are turned from time to time so that the light falls on different sides their.
Aquariums are placed in front of windows, avoiding, however, bright lighting in the summer. Terrariums are placed in a bright and warm place. Birds are kept away from windows: they cannot stand drafts.
Seasonal changes in a corner of nature. Due to the change of seasons, the composition of the inhabitants of a corner of nature also changes.
In autumn, plants transplanted from the flower garden into pots are transferred to the corner. Animals that hibernate in winter (frogs, lizards, turtles, on the contrary, are taken to a cool, unheated room.
In winter, boxes with crops and plantings made by children are brought into the corner (onions for feathers, oats, lettuce, carrots and beets for greens). From the cold room, pots with wild forest and meadow plants planted in them in the summer are moved here. Towards the end of winter, vessels with cut branches of trees and bushes are placed in a corner of nature.
In spring, boxes with seedlings and rooted cuttings are placed in a corner and terrariums are brought in.
In summer, a corner of nature is placed on the veranda or in a gazebo and replenished with those plants and animals that children bring from excursions and walks.
Nature corner in kindergarten - important condition organizing meaningful activities for children aimed at solving the problems of familiarizing children with nature.
Nature corner in kindergarten: what is its importance?
The educational value of a corner of nature cannot be overestimated. Having it in the group room allows you to form realistic ideas about representatives of the plant and animal world by ensuring direct contact between children and them. It is in the process of observing the development of animals and the growth of plants that opportunities are created for the formation of systemic knowledge in preschoolers: plants can exist only in the presence of appropriate conditions - light, heat, moisture, nutritious soil.
Observation and activity related to caring for the inhabitants of a corner of nature stimulates thought, contributes to the establishment of connections that children can understand, and all this requires appropriate language design. Objects from the corner of nature allow the teacher to develop sensory organs in children, using for this a variety of colors, shapes, sounds, and smells of natural objects.
A special role belongs to the corner of nature in the development cognitive interests and observation skills of children, since the corner of nature serves as a small laboratory where simple experiments are carried out and long-term observations of the development of plants and animals are carried out.
Using the objects of a corner of nature, the teacher has the opportunity to implement environmental education- to form knowledge about dependence in nature, value orientations. Capturing children interesting world nature, the teacher makes them want to communicate with it, forms a humane, caring attitude towards living things.
The presence of a corner of nature is an indispensable condition for the formation of the first labor skills related to caring for plants and animals, as well as a sense of responsibility for the assigned work.
A well-equipped corner of nature is a decoration for the group room. Watching flowers bloom in a corner of nature, beautiful underwater world aquarium, etc. allow you to enrich children with aesthetic impressions and display beauty in drawings.
The nature corners of kindergartens contain plants and animals. Certain requirements must be met for their selection. Some educators and parents often ask the question: “Wouldn’t it be better if I just buy a corner of nature for the kindergarten?” Indeed, a corner of nature can be bought ready-made, which will significantly save time.
Requirements for objects from a corner of nature in kindergarten:
- Objects of the corner of nature must correspond to the objectives of the program and contribute to their implementation.
- Plants and animals must be safe for children. For example, due to their poisonous properties, nightshade, oleander, and prickly cacti cannot be kept in a kindergarten.
- Objects in a corner of nature should not require complex care.
- Among the objects of the natural corner there should be no plants or animals that are subject to protection or whose numbers are insignificant.
- Objects of a corner of nature must change, along with permanent residents there must be temporary ones. This will ensure a constant flow new information- an important condition for the development of children’s cognitive interests.
- Placement and equipment of a corner of nature. The corner of nature should be located in the bright part of the room, which provides favorable conditions for most of its residents. Standard and non-standard equipment is used to accommodate it.
What is needed to equip a living corner?
Standard equipment is sectional furniture from cabinet tables in which items for caring for objects in a corner of nature are stored.
Non-standard equipment includes stumps, original tree trunks, decorative trellises on which indoor plants, cages and the like are placed. Natural finds chosen with taste add exoticism and individuality to the corners of nature. Often such non-standard equipment complements the standard one.
To decorate a corner of nature, decorative plates with natural ornaments are used, vases are placed with dry bouquets, and in the summer - with compositions of fresh flowers.
When placing objects in a corner of nature, the following basic requirements should be taken into account:
- The placement of indoor plants and animals should be subordinated to their needs for light, warmth, etc. For example, birds should be provided with a good bright place, because they need a lot of food, which they consume only with sufficient lighting; at the same time, under no circumstances should a hamster be left in a lit place, especially in the sun, because this leads to the death of these nocturnal animals.
- Monitor the safety of children while caring for the living area.
- Take care of the aesthetic appearance of a corner of nature.
- Indoor plants are permanent residents of a corner of nature. In addition, they are widely used in kindergartens to create winter gardens, design lobbies, staircases, etc.
Are plants needed in a living corner of a kindergarten?
The presence of indoor plants in a corner of nature allows you to show children the variety of plants, their structure, methods of reproduction, introduce them to the needs of plants, and teach them how to simple techniques care, form an idea of their beauty, and cultivate a caring attitude. Indoor plants emit phytoncides (this is especially true for cyperus and pelargonium) and thereby create more favorable indoor conditions.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
How to place plants in a living corner?
Furniture in a corner of nature is placed near windows or in the spaces between them, but not next to heating systems. When placing indoor plants, take into account their light requirements. Light-loving plants are placed closer to the light source. Pelargonium, coleus, kala, etc. especially need this. Plants that do not like light are placed in less lit places.
In order for the crown of indoor plants to develop evenly, their position relative to the light source should be changed from time to time, that is, the pot should be periodically rotated around its axis.
When placing indoor plants, you should also take care of the decorative effect. Coleus will look good among the delicate greenery of asparagus.
Plants must be grown at a uniform air temperature (fluctuations within 3-6 ° C are not harmful). Drafts have a negative effect on plants, so they should be located where there are no drafts.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
Watering plants
This is one of the most important types of care. It is because of improper watering that plants in kindergartens suffer the most.
Almost all indoor plants are watered more moderately in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. It is necessary to water with water at room temperature, standing for 24 hours. The spout of the funnel should be kept closer to the surface of the soil so that the stream of water does not dislodge the soil. Note that the plant needs to be watered if it dries out. top layer soil. Water should be poured so much that not only the top, but also the bottom layer of soil is saturated with moisture, and small quantity it went onto the pallet. When watering, you should not splash water on the leaves, as this causes brown spots to appear and spoils the appearance of the plant. Plants with pubescent leaves in spring and summer must be sprayed with water once a week.
Transplanting plants in a corner of nature
Most indoor plants require replanting no more than 1-2 times a year. As a rule, this is done in the spring, from March to May. Before replanting, the plant should be watered, turn the pot upside down and, supporting the soil with the plant with your left hand, remove the pot with your right. If the pot cannot be removed immediately, you should knock it on the edge of the table. The lump of earth with the plant needs to be shaken off a little old land and remove the top and bottom layers (about 2-3 cm). Using a pointed stick, clean the soil between the roots (carefully, without damaging the roots), cut off rotten or broken roots with a knife, after which the plant can be replanted.
To replant, you need to take a clean pot, slightly larger than the previous one. A shard is placed at the bottom of the new pot, a layer (2-3 cm) of river sand is poured on top, then a layer of moistened soil mixture, and only after that the plant is placed in the pot so that the stem is in the center of the pot and the root collar is not tilted. Low or high planting affects the normal growth and development of the plant. Correctly placed plants are carefully covered on each side with soil, which is compacted. Be sure to leave 1.5-2 cm to the edge of the pot for watering. After transplanting, you must immediately water the plant and place it in a shaded place for 6-7 days, and then in a place where it will permanently stand. As a rule, during transplantation, plants are planted, which reproduce by dividing the bush and bulbs.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
Transshipment of plants in a living corner
Often, instead of replanting, kindergartens use transshipment, during which the plants are not damaged at all. For transshipment, select a pot whose diameter is 1-2 cm larger than the previous one. Carefully remove the plant, put drainage in the pot, transfer the plant into it and cover the edges with nutritious soil.
Fertilizing plants
Transplanted plants can be fertilized no earlier than 4-6 months after transplantation. Fertilizing is used only in spring and summer, no more than once a week or once every 10-15 days. Subject to availability organic fertilizers(bird droppings) it is infused for a week, after which it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1/20. Mineral fertilizers (flower mixture) are used in accordance with the instructions that come with them. It should be remembered that excessive amounts of fertilizer can harm plants. The plants must be watered before fertilizing. clean water.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
Trimming plants in a living corner of a kindergarten
Before intensive growth begins in the spring, plants should be pruned, especially those whose stems are stretched and bare (pelargoniums, coleus, etc.). In addition, twisted, diseased branches, as well as those that grow inside the crown, should be cut off from the crown. When pruning, make sure that the cut is just above the bud.
Disease and pest control
Provided that the plants' needs for light, moisture, appropriate temperature, and nutritious soil are met, they exhibit good signs growth, bloom well. The appearance of yellow and curled leaves, brown spots is a signal of insufficient nutrition, moisture, and the presence of pests. In this case, you need to pay more attention to the plant, fertilize it, replant it, and make sure that the soil does not dry out.
As soon as you manage to find out that the plant is infected with pests, you need to separate it from healthy ones, and then take measures to destroy the pests.
In plants affected by aphids, the tops of the shoots are bent, and young leaves curl. To destroy pests, you need to take 0.5 liters of water, dissolve a small piece of soap in it and add 50 drops of kerosene. A day after this treatment, the plants are washed with clean water. The treatment is repeated several times after 7-10 days.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
Reproduction of fish in a living corner of a kindergarten
IN good conditions fish can reproduce. In viviparous fish, the abdomen becomes full, and there is an expressively noticeable dark spot near the anal fin. For spawning, the female should be transplanted into a separate aquarium without soil, but with a bunch of hornwort, where the born fry will hide. Since most fish eat their own and other people’s fry, after spawning the female is returned to the aquarium, and the fry are fed with daphnia, cyclops, and crushed dry food.
In other fish, after spawning, the parents are not allowed out of the aquarium. The female, of course, takes care of the laid eggs, turns them with her fins and swallows the white dead eggs. The male jealously guards the area. Adult fish are removed only when the fry are stronger and can swim independently.
All equipment for maintaining a corner of nature can be purchased in our store.
IN preschool age The child develops not only the foundation of his personality, but also many values, including his attitude towards nature. What it will be like depends on the teachers and parents. In order for a child to understand his inseparability from nature, it is important to surround him with it, for example, to create a living corner.
Instructions
A living corner is a must in preschool institutions. With its help, children can learn to perceive the beauty of nature, its naturalness. Also here you can gain basic skills in caring for plants and animals, learn compassion and mercy towards our smaller brothers, and respect for nature. Formation ecological culture a child is born at this age, so a corner of nature should contain not only living exhibits, but also educational literature with bright, entertaining pictures, a place where children can make their own natural observations, record temperature, cloudiness, precipitation, so that they the concept of seasons and the cyclicity of natural phenomena appeared.
Flora
The basis of a living corner is plants. There should be quite a lot of them, in addition, they should be varied so that children understand the diversity of nature. But these plants should not be very capricious, requiring any special conditions keeping or watering with synthetic fertilizers, which can be dangerous for children. If the kindergarten group is large, you can arrange a competition by giving each child a pot of soil and a sprout, teaching them how to care for it. Children will understand what responsibility is, because poor care will very quickly show its results in the form of yellowed leaves. In addition to plants, there should be literature and other manuals on them. If the kindergarten is equipped with a projector, then you can show the children a film about wildlife.
Fauna
A small animal can also live in a corner of nature in a kindergarten. It is best, if conditions allow, to place there a small rodent - a hamster or a guinea pig, a small aquarium with fish and a bird - a parrot or a canary. In this way, children will see that there are various representatives of the animal world - waterfowl, birds, animals. Each of them eats differently and has their own daily routine. A schedule should be created so that children take turns caring for animals and learn to care for those who are smaller and weaker. Of course, no one forbids caring for them outside of the schedule.
