At all times, the development of attention in preschool children has been very important for subsequent successful learning. In modern society, where a child is surrounded by numerous electronic devices from infancy, instilling in him the ability to concentrate on performing a specific task is becoming increasingly difficult. Exercises and games to develop attention in preschoolers are becoming increasingly important.

Voluntary and involuntary

What is attention? This is the ability to concentrate, to control our psyche. Psychologists distinguish the following types of it:

• sensory-perceptual, realized through the senses (visual, olfactory, gustatory, auditory);
• intellectual, characterized by the ability to think;
• motor;
• individual or collective.

According to the degree of a person’s ability to control his body, science defines 3 types:

1. Involuntary - inherent in every individual and is a genetic reaction to an irritating factor, for example, a loud sound, a flash of light.
2. Voluntary - has the character of a conscious manifestation, depending on the desire of the individual and requiring conscious actions.
3. Post-voluntary - based on voluntary attention and is defined as the result of concentration on a certain action or object due to the emergence of conscious interest in it.

There is also a distinction between external attention, which is associated with a person’s study of the environment, and internal attention, which is inextricably linked with the process of human self-knowledge.

The difference between the attention of a child and an adult

Features of the development of attention in preschool age are inextricably linked with the developing psyche. On the one hand, the baby is actively studying the world around him, on the other hand, he is not very willing to agree to dwell on something specific for a long time.
He selectively reacts to events that arouse interest. A growing organism adheres to an orienting reflex.
Involuntary attention predominates in the behavior of a preschool child. The baby easily switches from one action or object to another. He is driven by the main motive “I want.”

The formation of a child’s conscious attention occurs gradually. You should not assume that teaching him to concentrate on a certain task is only a matter for kindergarten or school.

The manifestation of voluntary attention is always associated with the struggle between “want” and “need”. In order for the “should” to become conscious and not imposed, it is important to help the child, in a playful way, learn to consciously concentrate when communicating with parents during entertaining games, reading, and walks. Further, by being involved in collective activities, the child strengthens the skill of concentration.

Is diagnostics required?

As the child gets older, he gradually learns to maintain attention on an increasing number of objects. Games for preschoolers gradually develop perseverance and concentration. But parents and teachers are not always able to promptly identify problems associated with the formation of attentiveness. Often, adults attribute reluctance to engage in or lack of interest in games not related to active movement to character traits.
Diagnosing the development of attention in preschoolers will help identify the problem. To carry it out, a card file of games and training are widely used, allowing you to check such parameters as:

• observation;
• development of auditory attention;
• the ability to switch from one activity to another.

Each task is completed for a time. At an early age, attention is diagnosed using cards, cubes or toys. For example, tasks could be:

• choose cards that show pets;
• collect in a basket what grows in the garden;
• look at the picture, close your eyes, answer what color the car was;
• Color all round objects blue and all triangular objects green.

Development through observation

Features of the attention of preschool children are associated with the specifics of the stimulus and the duration of its impact. At the age of 4 years, the baby is easily and for a long time distracted by playful moments accompanied by loud sounds. Getting his attention back is always difficult.
At 6-7 years old, such distractions no longer arouse such long-term interest.
Features of the development of attention in preschool children must be used wisely. All kids are inquisitive. Daily observation of the life of pets - a rodent, fish, turtle, kitten - develops sustained attention to a specific subject. It’s interesting to find out how the hamster will eat or what toy the puppy will choose.
When inviting guests to the house, the child must understand that he must first help his mother set the table and only after that join in the games with the children.
By gradually getting involved in feasible work activities, completing tasks and enjoying the result (a beautifully molded pie, neatly arranged shoes, felt-tip pens placed in a pencil case), the child develops voluntary attention.
Process research teaches you to draw conclusions by consolidating the results obtained.

Attention is the key to successful studies

The development of attention in older preschoolers should occur in a timely manner. Otherwise, at school it will be very difficult for the child to fit into the daily routine, which requires increased concentration of attention for a long time.
The development of attention in preschool age is laying the foundation for the child’s entire school future. If at the age of 4-5 years he is able to perform certain actions under the guidance of an adult, then by 6-7 years he should be able to independently consciously concentrate his attention on performing certain actions. The older preschooler, who is ready to network at his desk, has clearly expressed self-organization skills. He must be able to follow self-instructions.
It should be remembered that this result is impossible without all the support and help of adults.
The development of attention in children of senior preschool age is inextricably linked with the ability to perform household duties, first under the guidance of parents, and then voluntarily, understanding their necessity and their responsibility. To do this, mom and dad should try to turn any household work involving the baby into an interesting activity.

How to help a preschooler?

Preparing for school is the home stretch from a carefree childhood to a life with a range of everyday obligations and responsibilities. Their school well-being depends on how correctly voluntary attention develops in children of senior preschool age.
Therefore, in the preparatory groups of kindergartens, concentration exercises are required in the classroom. They help the child:

• activate the psychological and physiological processes necessary in the learning process;
• independently analyze and select the necessary information;
• learn to selectively and regularly focus on the same type of activity.

Diagnosis of the attention of preschoolers is simply necessary if they did not attend kindergarten. Preparing for school is too important a period in which the gameplay no longer prevails. It is extremely important for preschoolers to be able to understand what is required of them and complete tasks. The ability to understand the connections between words and actions is a manifestation of attention.
When identifying problems in the formation of the attention of preschoolers, it is necessary to correct the situation in a timely manner, starting with an examination.

The ability to concentrate is the basis of success

No matter how it sounds, the formation of attentiveness in childhood is the basis of future personal life. The ability to hear people around you and the lack of fear of responsibility for your actions determine a person’s ability to create long-term, strong relationships.
What kind of training his psyche was subjected to in childhood, how many developmental activities there were in preschool and school age - all this involuntarily leaves an imprint on adult life.
The ability to concentrate on the task at hand is the most important characteristic that determines business qualities. This is why exercises for developing attention in preschoolers are so important, especially in older children on the threshold of school. At this age, a child should be able to combine actions with several objects. For example, listen to a fairy tale and put away the toys, or get dressed and recite a rhyme.

Despite the fact that the development of attention in preschool children is... Prepare two boxes with an identical set of different buttons or...

How often do parents of first-graders complain that their child “counts crows” in class, gets distracted while doing homework, and can’t sit still for even a minute. And it’s not his fault at all! It was they, the parents, who needed to think about developing their child’s attention before school.

The great Russian teacher K.D. Ushinsky, pointing out the importance of instilling attention in children, compared it to a door into a child’s consciousness, which should always be open. This ability to focus on the desired object does not appear in the child on his own.

Concept of attention

Attention is a mental process during which selective selection of information entering through the senses occurs.

It has a number of properties.

1. Volume - characterized by the amount of information that a child can perceive. Place 10 objects or pictures in front of your baby and hide them under a piece of fabric. Then open them for 3 seconds and cover them again. Ask your little one to name them.
2. Concentration - shows how strongly the baby can concentrate on an object. Preschoolers need to develop it, because it is still very small. Try learning a rhyme or song with the TV on.
3. Resilience is the ability to maintain concentration for a long time. The activity of six-year-olds lasts only 10–15 minutes, after which they need to change the type of activity.
4. Switchability is a meaningful transition from one object or activity to another. Shifting concentration occurs consciously and requires volitional effort.
5. Distribution – the ability to perform several tasks at the same time.

Violation of each of the properties can lead to deviations in the cognitive activity of children.

However, it happens that the child’s absent-mindedness and inattention are caused by other reasons:

• the presence of tiny adenoids in the nasopharynx, which interfere with nasal breathing, as a result of which there is a deficiency of oxygen in the brain;
• overloads resulting from non-compliance with the regime, weekends “oversaturated” with sections and classes;
• peculiarities of upbringing, when in the family the child is pampered with an abundance of entertainment, freed from responsibilities, and allowed to postpone classes.

Parents should not demand attentiveness from a tired or sick child.

Involuntary attention

The attention of preschool children is involuntary, or unintentional. Its main feature is that it appears only when the baby is interested in an activity or subject. Visually, emotionally, unexpectedly - this is how a lesson with a child should be structured.

Voluntary attention

Closer to older preschool age, voluntary attention begins to form. It does not depend on unintentional development and is formed due to the influence of adults.

Voluntary attention develops in children when they need to consciously focus on an object or activity. Although willpower and self-discipline play a role here, it also depends on the interests and feelings of the child.

Post-voluntary attention

Post-voluntary attention in preschool children occurs at a time when volitional effort turns into interest and enthusiasm.

It is usually the most effective and lasts the longest, because the child does not strain or get tired. For example, a child wants to watch a cartoon, and adults ask him to help set the table. At first, the baby does this with an effort of will, following the instructions of his parents, then he gets carried away and there is no need to concentrate his attention, from voluntary it becomes post-voluntary.

Where does the development of attention begin?

Despite the fact that the attention of preschool children is passive, the child’s growing experience and knowledge of the world around him allows him to perform many actions automatically. In this regard, the distribution of attention is improved, when the child can operate with several objects without volitional effort.

Thematic material:

Under the guidance of parents, the child learns to concentrate on the lesson, even when he is not interested. Speech is an excellent tool for this. Children of older preschool age often recite instructions out loud when completing a task.

When giving instructions to your child, make sure that they are logical and understandable to the child. Try to engage him by highlighting the attractive aspects of the subject.

Teach children from childhood to notice unusual features of objects and phenomena. Increasing curiosity and improvement of thought processes allow a preschool child to better concentrate on a subject of interest.

The attention of 4-5 year old children is controlled by an adult using speech or gestures (“Be more careful!”, “Look at the bird!”). In older preschool age, children control their attention with the help of their speech. In this way they plan their activities and set their ultimate goal. This gives impetus to the development of voluntary attention.

In order for the development of voluntary attention in children to be successful, parents need to take into account some of its features.

• The tasks must be systematically complicated; they should slightly exceed the knowledge and skills of the preschooler. If it is difficult for your child to complete it right away, create detailed step-by-step instructions. While considering the instructions, the baby will speak out loud the plan of actions to be performed.
• Repeat instructions several times as necessary. Only then will the baby remember the algorithm of actions in his head and monitor their implementation.
• Due to his age characteristics, the child is not able to control attention and often falls under the influence of various kinds of stimuli. Develop his ability to resist distractions.
• Encourage your child to complete the action with praise, approval, and admiration for the future result.
• Teach children to control themselves. Preschoolers love to compare their work with the work of other children. You can offer to test you in completing the task. Another incentive can be one of the features of child psychology - the desire to compete.
• Don't slow down your children with constant comments. Words like “Don’t be distracted!”, “Don’t touch!”, “Don’t look!” will not put you in a working mood.

Everything is learned in the game

It is difficult to overestimate the role of play in the development of preschool children. Being the main activity of children, it teaches, develops useful skills, and introduces new actions. It has been proven that the duration of play for a six-year-old reaches an hour or more, while three-year-olds can be occupied for no more than 20-25 minutes. These features should be taken into account when organizing classes and choosing exercises.

"Look at me"

During the game, the child carefully examines his mother and turns away. Then he should answer the questions: “What am I wearing?”, “Are I wearing glasses?”, “What color is the scarf?” Then you can switch roles.

"Sharp Eye"

At home or on a walk, ask your child to look around and name all the objects according to some characteristic (find round, blue objects). For younger babies, choose simple features - shape, color, size. For children of older preschool age, you can complicate the criteria: find everything wooden and smooth.

"Fold the button"

During this game, attention and memory develop in preschool children. Prepare two boxes with an identical set of different buttons or small items and two pieces of paper, lined into squares. One of the players places 3 buttons on the squares and after a while covers them. The second participant’s task is to repeat the location of the buttons on his playing field. Depending on age characteristics, you can make the game more difficult and add objects and cells.

"Little proofreader"

An excellent game for developing voluntary attention. Prepare any text in large font. The child’s task is to cross out all the letters “i” that appear in it, for example. It would be great if a parent joins in and, on a signal, works with the same text. After completing the task, you can check each other's texts. This way the educational effect of the game will be much higher.

When both the test and the task are easy for the little one, you can use a trick and make one or two mistakes. If it is difficult for your child to detect them, take your time with the hint. It is enough just to unobtrusively guide the baby with phrases like “I think I made a mistake,” “Maybe in this line,” etc., until the baby finds the mistake.

To complicate the game you can:

• look for several letters;
• mark them differently;
• play to see who is faster.

Give in and you will see how the taste of victory will make your preschooler strive to improve his skills.

Note: Pay attention to the specifics of searching for a child. His gaze should not randomly search for the necessary letters, but move from left to right. If necessary, explain and show how to proceed.

“I won’t go astray”

The game is useful for concentration and distribution of voluntary attention. The baby counts to 10 or recites a poem, and his parents try to distract him. Don't forget to prepare a prize for the winner.

"Three Tasks"

This game is aimed at developing the volume of voluntary attention in children of senior preschool age. Without moving, the child must listen carefully to three tasks. Then, upon a signal, quickly begin to perform them in the given order.

Simplified version:

• jump three times;
• name the pet;
• pick up a plastic object.

Advanced game:

• blink as many times as there are days in the week;
• write a name on paper starting with the letter “n”;
• stand next to the round blue object.

You can come up with more points if the characteristics of the child’s cognitive processes allow it.

"Don't miss a word"

The adult tells the baby a set of words, and when he hears those that denote inanimate objects, for example, he claps his hands or stands up.

Complicate the task by adding another word (for example, plants) and a new action to it for “recognition.”

Such games, in addition to developing voluntary attention, broaden the horizons of a preschooler. It would be great if a few more guys joined the game. The desire to win and a symbolic prize will make the game even more exciting.

Remember the good old children's games like “edible - inedible”, “yes - no, black - white”, in which these words are prohibited, or “Ear-nose”. In the latter, the baby, on command, shows parts of the body, and the leader confuses him, saying one word and pointing to another organ.

Also an excellent exercise for developing voluntary attention will be labyrinths that you need to go through with your eyes, and “Find the Differences” pictures. It is important that classes are not occasional, but systematic.

Try not to reproach your child for inattention, under no circumstances compare him with other children, just love the baby and work on his development. And then the results will not take long to arrive!

Anastasia Valik

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING VOLUNTARY ATTENTION OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Attention- this is the direction and concentration of a person’s cognitive activity on any objects, phenomena, connections of reality.

Attention is a cross-cutting mental process, since it never appears separately, but only together with any activity, as its side or characteristic. Attention has no special content, it is located within all processes.

Kinds attention.

Vary (Dobrynin) three types attention:

1- involuntary attention as an unintentionally occurring orienting reaction;

Involuntary attention(also found in animals) is not associated with the formation of a conscious goal, volitional effort or problem solving. Attracts attention everything is new, unusual, bright, unexpected. This type attention also manifests itself as a reaction to the disappearance of a stimulus, to the occurrence of movement and its cessation, to a change items by size, shape, color, all kinds of contrasts, changes in people’s behavior and appearance, changes in their own states. Involuntarily attracts attention a sudden stop in the operation of the device, an unexpected change in illumination, a number among letters, a woman in a male company, a student who came to class in a weekend suit.

2- voluntary attention associated with purposeful volitional efforts;

Main characteristic voluntary attention is its connection with consciously set goals, with the formulation and solution of problems, with volitional effort. If involuntary attention correlates with immediate interest, then arbitrary- with indirect ( “I am not directly interested in this work, but it is in my interests”). The process of achieving a goal (solutions to the problem) may be unattractive to the subject, but the target is attractive. Due to certain circumstances, it must be achieved, so it is necessary to show strong-willed efforts and mobilize activity.

A person is very tired at the end of the day, but still takes on the work that must be done today. The schoolboy begins to solve the problem, although he would much rather kick the ball with his friends. Voluntary attention accompanied by an awareness of the situational necessity of completing a task, an understanding of the meaning of the activity, a desire to achieve success, and a desire to avoid troubles that will occur if something is not done.

Voluntary attention, formed on the basis involuntary, is a specifically human species attention, derivative from work activity. It is the result of a person’s inclusion in the system of social relations, his introduction to culture, the result of education and, under certain conditions, self-education.

Since there is a mechanism for shifting the motive to the goal (see 5.2), interest in the result of an activity can make the actions themselves attractive. This also means that attention being first arbitrary, after some time it may become involuntary. In this regard, some experts identify a third type attention - post-voluntary. The reader at first, without desire, under the influence of external circumstances, took up reading the book (voluntary attention) . However, after a while I got involved, the book turned out to be interesting, and now no volitional efforts are needed. Isn't it Didn’t it happen to us during our school years that we forced ourselves to take on a homework problem, and then got carried away by it and solved it with pleasure, without any volitional effort? This form attention, according to N.F. Dobrynin, “cannot be reduced simply to involuntary attention, for it is the result of the goals we consciously set for ourselves. But it does not require continuous volitional efforts, and therefore does not tire us.”

3- post-voluntary attention when, as a result of a shift in motive toward a goal, the action is carried out without significant volitional efforts.

IN allocate voluntary attention:

volitional - manifests itself in conditions of interference, when there is a conflict between want and need;

expectant – manifests itself in all vigilance tasks;

actually voluntary - conscious attention, but proceeds quite easily, with a minimum of effort;

spontaneous – the highest form attention development, similar post-voluntary, this is when it is difficult for us to start something, but once we start there is no need to make any effort.

Peculiarities development of attention in children

preschool age

Educational activities preschooler requires good development of voluntary attention. The child must be able to concentrate on a task and maintain intense focus on it for a long time. (concentrated) attention, switch at a certain speed, flexibly moving from one task to another. However arbitrariness cognitive processes in children The age of 6–7 years occurs only at the peak of volitional effort, when the child specifically organizes himself under the pressure of circumstances or on his own impulse. In normal circumstances, it is still difficult for him to organize his mental activity in this way.

Age characteristics of preschoolers– comparative weakness voluntary attention. Much better they have developed involuntary attention. Everything new, unexpected, bright, interesting attracts in itself attention of preschoolers without any effort on their part.

In addition to the predominance involuntary attention to age Its peculiarity also includes its relatively low stability. Even children in the preparatory group do not yet know how to concentrate on work for a long time, especially if it is uninteresting and monotonous; their attention is easily distracted. As a result, children may not complete the task on time and lose the pace and rhythm of the activity. To be more specific, we can say that only by the third grade attention can be maintained continuously throughout the lesson.

So, weakness voluntary attention- one of the main reasons for difficulties preschooler. In this regard, it is important to consider how this type is formed attention and with the help of what techniques it can be developed and corrected. It has been proven that, unlike involuntary attention voluntary attention not a product of the maturation of the body, but the result of a child’s communication with adults and is formed in social contact. When a mother names an object and points it out to the child, thereby distinguishing it from the environment, there is a restructuring of attention. It ceases to respond only to the child’s natural indicative reactions, which are controlled either by novelty or by the strength of the stimulus, and begins to obey the speech or gesture of the adult interacting with it.

For example, a child who learns to draw something first moves his entire hand, eyes, head, part of the body and tongue. Training consists of strengthening only one part of the movements, coordinating them into groups and eliminating unnecessary movements. Voluntary attention and is aimed at inhibiting unnecessary movements.

In his development of voluntary attention goes through certain stages. When exploring the environment, the child first identifies only a series furnishings. Then he gives a holistic description of the situation and, finally, an interpretation of what happened. At the same time, at the beginning the development of voluntary attention ensures in children the implementation of only those goals that adults set for them, and then those that children set on their own.

The development of stability of voluntary attention is studied, defining the maximum amount of time children can spend focused on a single game. If the maximum duration of one game for a six-month-old child is only 14 minutes, then by the age of 6–7 years she increases to 1,5–3 hours. This is explained by the fact that the play of six-year-olds reflects more complex actions and relationships between people, and interest in it is maintained by the constant introduction of new situations.

Moreover, by the end preschool period(6–7 years) the child appears arbitrary forms of mental activity. He already knows how to examine objects, can conduct purposeful observation, appears voluntary attention. Also when looking at pictures, listening to stories and fairy tales. As the famous child psychologist V.S. Mukhina points out, the duration of viewing a picture increases towards the end preschool age approximately twice; a 6-year-old child understands a picture better than a younger child preschooler, highlights more interesting aspects and details in it. For just as long, a child can be focused on productive activities - drawing, designing, making crafts. However, such results of concentration attention achievable only if there is interest in this activity (what we talked about above). The child will languish, be distracted and feel completely unhappy if necessary. attentive to that activity, which he is indifferent to or does not like at all. Likewise concentration also develops. If at 3 years old a child is distracted from it on average 4 times in 10 minutes of play, then at 6 years old - only once. This is one of the key indicators of a child’s readiness for school.

Development of attention in older preschool age associated with the emergence of new interests, broadening one’s horizons, and mastering new types of activities. Senior preschooler is increasingly paying attention attention to those aspects of reality that previously remained outside of him attention.

Development of attention in childhood goes through a series of successive stages:

1) the first weeks and months of a child’s life are characterized by the appearance of an orientation reflex as an objective congenital sign involuntary attention, concentration is low;

2) by the end of the first year of life, tentative research activity appears as a means of the future development of voluntary attention;

3) the beginning of the second year of life is characterized by the appearance of rudiments voluntary attention: under the influence of an adult, the child directs his gaze to the named object;

4) in the second and third year of life develops original form voluntary attention. Distribution attention between two objects or actions for children in age up to three years practically unavailable;

5) at 4, 5-5 years old the ability to direct appears attention under the influence of complex instructions from an adult;

6) at 5-6 years old the elementary form appears voluntary attention under the influence of self-instruction. Attention most stable in vigorous activity, in games, manipulation of objects, when performing various actions;

7) at 7 years old At age, attention develops and improves, including volitional;

8) in senior During preschool age the following changes occur:

Volume expands attention;

- stability of attention increases;

Formed voluntary attention.

Voluntary attention closely related to speech. IN preschool age voluntary attention is formed in connection with the general increasing the role of speech in the regulation of child behavior. The better Speech development in a preschool child, the higher the level development perception and the earlier it is formed voluntary attention.

It is not enough for a child to understand that he should be attentive, you need to teach him this. Basic mechanisms voluntary attention is established in preschool childhood. Development of voluntary attention during the preschool period childhood involves the formation of three instructions:

1) adoption of gradually more complex instructions;

2) retention of instructions during attention throughout the lesson;

3) development self-control skills;

Voluntary attention characterized by purposefulness.

However, in the learning process it is impossible to make everything so interesting that no effort of will is required to master the knowledge. Voluntary attention differs from involuntary attention, which requires significant stress from the child. However, these willpower efforts may diminish or even disappear altogether. This is observed in cases where, during classes, interest in the work itself appears. Voluntary attention turns into post-voluntary attention. Availability post-voluntary attention indicates that the activity has captured the child and significant volitional efforts are no longer required to maintain it. This is a qualitatively new look attention. From involuntary it differs in that, which presupposes conscious assimilation.

TECHNIQUES AND METHODS FOR DEVELOPING VOLUNTARY ATTENTION

PSYCHOGYMNASTICS

In the mirror store

Target: development of observation skills, attention, memory. Creating a positive emotional background. Forming a sense of confidence, as well as the ability to submit to the demands of another person.

Description. Adult (and then baby) shows movements that all players must repeat exactly after him.

Instructions: “Now I’ll tell you a story about a monkey. Imagine that you are in a store where there are a lot of mirrors. A man came in with a monkey on his shoulder. She saw herself in the mirrors and thought they were other monkeys and began making faces at them. The monkeys responded by making exactly the same faces at her. She shook her fist at them, and they threatened her from the mirrors. She stamped her foot and all the monkeys stamped. Whatever the monkey did, everyone else exactly repeated its movements. Let's start playing. I will be the monkey, and you will be the mirrors.”

Note. At the stage of mastering the game, the role of the monkey is played by an adult. Then the children take on the role of a monkey. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that over time each child can fulfill this role. It is necessary to stop the game at the peak of interest children, avoiding satiety and transition to self-indulgence. Those who may be eliminated from the game "mirrors" who are often wrong (this increases motivation to play).

Look at your hands

Target: development of voluntary attention.

Required material: record (record player) March of R. Pauls "Red flowers".

Description. Children, moving in a circle, accurately perform various hand movements shown to adults or "commander".

Instructions: “Now we’ll play. For the game we need to choose a commander who will come up with movements for the hands. First, I will be the commander, and then the one we choose with the help of a counting rhyme. All players, standing one after another in a circle, should begin to move to the music. The commander will be the first - now it will be me. All are watching closely, what hand movements the commander shows, and repeat them exactly after him. Let's start playing."

Note. At the stage of mastering the game, an adult demonstrates hand movements (demonstration options hands: hands up, to the sides, on the belt, hands with clasped fingers extended forward, raised behind the head, etc.). Then the children demonstrate hand movements.

Exercise WHO IS FASTER?

1) Senior preschoolers It is proposed to cross out any frequently occurring letter in a column of any text, for example o or e, as quickly and accurately as possible. The success of the test is assessed by the time it takes to complete it and the number of missed errors made letters: the lower the value of these indicators, the higher the success. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage success and stimulate interest.

2) To practice switching and distribution attention

the task should be changed: it is proposed to cross out one letter with a vertical line and the other with a horizontal line, or, at a signal, alternate between crossing out one letter and crossing out another.

Over time, the task can become more difficult. For example, cross out one letter, underline another, and circle the third.

The goal of such training is to develop habitual, automatic actions, subordinated to a specific, clearly understood goal.

Exercise OBSERVATION.

Children are asked to describe in detail from memory the school yard, the path from home to school, something they have seen hundreds of times. Junior schoolchildren make such descriptions orally, and their classmates fill in the missing details. Teenagers can write down their descriptions and then compare them with each other and with reality. This game reveals connections attention and visual memory.

Exercise FINGERS

Participants sit comfortably in armchairs or on chairs, forming a circle. Interlace the fingers of your hands on your knees, leaving your thumbs free. On command, they began to slowly rotate their thumbs around one another at a constant speed and in one direction, making sure that they did not touch each other. Focus pay attention to this movement. At the Stop command, stop the exercise. Duration 5-15 minutes. Some participants experience unusual Feel: enlargement or alienation of the fingers, an apparent change in the direction of their movement. Some will feel very irritated or anxious. These difficulties are associated with the unusual nature of the object of concentration.

Exercise FLY.

This exercise requires a board with a 3x3 nine-square game board marked on it and a small suction cup. (or a piece of plasticine). The sucker here plays the role of a trained fly. The board is placed vertically, and the presenter explains to the participants that moving a fly from one cell to another is happening by giving her commands, which she obediently carries out. According to one of four possible commands (up, down, right or left) The fly moves according to the command to the adjacent cell. The starting position of the fly is the central cell of the playing field. Teams are given by the participants one by one. The players must, constantly monitoring the movements of the fly, prevent it from leaving the playing field.

After all these explanations, the game itself begins. It is held on an imaginary field, which each participant imagines in front of him. If someone loses the thread of the game or sees that the fly has left the field, he gives the command Stop and, returning the fly to the central square, starts the game over.

The fly requires constant concentration from the players, however, after the exercise is well mastered, it can be complicated. By increasing the number of game cells (eg up to 4x4) or the number of flies; in the latter case, commands are given to each fly separately.

Exercise on development switching abilities attention.

Various words are called to the child. He must, by agreement, respond to certain words. For example, when a word denoting an animal is encountered, as agreed, stand up. Then the task becomes more complicated; conditional signals are given simultaneously for two groups of words.

Exercise on development of concentration and stability

A form is given with letters printed in random order. While looking through the letters, the child should discover the lost words.

fpitzmkunzniakotelmartballv

trpmmummshcysorzschntspřo

kvialipshubaivakrttyamamaoipsazsh

otshmlorvburanstralgpalkani

odyrammetlakaiogubusshygm

Exercises for development of attention distribution

Distribution attention You can also train using the following table. You need to count how many signs are in the table. It should be considered in this way ok: One circle, one cross, one square, two crosses...

Exercise “What toy is missing?”

The child is offered a number items, each item is named and its characteristics are given. Then the child closes his eyes, and the adult must remove one of the items, the child’s task is to guess what is missing.

Drawing from stories.

The method is becoming increasingly widespread. The essence of it is that a short story is read to the child. (or excerpt from a story) with vivid artistic images, always with BRIGHT IMAGES, and not a simple narration of something. The child’s task is to use colored pencils to depict on paper the most vivid images for him. (people, animals, flowers, etc.).

Exercises can be different, the teacher can come up with them independently depending on the situation, For example:

Count, without helping with a pencil, how many butterflies and buckets there are

Find single color designs.

Count the groups items based on a common characteristic.

As we see, it is not enough to simply encourage a child to attentiveness It is necessary to think over a system of training exercises aimed at correcting and development certain qualities voluntary attention. These exercises should also be performed at home under the guidance of parents.

A child’s attention at the beginning of preschool age reflects his interest in surrounding objects and the actions performed with them. The child is focused until interest wanes. The appearance of a new object immediately causes a shift of attention to it. Therefore, children rarely do the same thing for a long time.

During preschool age, due to the complication of children's activities and their movement in general mental development, attention acquires greater concentration and stability. So, if younger preschoolers can play the same game for 30-40 minutes, then by the age of five or six years the duration of the game increases to two hours. This is explained by the fact that the play of six-year-olds reflects more complex actions and relationships between people, and interest in it is maintained by the constant introduction of new situations. Children's attention span also increases when looking at pictures, listening to stories and fairy tales.

Thus, the duration of looking at a picture approximately doubles by the end of preschool age; a six-year-old child is more aware of the picture than a younger preschooler and identifies more interesting details in it. [6,c 87]

Attention has certain properties: volume, stability, concentration, selectivity, distribution, switchability and arbitrariness. Violation of each of these properties leads to deviations in the child’s behavior and activities.

A small attention span is the inability to concentrate on several objects at the same time and keep them in mind.

Insufficient concentration and stability of attention - it is difficult for a child to maintain attention for a long time without being distracted or weakening it.

Insufficient selectivity of attention - the child cannot concentrate on exactly that part of the material that is necessary to solve the task.

Poorly developed switching of attention - it is difficult for a child to switch from performing one type of activity to another. For example, if you first checked how your child did his math homework, and then, at the same time, decided to take an exam in Russian, then he will not be able to answer you well. The child will make many mistakes, although he knows the correct answers. It’s just hard for him to quickly switch from one type of task (mathematics) to another (in the Russian language).

Poorly developed ability to distribute attention - the inability to effectively (without errors) perform several tasks simultaneously.

Insufficient voluntary attention - the child finds it difficult to concentrate attention on demand.

Such deficiencies cannot be eliminated by fragmentary “attention exercises” included in the process of working with a child and, as research shows, require specially organized work to overcome them. Not a single mental process can proceed purposefully and productively if a person does not focus his attention on what he perceives or does. We can look at an object and not notice it or see it very poorly. Busy with his thoughts, a person does not hear conversations taking place next to him, although the sounds of voices reach his hearing aid. We may not feel pain if our attention is directed elsewhere. On the contrary, when deeply concentrating on an object or activity, a person notices all the details of this object and acts very productively. And by fixing our attention on sensations, we increase our sensitivity. A characteristic feature of the attention of a child of early preschool age is that it is caused by externally attractive objects, events and people and remains focused as long as the child retains a direct interest in the perceived objects. Attention at this age, as a rule, rarely arises under the influence of an internally set task or reflection, i.e. is actually not arbitrary.

The beginnings of voluntary attention usually begin to appear towards the end of the first – beginning of the second year of life. It can be assumed that the emergence and formation of voluntary attention is associated with the process of raising a child. The people around the child gradually teach him to do not what he wants, but what he needs to do. According to N.F. Dobrynin, as a result of upbringing, children are forced to pay attention to the action required of them, and gradually, consciousness begins to manifest in them, still in a primitive form.

Play is of great importance for the development of voluntary attention. During the game, the child learns to coordinate his movements in accordance with the objectives of the game and direct his actions in accordance with its rules. In parallel with voluntary attention, involuntary attention also develops on the basis of sensory experience. Acquaintance with more and more objects and phenomena, the gradual formation of the ability to understand the simplest relationships, constant conversations with parents, walks with them, games in which children imitate adults, manipulation of toys and other objects - all this enriches the child’s experience, and together thereby developing his interests and attention.

It can be assumed that internally regulated perception and active speech proficiency are associated with the beginning of the formation of voluntary attention. Usually in ontogenesis, the formation of voluntary attention in its elementary forms precedes the appearance of the phenomenon of egocentric speech. At the first stages of the transition from externally determined to internally determined attention, i.e. transition from involuntary to voluntary attention, the means that control the child’s attention are important. An early preschooler is able to voluntarily control his attention if there are signals in his field of vision that indicate to him what needs to be kept in his field of attention. Reasoning out loud helps a child develop voluntary attention. If a preschooler of 4–5 years of age is asked to constantly speak or name out loud what he must keep in the sphere of his attention, then the child will be quite able to voluntarily and for a sufficiently long time maintain his attention on certain objects or their details.

In children 5-7 years old, there are 3 main types of attention: involuntary (occurs without any effort of will, as if by itself); arbitrary (requires volitional efforts from the child, he has to do not what he wants, but what is necessary, what needs to be done); post-voluntary (develops as a result of thoughtful work, when the child develops interest, enthusiasm, inspiration, and volitional tension is relieved). One of the important properties is the volume of attention - this is the number of objects consciously held in consciousness in a short period of time. How many objects a child can consciously hold in his consciousness in a short period of time is judged by the volume of his attention. Sustainability of attention is the ability to maintain concentration in an activity for a long time, the ability to be distracted from everything extraneous. The opposite of resilience is distractibility.

Distribution of attention is the ability to perform several types of activities at the same time. Switching is a conscious transition from one object to another. The speed of switching depends on the individual characteristics of each child.

So: concentration, stability, switching are the positive properties of attention.

Inattention, absent-mindedness, distractibility are negative properties of attention.

The positive properties of attention are reflected in such features as calmness, concentration, stability of gaze, stable position of the head and parts of the face, stability of posture, organization of gestures, firmness and confidence of speech.

Negative properties of attention are combined with frequent distraction from the main task, fussiness, imbalance, disordered verbosity, darting eyes, a changing smile, surprise, uncertainty, and anxiety.

From younger to older preschool age, children's attention progresses simultaneously along many different characteristics. Younger preschoolers usually look at pictures that are attractive to them for no more than 6–8 s, while older preschoolers are able to focus on the same image two to two and a half times longer, from 12 to 20 s. The same applies to the time spent doing the same activity for children of different ages. In preschool childhood, significant individual differences are already observed in the degree of stability of attention in different children, which probably depends on the type of their nervous activity, physical condition and living conditions. Nervous and sick children are more often distracted than calm and healthy children, and the difference in the stability of their attention can reach one and a half to two times.

Development of attention in children of senior preschool age

Observing children in any activity, you can notice how the direction of the eyes, facial expression, and the child’s inclusion in cognitive activity change. Any activity is successful if it is accompanied by attention.

Attention is the most important mental process, closely related to general directed activity, intentions, and motivation. Attention is the direction and concentration of consciousness on a specific object. Attention is significantly different from all mental processes. Its originality lies in the fact that it is not an independent type of mental activity, but an organization of other mental processes, in which certain perceptions, ideas, thoughts or feelings are recognized more clearly than others that fade into the background.

Every year life makes increasingly higher demands, not only for us, adults, but also for our students. The amount of knowledge that needs to be transferred to them is steadily growing. We want the assimilation of this knowledge not to be mechanical, but meaningful. The moment comes when the problem of preparing children for school begins to worry us adults: specialists, educators, parents.

What needs to be done to help children cope with the complex tasks that await them at school, so that the quality of academic performance of my graduates becomes higher? The study of literature, extensive pedagogical experience and practice suggested that it is necessary to take care of the timely and complete development of higher mental functions in children: attention, memory, perception, thinking, imagination. We must teach the future schoolchild to remember well and quickly, to think, and then the child himself can feel what attention is, figure out whether he is attentive or not, and understand how necessary it is in some cases to control attention. You need to constantly think about your knowledge and skills and, using pedagogical technologies, achieve your goals in raising and teaching children. We should not rely on our own talent or inspiration.

Voluntary attention is formed gradually. Its development depends on many factors: on the state of health, on compliance with the daily routine, on the child’s demands on the part of an adult, on the level of development of the child’s interests, on his mental activity, on individual characteristics. Nervous and sick children are more likely to be distracted than calm and healthy children.

The emergence of voluntary attention towards the end of the preschool period is an important mental development. The child cannot yet bring himself to be attentive, so he needs the help of an adult.

Before starting work on the development of attention, based on a person-oriented approach, it is necessary to take into account the temperament of each child, taking into account the characteristics of temperament and its influence on the properties of attention. The correct understanding and fulfillment of tasks by children and the nature of the relationship between me and the children depend on this.

Children with the phlegmatic type maintain stable, focused attention until the completion of any activity; they have difficulty distributing attention and are slow to complete tasks.

In children with a choleric type of temperament, stability and concentration of attention depend on the degree of their awareness of the need for any activity, on the need to carry it out.

The attention of children with a melancholic type of temperament is unstable; it is difficult for them to concentrate and distribute attention due to self-doubt.

During diagnostics I use a number of techniques. After the diagnosis, I distribute the children into subgroups and draw up a plan of correctional classes for each subgroup (goal, objectives, principles, means, methods, techniques, predicted results). I will conduct subgroup and individual classes.

For children of the phlegmatic type, I calmly and kindly find out whether the child understood the task correctly. They give him additional time to concentrate and distribute attention, since these children cannot quickly switch from one activity to another.

Knowing the characteristics of the choleric type, we try to think through the beginning of the lesson so that the children’s attention is focused and stable for a long time (problematic issues, motive, etc.).

Children of the melancholic type are encouraged for their initiative, given time to speak out, and positive traits are noted.

The main goal of correctional work is to promote the full and personal development of the child. It is necessary to correctly understand the psychological and pedagogical position in relation to children; The educational system should be adjusted in such a way that it ensures a sufficiently high level of development of children with speech impairments. And the development of speech is carried out in close connection with the development of higher mental functions and all cognitive activity.

The system of correctional work includes the following areas: development of mental processes associated with the voluntary direction of activity, concentration of attention and the ability to switch and distribute it, timely inclusion in activities, independence and responsibility for completing a task, the ability to complete the work started in a certain sequence and required pace.

Work on performing correctional tasks leads to improvement of the properties of attention, memory, thinking, and imagination.

A correctional-educational task cannot be considered completed in a lesson just because an interesting technique or game was used to develop attention. I monitor the development of attention not only in the game, but throughout the entire lesson. I teach children to listen carefully to speech, notice the mistakes of their comrades, and correct them. I do the same when developing children’s independence, focus, composure, perseverance, etc.

At 5 years old, a child must learn to subordinate his actions to the verbal instructions of an adult, and at 6–7 years old, to subordinate his behavior to his own verbal instructions. To train voluntary attention, it is necessary to consistently analyze various features (or aspects) of one object and compare them with the feature of another.

In order for a child to learn to voluntarily control his attention, he must be asked to reason out loud more, and he will be able to voluntarily hold his attention for a long time on certain objects, their details and properties. In the minds of young children, what is bright and emotional is fixed, so in classes and games I use bright, large, colorful objects, toys, and elements of various theaters. To develop attention, I use components (directions, verbal designations of elements, situations). Educational tasks, unlike gaming ones, as a rule, contain more new information, and the process of completing them requires longer concentration.

The child’s attention is formed in practical activities. Play is the activity that ensures the all-round development of the child, is one of the powerful means of teaching and upbringing, in which the child masters emotionally and then intellectually the entire system of human relationships. It allows you to develop attention, thinking and other mental processes, therefore, in the system of education and upbringing of children with speech disorders, games not only occupy a significant place, but are also presented in all their diversity: role-playing, didactic, round dancing, moving, etc.

Conclusions on the first chapter

Since attention is related to a person’s interests and inclinations, the main form of attention in children is motor attention. The child is focused until interest wanes. The appearance of a new object immediately causes a shift of attention to it. Therefore, children rarely do the same thing for a long time. During preschool age, due to the complication of activities, attention becomes more stable and focused. Attention is the most important quality that characterizes the process of selecting the necessary information and discarding the unnecessary. Attention has certain properties; violation of each leads to deviations in the child’s behavior and activities. In children, involuntary attention is more developed, since the condition for such attention is the qualities of external stimuli and the characteristics of the child’s internal state, then for the emergence and maintenance of voluntary attention, a conscious attitude to activity is necessary. Not a single mental process can proceed purposefully if a person does not focus his attention on what he perceives or does. Attention does not represent an independent mental process, since it cannot manifest itself outside of other processes. Thus, attention is only a property of various mental processes.

We must teach the child to be “attentive.” At the age of 5–7 years, develop in the child the ability to maintain attention on the same object (or task) for as long as possible, as well as quickly switch attention from one object to another.

Psychologists have found that the higher the level of attention development, the higher the effectiveness of learning. It is inattention that is the main reason for children’s poor performance at school, especially in the lower grades. After all, studying at school poses tasks for students that are not similar to those that he is used to solving in kindergarten during games.

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Test

in psychology

DEVELOPMENT OF ATTENTION IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

1. Expand the basic concepts on the topic "Attention". Define attention, reveal its meaning, types and properties.

1.1 ABOUTdefinition of attention category

Attention in psychology, this is a person’s conscious or semi-conscious concentration on one information coming through the senses, while ignoring another.

Attention- reflects the direction and concentration of a person’s consciousness on certain objects, which ensures their particularly clear reflection.

Consider fphysiological foundations of attention. According to the ideas of I.P. Pavlova, attention reflects the presence of the cerebral hemispheres in the cortex focus of excitation, which, in turn, is a manifestation of the unconditioned orienting reflex. Such a focus of excitation, due to the process of negative induction, inhibits neighboring areas of the cerebral cortex, and at the same time all the mental activity of the body is concentrated on one object.

According to Ukhtomsky, attention is determined dominant- the dominant, stable focus of excitation in the cortex. The dominant not only inhibits other foci of excitation, but is also able to intensify due to them, switching to itself the processes of excitation that arise in other nerve centers. The intensity of attention is especially pronounced when the goal is determined by biologically significant motivation (hunger, thirst, sexual instinct). In this case, there is a kind of “pumping” of nervous energy from the area of ​​the brain associated with satisfying the need to the area of ​​the cortex associated with a certain object in the external world.

attention game children development

According to modern scientific data, in the process of activating attention, in addition to the cerebral cortex, other brain structures also play an important role. For example, thalamus serves as a kind of filter that filters out some information and passes only new and important signals to the cortex. Reticular formation activates the brain and is an important energetic component of the attention process.

1.2 Theories of attention

In psychology, there are six main approaches that explain the phenomenon of attention (Fig. 1). Each of them considers one aspect to be the main one in the complex complex of human mental activity, but so far none of these hypotheses has received universal recognition. It is possible that the true mechanisms of attention are either a form of integration of the processes described below, or are due to other reasons.

Rice. 1. Attention hypotheses

The first, emotional, approach to understanding attention was promoted by T. Ribot, who believed that attention is always associated with emotions and is caused by them. Ribot believed that the intensity and duration of voluntary attention is determined by the characteristics of those emotions that are caused by the object of attention. This view of attention is very legitimate, because emotion is the body’s reaction to the likelihood of satisfying an actual need, and the body’s attention is primarily focused on such objects.

The second approach was put forward by scientists I. Herbert and W. Hamilton, who believed that more intense ideas suppress less intense ones, displacing them into the area of ​​the subconscious, and what remains in consciousness and attracts our attention.

The third approach is that attention is interpreted as the result of apperception, that is, the individual’s life experience. At the same time, in the nervous system (possibly at the level of the thalamus), incoming information is filtered based on the needs, knowledge and life experience of a person.

The fourth approach was developed by the Georgian scientist D.N. Uznadze, who argued that the attitude internally expresses the state of attention. Uznadze called the process of isolating a certain image under the influence of an attitude from the entire variety of surrounding objects “objectification.”

The fifth approach emphasizes the motor aspect of the attention process. The fact is that involuntary attention is based on an orienting reflex - turning the body to a new source of irritation and adjusting the analyzers to it. These phenomena occur with the active participation of muscles, so attention can be interpreted as a specially organized motor adaptation to the environment.

The sixth approach comes from the physiological concept of attention as a complexly organized focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex, which suppresses the activity of neighboring areas of the brain. Currently, physiologists believe that such a hypothesis interprets the process of attention too primitively, since when concentrating attention very often not only individual areas of the cortex are involved, but the entire brain as a whole.

Synthetic ideas about the nature of attention include the concept of attention by P.Ya. Halperin, consisting of the following provisions:

1. Attention is one of the moments of human orientation and research activity.

2. The main function of attention is control over the content of an action or mental image.

3. Attention has no independent result and is a servicing process. As an independent act, attention is highlighted only when the action becomes mental and reduced.

1.3 Functions of attention

Attention activates the psychological processes of a person that are necessary at the moment and inhibits unnecessary ones.

Contributes to the selection of information that is of interest at the moment.

Provides prolonged and selective focus on the same information or activity.

For memory, the process of attention acts as a factor that helps retain information in short-term memory.

For human thinking, attention is the basis for correctly understanding and solving problems.

Basic functions of attention:

Ensuring the selection of information entering the body in accordance with its current needs.

Ensuring selective and long-term concentration of mental activity on one object or type of activity

Activation of necessary and inhibition of currently unnecessary mental processes.

1.4 Types of attention

There are several approaches to classifying different types of attention: based on the leading analyzer, by focus on various objects, by the main form of activity in which attention is involved, etc.

By form of activity allocate sensory-perceptual attention when the main type of human activity is the perception of information. This attention is realized through the work of the senses - for example, the goalkeeper's fixation on moving the ball across the field, or the attention of a person listening to music. Intellectual attention is activated when solving thought processes; motor attention is important when controlling the work of the muscular system (for example, in an athlete when performing complex movements). It is clear that some activities require combined attention. Thus, when performing a complex operation, a surgeon activates all three types of attention.

By leading analyzer distinguish between visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory, olfactory and other types of attention. For example, a viewer watching a ballet has active visual and auditory attention, while a coffee taster has predominantly olfactory and gustatory attention.

By direction differentiate external(directed to the outside world), internal(aimed at sensations coming from inside the body) and border attention (aimed at assessing sensations from the skin and mucous membranes).

Bydegreesstrong-willedcontrol distinguish between involuntary, voluntary and post-voluntary attention. Some objects themselves seem to “attract” our attention, while focusing on others requires some effort. First attention is called involuntary(“passive”). It can be caused either by the characteristics of the stimulus (its strength, brightness, volume, etc.) or by the connection between the object and the needs of the person.

The second type of attention is arbitrary(it is also called “active”), controlled by volitional effort. In this case, a person concentrates attention on an object, even if he is not interested in it, but is needed to achieve the goal. So the seller must pay attention to every person who comes into the store, because any of them could turn out to be a potential buyer and purchase the product. This type of attention can be strengthened due to a number of factors: the inclusion of practical actions in the attention process, and the removal of distracting stimuli.

Post-voluntary attention is of an intermediate nature - at first it requires volitional efforts, and then, as a person begins to become interested in the process he is observing, it becomes involuntary.

1.5 Properties of attention

Human attention has various properties (Fig. 2). When a person concentrates it at one point, they speak of high concentrations attention when it maintains its activity for a long time - about sustainability. The volume of attention is determined by the number of simultaneously clearly perceived objects (it coincides with the volume of short-term memory). Selectivity attention refers to the ability to successfully tune attention to the conscious perception of information in the presence of interference. The ability of attention to quickly switch from one object to another expresses switchability attention, and the simultaneous perception of several objects or the performance of several actions is called distribution attention. True, some psychologists believe that the latter property actually reflects a very rapid switching of attention, when it moves so quickly from one object to another that the observer has the illusion of simultaneously focusing on several objects. There is a legend that the Roman ruler Julius Caesar could do several things at the same time: read, listen and give orders. Most likely, he simply could very quickly switch his attention from one thing to another, but this ability made a strong impression on his contemporaries.

Fig.2. Properties of attention

Assessment of attention properties. Concentration and stability attention is determined using a proofreading test: Bourdon test (letters) or Landolt rings (rings with clearance in four positions).

Switching and distribution attention is determined using the Schulte table (25 black numbers) or the red-black Platonov-Schulte table (24 red and 25 black numbers).

Switching attention can also be assessed using the Bourdon test, if you ask the subject to cross out one letter and underline another. The distribution of attention is not determined.

2. Development of various types of attention in children from 0 to 7 years

Attention, like most mental processes, has its own stages of development. In the first months of life, the child has only involuntary attention. The child initially reacts only to external stimuli. Moreover, this only happens if they change abruptly, for example, when moving from darkness to bright light, with sudden loud sounds, with a change in temperature, etc.

Starting from the third month, the child becomes increasingly interested in objects that are closely related to his life, that is, those closest to him. At five to seven months, the child is already able to look at an object for a long time, feel it, and put it in his mouth. His interest in bright and shiny objects is especially noticeable. This suggests that his involuntary attention is already quite developed.

The rudiments of voluntary attention usually begin to appear towards the end of the first - beginning of the second year of life. It can be assumed that the emergence and formation of voluntary attention is associated with the process of raising a child. The people around the child gradually teach him to do not what he wants, but what he needs to do. According to N.F. Dobrynin, as a result of upbringing, children are forced to pay attention to the action required of them, and gradually, consciousness begins to manifest in them, still in a primitive form.

Play is of great importance for the development of voluntary attention. During the game, the child learns to coordinate his movements in accordance with the objectives of the game and direct his actions in accordance with its rules. In parallel with voluntary attention, involuntary attention also develops on the basis of sensory experience. Acquaintance with more and more objects and phenomena, the gradual formation of the ability to understand the simplest relationships, constant conversations with parents, walks with them, games in which children imitate adults, manipulation of toys and other objects - all this enriches the child’s experience, and together thereby developing his interests and attention.

The main feature of a preschooler is that his voluntary attention is quite unstable. The child is easily distracted by extraneous stimuli. His attention is overly emotional - he still has poor control of his feelings. At the same time, involuntary attention is quite stable, long-lasting and concentrated. Gradually, through exercise and volitional efforts, the child develops the ability to control his attention.

School is of particular importance for the development of voluntary attention. During school, the child learns discipline. He develops perseverance and the ability to control his behavior. It should be noted that at school age the development of voluntary attention also goes through certain stages. In the first grades, the child cannot yet fully control his behavior in class. He still has involuntary attention. Therefore, experienced teachers strive to make their classes bright and captivating the child’s attention, which is achieved by periodically changing the form of presentation of educational material. It should be remembered that a child at this age thinks mainly visually and figuratively. Therefore, in order to attract the child’s attention, the presentation of educational material must be extremely clear.

L. S. Vygotsky tried, within the framework of his cultural-historical concept, to trace the patterns of age-related development of attention. He wrote that from the first days of a child’s life, the development of his attention occurs in an environment that includes the so-called a double series of stimuli that evoke attention. The first row is the objects surrounding the child, which with their bright, unusual properties attract his attention. On the other hand, this is the speech of an adult, the words he pronounces, which initially appear in the form of stimulus-instructions that direct the child’s involuntary attention. Voluntary attention arises from the fact that people around the child begin, using a number of stimuli and means, to direct the child’s attention, direct his attention, subordinate it to their will, and thereby give the child the means with which he subsequently masters his attention. And this begins to happen in the process of the child mastering speech.

In the process of active mastery of speech, the child begins to control the primary processes of his own attention. Moreover, initially in relation to other people, orienting their attention with the word addressed to them in the right direction, and then in relation to oneself.

Thus, two main stages can be distinguished in the development of attention. The first is the stage of preschool development, the main feature of which is the predominance of externally mediated attention, that is, attention caused by environmental factors. The second is the stage of school development, which is characterized by the rapid development of internal attention, that is, attention mediated by the child’s internal attitudes.

For the development of attention in preschool age, play activities play a leading role. Here are a few examples of games that are appropriate when organizing play activities with preschoolers, the purpose of which is to develop attention.

Games that develop attention for children 1 - 2 - 3 years old

These games for developing attention are suitable for both children aged 1-2 years and older children aged 3-4 years. The older the child, the more difficult it is to select the task (hide the object more carefully, give less hints).

Game "Find the object!"

The idea of ​​the game is very simple - you need to hide a toy in the room and ask the baby to find it. When playing with children aged 1 to 2 years, it is better to follow the following rules:

If a child plays this game for the first time, we first put the toy in a visible place so that the child can easily find it by simply looking around: “Where is our teddy bear? Where did he hide from you?

When the baby understands the meaning of the game and quickly finds the toy, we begin to slowly hide the object from the child. For example, like this:

Or like this:

Game “Find by sound” (developing auditory attention)

We take a musical toy (which itself can play long melodies).

We quietly hide the toy from the baby and turn it on so that she starts playing. The baby must find the toy by sound. First, we hide the toy so that it is easy to find (put the toy in a visible place, cover part of the toy with a handkerchief, tuck the toy under the bed or closet so that half sticks out). When the baby gets comfortable and understands the rules of the game, we begin to hide the toy completely from the child’s eyes so that he looks for it only by sound (put it in a box with toys, put it under the sofa, cover it with a scarf, etc.). Naturally, the toy needs to be hidden so that the baby can find it. If the baby finds it difficult, we help him: “Look, maybe she’s there?” (we show the direction in which to look, but not the very place where it is hidden).

This game develops auditory attention and teaches you to concentrate on sounds (and this is a very important skill for mastering speech).

Let's play hide and seek!

In childhood, everyone loved to play hide and seek, but few people thought that while playing, they develop logic and attention.

The kids will also be interested in looking for their mother hiding in the room. Naturally, you need to hide so that mom is easy to find. If it is difficult for a child to find you, call him in a voice: “I’m here, find me!”

Games to develop the attention of children 6-7 years old

Games with cards

"Tricky Numbers"

Option 1

To play the game you will need 20 cards on which you need to write numbers from 1 to 20.

2 people participate, for example an adult and a child. The cards are shuffled, half are given to the child, who lays them out in front of him in random order. The adult places one of his cards in front of the child. Having seen a number on it, the child must choose from his cards the card with the nearest number in ascending or descending order (this must be agreed upon in advance) and place it on top. If he also has the next number in order, then he will put another card, etc. Then the adult lays out the second card. The child performs the same task. The game continues until one of the participants runs out of cards.

Option 2

To play the game you will need the same 20 number cards.

The cards are shuffled and laid out in front of the child in a square of 3 in 3 rows, that is, 9 randomly selected cards out of 20 are used. The child must rearrange the cards so that the numbers are in ascending (or descending) order, starting from the upper left corner.

As you practice with cards, the tasks become more complex: more of them can be used, and the time to complete the task is limited.

"One after another"

To play you will need a set of cards with all the letters of the alphabet.

Place the cards in front of your child. However, put some letters out of alphabetical order. The child must look carefully at the cards and change their places so as to restore the alphabetical order. You can start classes with 3-4 incorrectly placed cards. Subsequently, the tasks become more complicated, the number of necessary movements increases.

The ability to concentrate is well trained when playing a game to accurately copy the original sample. We suggest you use alphabetic material for this; this will help your child complete assignments in the Russian language accurately.

3. Development of properties attention in children from 0 to 7 years

Play is of great importance for the development of voluntary attention in preschool age. In games, the child is faced with the need to coordinate his movements in accordance with tasks, direct his actions in accordance with certain rules, and obey the requirements of the group. Games develop the ability to deliberately focus your attention on certain objects.

The inclusion of a preschool child in feasible work activities has a significant impact on the formation of voluntary attention.

However, in preschool age, involuntary attention is of primary importance. While the child’s involuntary attention can be stable and intense (the child is sometimes so carried away by the game that he forgets about everything around him), then voluntary attention at this age is very unstable, cannot remain on one object for a long time, cannot be deep enough, and is easily distracted. The attention of a preschooler is closely related to his emotions.

Educational activities place high demands on all types and properties of a child’s attention. Being one of the main conditions for the success of the educational process, attention is formed in it. The importance of educational activities for the development of voluntary attention is especially great. The correct organization of the educational process plays a major role in attracting and maintaining students’ attention in the classroom, and thereby in cultivating their attentiveness as a personality trait.

The state of attention of students is determined by the characteristics of teaching and depends both on the content of the material and on its presentation. Lively, bright, emotional presentation of meaningful, but at the same time interesting, accessible material, especially in the lower grades, is an important form of managing involuntary attention, a condition for schoolchildren to be attentive in the classroom.

One of the main reasons for inattention is insufficient mental activity of students. Constant mental activity, supported in the lower grades by a variety of practical actions, is of great importance for the organization of attention. Monotonous, long, uncreative work weakens concentration. Therefore, it is necessary, especially in the lower grades, to use a variety of types and forms of work. It should be borne in mind that long-term auditory concentration is much more difficult than visual.

Maintaining the optimal pace of the lesson is also of certain importance. The pace of the lesson depends on the content of the material, the difficulty or ease of its acquisition, and the age of the students. A clear organization of the beginning of the lesson, the preparedness of the class and students for the lesson, in particular the organization of their workplaces, also contribute to establishing attention.

It is known that voluntary attention is associated with the orientation of the individual. Therefore, the formation of interests, cultivation of will, and accustoming to systematic, disciplined work are of decisive importance in his upbringing.

Some Russian psychologists understand attention as an ideal, reduced and automated control action. In this regard, questions arise about the possibility and necessity of its special purposeful formation. It is assumed that the so-called inattention of schoolchildren, manifested, for example, in errors “not according to the rules” (omission of letters and words when copying text, signs when solving examples, etc.), is associated with the defective formation of the psychological control function in conditions when it develops spontaneously. Like any closed automated mental action, the action of control must be formed in stages. Thus, when forming control actions in “inattentive” students when copying text, at the first stage, children were given cards with a verification rule (description of the order of operations for checking the text), i.e., they were given a complete indicative basis for the action, for example: “Read the word out loud, syllable by syllable, find out if the letters fit the word, see if there are any missing letters.” At the second stage - the stage of material (or materialized) action, students performed it in an external, expanded form as an external objective action: they checked the words of the text, holding a card with a verification rule in their hands and marking each syllable of the word with a vertical line (the textbook text serves as a model for checking) . The next stage is the external speech stage. All operations are performed by students in the form of external speech - loud speech out loud. Students are transferred to this stage when they have well mastered the content of the action, that is, when students have learned to check the text without using an external support - a card. Then the student, if in the external speech form the control action was performed easily and correctly, is allowed to switch to speech “to himself”. In this case, he also receives instructions such as “name the first operation to yourself,” etc. As an intermediate stage, an action can be identified in the form of whispered speech, where, just as at the stage of loud speech, all operations of the action are spoken out. An indicator of mastering an action at each stage is the accuracy, speed and independence of performing the work, i.e. independent error-free checking of the text. If the student missed errors in the text being checked, he was asked to return to the previous stage. The last stage in the formation of control action is its transfer to the mental plane. The action is performed in the form of inner speech. Students begin to check the text silently - look through the text and correct mistakes. “Inattentive” students begin to successfully complete the task of copying text, that is, to be attentive. The action is reduced as much as possible and automated. Automation and reduction of action is ensured by repeatability and the execution of similar tasks. It is assumed that the control action at the level of a collapsed mental action approaches the main action and can not only follow it, but even get ahead of it, which is one of the conditions for the correct execution of the main action (activity). Thus, when copying a text, control comes closer to writing and, apparently, precedes it, which is one of the conditions for error-free performance of work.

Due to the fact that the action of mental control has some basic, common features, independent of both the nature of the main action and the content of the material, formed on the same material (under the same conditions), it can be generalized quite quickly and easily (transferred to other conditions, for other tasks). Therefore, its formation in certain specific conditions, with the obligatory highlighting and emphasizing of general and basic features, will not only lead to attentive completion of this task, but also contribute to the formation of attentiveness as a personality quality. In this regard, the task of systematic education of attention is seen as the constant formation of new actions of mental control. But even with this formation of attention, an indispensable condition is the presence of positive motivation for the main activity.

Of course, attention, as already indicated, is not limited to control.

4. Characteristics of the development of attention in children of a specific age group . P practical part

Conduct diagnostics on 5 children aged from 3 to 7 years.

Method No. 1. "Find the differences"

1. Purpose: to identify the level of development of attention in preschool children.

2. Material: single-story pictures, differing in 15 details, a clock with a second hand.

3. Work progress. Look at the pictures. Try to name as quickly as possible all the features that distinguish one drawing from another.

We fix:

task completion time;

number of named differences;

number of mistakes. (the following are considered errors: repetitions, incorrectly named differences and missing distinctive features).

There are 15 distinctive features in a pair of pictures. Therefore, a child can score a maximum of 15 points for this test. The time to complete this task is 4 minutes.

Evaluation of results

Child Manzaday Marina age 6 years. Her answers: Out of 15 differences, I found only 8, in 6 minutes.

Of these, she made one mistake and found two differences with the help of the teacher.

Conclusion: productivity 8/15=53, average level of attention span. Didn't meet the deadline. At the age of 6-7 years, a child should already operate with 10-12 signs of similarity and difference, in this case 8 - 1 = 7, which indicates a below average level of attention development. Fatigue and decreased interest in work are observed, which resulted in help from the teacher.

Child Ipatenko Lisa age 5 years, 3 months. Her answers: In the first 30 seconds I found 4 differences, with the help of the teacher five more differences. Total time 7 minutes.

Conclusion: Elizabeth quickly got involved in the work, but then there was a decline in interest. As in the first case, help from the teacher and fatigue are observed. There is an overexpenditure of standard time. Productivity 9/15=60, average level of attention span. There are no errors or repetitions. Average level of attention development.

Child Mezhaev Igor age 6 years. His answers: five answers in 25 seconds. I found all the differences myself, without the help of a teacher. Total time 7 minutes.

Conclusion: Quick involvement in work, followed by fatigue. Productivity is 100 percent, which indicates a high level of attention span. 15 points scored for completing the test may indicate a high level of attention development.

Child Chernysh Nikita age 6.3 years. His answers: in 40 seconds, four differences, in 5 minutes, 4 more answers. Only 8 answers in 5 minutes, 40 seconds.

Conclusion: Quick involvement in work, followed by fatigue.

Productivity 8/15 =53, which indicates an average level of attention span. 8 points indicates an average level of attention development

Urozhaev Denis age 4 years, 7 months.

His answers; found 6 differences in 6 minutes with the help of a teacher, one mistake.

Conclusion: Requires assistance from the experimenter, which may be an indicator of fatigue and disinterest in the work. As in all cases, the standard time is blocked. Attention span 6/15=40, which indicates a sufficient level for this age group. The level of attention development is below average - 6 points.

Based on the results of the study using this technique, the following should be noted:

The level of attention of children is generally formed at a sufficient level.

There are different levels of performance, which is due to individual characteristics, volume, distribution and switchability of attention.

During correctional and developmental activities, pay attention to the development of concentration

Method No. 2. "Find and cross out"

1. Purpose: We identify the level of development of attention in preschool children.

2. Progress of work: At the signal “Start”, the child looks for and crosses out Christmas trees and stars until he is told “Stop”.

The child works for 2.5 minutes. Every 40 seconds stops are made, and the child shows the adult what object he stopped on.

Processing the results: The number of objects in the picture viewed every 40 seconds is determined.

S=(0.5N-2.8n):t,

where S is an indicator of productivity and stability of attention;

N is the number of items that the child looked at;

n - number of errors;

S > 1 high level.

0,5 < S < 1,0 - средний уровень.

S< 0,5 - низкий уровень.

General indicators

Based on all indicators S obtained during the task, a graph is constructed, based on the analysis of which one can judge the dynamics of changes over time in the productivity and stability of the child’s attention. When constructing a graph, productivity and sustainability indicators are converted (each separately) into points on a ten-point system as follows:

· 10 points - the child’s S score is higher than 1.25 points.

· 8-9 points - the S indicator ranges from 1.00 to 1.25 points

· 6-7 points - the S indicator is in the range from 0.75 to 1.00 points

· 4-5 points - the S indicator ranges from 0.50 to 0.75 points.

· 2-3 points - the S indicator ranges from 0.24 to 0.50 points.

· 0-1 point - the S indicator is in the range from 0.00 to 0.2 points.

Low productivity but sustained attention

Low productivity, unstable attention

Low productivity but sustained attention

5. Ways and methods developed children's attention

Attention, like all other mental processes, has lower and higher forms. The former are represented by involuntary attention, and the latter by voluntary attention. Direct attention is also a lower form of its development than indirect attention.

L.S. tried to trace the history of the development of attention, as well as many other mental functions. Vygotsky in line with his cultural and historical concept of their formation. He wrote that the history of a child’s attention is the history of the development of the organization of his behavior, that the key to the genetic understanding of attention should be sought not inside, but outside the child’s personality.

Involuntary attention is one of the types of attention - a mental process that arises independently of a person’s consciousness and consists in the forced concentration of the subject at a given moment in time on any real or ideal object [Human psychology from birth to death. - St. Petersburg: Euroznak, 2001 , With. 111].

Voluntary attention is one of the types of attention - a mental process that consists in the conscious and active concentration of the subject at a given moment in time on any real or ideal object [Human psychology from birth to death. - St. Petersburg: Euroznak, 2001, p. 112].

Voluntary attention arises from the fact that people around the child “begin, with the help of a number of stimuli and means, to direct the child’s attention, direct his attention, subordinate him to their power, and thereby give into the child’s hands those means with the help of which he subsequently masters his own attention.” » [Vygotsky L.S. Development of higher forms of attention in childhood // Reader on attention. - M., 1976. - P. 186].

The cultural development of attention lies in the fact that, with the help of an adult, the child learns a number of artificial stimuli-means (signs), through which he further directs his own behavior and attention. [Nemov R.S. Psychology: Textbook for higher pedagogical institutions.-M.: Vlados, p. 211][The process of age-related development of attention according to the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky was introduced by A.N. Leontyev].

With age, the child’s attention improves, but the development of externally mediated attention proceeds much faster than its development as a whole, especially natural attention. At the same time, at school age, a turning point in development occurs, which is characterized by the fact that initially externally mediated attention gradually turns into internally mediated, and over time, this latter form of attention probably takes the main place among all its types. Differences in the characteristics of voluntary and involuntary attention increase starting from preschool age and reach a maximum at school age, and then again show a tendency to equalize. This tendency is precisely due to the fact that in the process of its development, the system of actions that ensure voluntary attention gradually turns from external to internal.

L.S. Vygotsky writes that from the very first days of a child’s life, the development of his attention occurs in an environment that includes the so-called double series of stimuli that evoke attention. The first row is the surrounding objects themselves, which with their bright, unusual properties attract the child’s attention. On the other hand, this is the speech of an adult, the words he pronounces, which initially act as stimulus-instructions that direct the child’s involuntary attention. Thus, from the first days of a child’s life, a significant part of his attention is directed with the help of stimulus words.

Along with the gradual mastery of active speech, the child begins to control the primary process of his own attention, first in relation to other people, orienting their own attention with the word addressed to them in the right direction, and then in relation to himself.

The general sequence of cultural development of attention according to L.S. Vygotsky is as follows: “First, people act towards the child, then he himself interacts with those around him, finally, he begins to act on others and only in the end begins to act on himself... First, the adult directs his attention with words to those around him things and thus develops powerful stimulus-indications from words; then the child begins to actively participate in this direction and begins to use words and sounds as a means of direction, i.e. draw the attention of adults to the subject of interest" [Vygotsky L.S. Development of higher forms of attention in childhood. // Reader on attention. - M., 1976. - P. 205].

The word that an adult uses when addressing a child appears initially as a pointer, highlighting for the child certain signs in an object, drawing his attention to these signs. During learning, the word is more and more directed towards highlighting abstract relationships and leads to the formation of abstract concepts. L.S. Vygotsky believed that the use of language as a means of directing attention and a pointer to the formation of ideas is of great importance for pedagogy, since with the help of words the child enters the sphere of interpersonal communication, where space opens up for personal development.

Initially, the processes of voluntary attention directed by the speech of an adult are, for the child, processes of external discipline rather than self-regulation. Gradually, using the same means of mastering attention in relation to himself, the child moves on to self-control of behavior, i.e. to voluntary attention.

Let us now try, in the form of a kind of “chronological” summary, to present the sequence of the main stages in the development of children’s attention as it looks according to the data of relevant observations and experimental studies:

1. The first weeks and months of life. The appearance of the orienting reflex as an objective, innate sign of the child’s involuntary attention. The child initially reacts exclusively to external stimuli, and only if they suddenly change. For example, during the transition from twilight to bright light, with sudden loud sounds, with changes in temperature, etc. Human psychology from birth to death. - St. Petersburg: Euroznak, 2001, p. 111

2. Starting from the third month, the child begins to become increasingly interested in external objects that are closely related to his life, that is, those closest to him.

3. At five to seven months, the child is already able to look at an object for a long time, feel it, and put it in his mouth. His interest in new bright and shiny objects is especially noticeable. This allows us to say that his involuntary attention during this period of life is quite developed and intense.

4. End of the first year of life. The emergence of orientation-research activity as a means of future development of voluntary attention [Nemov R.S. Psychology: Textbook for higher pedagogical institutions.-M.: Vlados, p. 214].

5. Beginning of the second year of life. Detection of the beginnings of voluntary attention under the influence of an adult’s speech instructions, directing the gaze to an object named by the adult. The people around the child gradually teach him to do not what he wants, but what he needs to do.

According to N.F. Dobrynin, as a result of upbringing, children are forced to pay attention to the action required of them, and gradually, in them, still in a primitive form, consciousness begins to manifest [Human psychology from birth to death. - St. Petersburg: Euroznak, 2001 , With. 113].

6. Second or third year of life. Fairly good development of the above initial form of voluntary attention.

7. Four and a half - five years. The emergence of the ability to direct attention under the influence of complex instructions from an adult.

8. Five to six years. The manifestation of attention is more and more voluntary in nature. The emergence of an elementary form of voluntary attention under the influence of self-instruction (with reliance on external auxiliary means) [Nemov R.S. Psychology: Textbook for higher pedagogical institutions.-M.: Vlados, p. 214]. Thus, younger preschoolers usually look at pictures that attract their attention for only 6-8 seconds, while older preschoolers are able to focus their attention on an object for 12 to 20 seconds. A similar trend is found in the activities performed by children. In the process of growing up, children are able to do something for a longer time [Human psychology from birth to death. - St. Petersburg: Euroznak, 2001, p. 192].

To develop the attention of children of early, preschool and primary school age, various games can be successfully used. While playing, the child lives, acts as adults act, as the heroes of his favorite fairy tales, stories, etc. act. The “Program of Education and Training in Kindergarten,” in addition to games and activities with young children, provides for reading them short fairy tales, nursery rhymes, jokes, lullabies. All this not only contributes to the development of speech and listening skills, but also stimulates the development of attention. So, for example, with children from 1 year to 1 year 3 months, you can use reading the nursery rhyme “Forty, Forty.” The lesson is conducted with a small number of children. The teacher easily runs her finger over the child’s palm and rhythmically, in a sing-song voice, reads: “Magpie, magpie, where have you been?” -- "Far. I cooked porridge, fed the children...” Next, the teacher takes the child’s fingers one by one and says: “I gave this one, I gave this one...” Thus, she plays the nursery rhyme with each child who participates in the lesson. At this time, other children listen and follow the actions of the teacher. This activity allows the child to develop the ability to concentrate not only for a short time when the teacher reads the text of the nursery rhyme directly to him, but also for a longer time when the nursery rhyme is read to others.

To develop auditory attention in children of the younger group, it is possible to use nursery rhymes such as “Katya, Katya”, “Chiki-chiki-chikalochki”. Games like “Little and Big Legs” and “Little Bunny, Come Out” contribute to the development of attention switching, as well as attention span.

In the game “Small and Big Legs,” the teacher, repeating the text, speaks several times, first about small legs, and then about big legs. Children repeat after him, alternating fast and slow movements. In this game, children have to simultaneously keep in mind both the text of the game and the method of action that depends on the text. The game “Little Bunny, Come Out” requires changing the direction of the child’s movement after each verse. The mechanism of influence on the development of a child’s attention is the same as in the game “Little and Big Legs”.

Very productive for the development of attention is children's observation of a bird in a cage, chickens, a car and other objects. The same can be said about games and activities with objects (stringing rings on a rod, building a tower from cubes, assembling, folding matryoshka dolls, etc.).

In the middle group of kindergarten, the development of attention is facilitated by games like: “How much?” The teacher reads a poem to the children. Then he asks questions regarding its contents: how many larks were there in the field, how many hares were hiding from the hunters, how many boats were sailing on the lake, how many horses were galloping?

Classification games like “What do you need?” also contribute to the development of attention. This type includes the games “Let’s set the table for guests” (called dishes), “Plant a garden” (called fruit trees), “Furniture”, “Clothes”, etc.

Voluntary attention is developed by games in which children describe an object without looking at it, find significant features in it, and recognize the object by description. Describing an object without looking at it requires highly organized attention and well-developed properties. Such didactic games include: “Guess it,” “Shop,” “Radio,” etc. The content and nature of the activities organized by the kindergarten teacher determine the ways and means of organizing children’s attention. The choice of organizational methods depends not only on the nature of the children’s activities, but also on their age characteristics. The teacher must take into account the peculiarities of attention of the group of children with whom he works. When organizing your work, you must rely on the following provisions. The younger the children, the shorter the activities that require concentration should be. In the younger group, the duration of classes is 10-15 minutes, in the middle group 20-25 minutes, in the older group 25-30 minutes. The intellectual activity of children during classes is a factor that ensures their attention, therefore, the structure of classes should be conducted on a strictly scientific basis, taking into account the requirements of pedagogy, psychology and hygiene.

Since involuntary attention is more developed in children of childhood, the teacher must rely on it in his work. Moreover, in the process of work, he must give tasks that require voluntary attention from the children.

Changing types of activities both within one lesson and throughout the day helps maintain children's attention. This allows you to avoid monotony and boredom, which dull children's interest in work and reduce their attention. Rational alternation of activities helps maintain stable attention. For example, after physical education, when children are very excited, it is inappropriate to offer work that requires great concentration.

Classes should not be overly intense, requiring maximum effort and energy from children (primarily this applies to physical education classes), since in the next lesson the children will be overexcited, and after some time fatigue will begin to affect them. And this, naturally, will not contribute to maintaining stable attention even in interesting activities. You cannot introduce 3-5 new components at once in one lesson.

The considered types (involuntary, voluntary and post-voluntary) and properties (stability, distribution, switching, volume) of the child’s attention are characterized by a number of specific features:

1. A preschool child is able to concentrate for a very short time. His attention is subject to significant fluctuations.

2. The attention of a child of preschool and primary school age easily weakens. Even a minor extraneous irritant distracts the child’s attention from the activity.

3. Attention is attracted by a bright, strong, unexpected stimulus. A preschool child is not able to properly manage his attention.

4. Without attention (it has not yet reached the level of voluntary mental regulation), the child is not able to switch it at his own discretion from one object to another, i.e. switching is poorly developed.

5. The younger the children, the less they can focus on the words that an adult addresses them. The adult’s words do not attract their attention or only partially attract them. Children's attention is more easily focused on bright, attractive objects. The words of an adult only accompany objects visually perceived by the child. Only in middle and older childhood do the words of an adult acquire such a strong meaning that they themselves can attract the child’s attention.

6. The distribution of attention in children of preschool and primary school age is still poorly developed. The child is practically unable to perform two or more activities at the same time.

7. The attention of children of preschool and primary school age is characterized by a small volume in comparison with adolescents and adults.

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