How children's thinking changes with age. How to develop a child's logical thinking

"I think, therefore I am"
- Rene Descartes

Children's thinking, like perception, attention, memory, has its own developmental characteristics. In junior school age it occupies a central link in the system of mental processes. Not only these processes develop and improve, but also intellectual abilities. In this article we bring to your attention five exercises aimed at developing basic mental operations that will be useful not only for children, but also for adults.

Foreign and domestic scientists, researchers, psychologists and teachers have been studying the characteristics of the development of thinking in children. J. Piaget made a valuable contribution to the study of the problem of thinking development. The theory he proposed about the development of intelligence in childhood served as the basis for a number of experimental and theoretical works domestic scientists: L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, V.V. Davydov, P.Ya. Galperin.

Mental activity is an indispensable part of human development. Very often, difficulties that arise at school are associated with insufficient development of basic mental operations. First of all, this is analysis and synthesis, generalization, comparison, concretization and abstraction. You can read more about what thinking is and how it happens

The realities of the present time are such that there are a huge number of school programs, but, unfortunately, not all contribute to the child learning to think and reflect. Therefore, in this matter, a huge role is assigned to parents who take the future of their children seriously.

Numerous theories and concepts of the development of thinking allow us to conclude that in addition to the natural development and passage of certain stages of development of individual thinking, its development can be stimulated through individual or group work.

Useful exercises for developing thinking

“The environment is the source of a child’s development”

L.S. Vygotsky

To help a child develop fully, it is necessary to create certain conditions for him, to create an environment around him that will stimulate development. The formation of such an environment requires the presence of a set of exercises that promote development.

We bring to your attention five exercises aimed at developing basic mental operations that will be useful not only for children, but also for adults.

"Anagram"

An anagram (a set of letters) is taken and the student is asked to form a word without adding or removing a single letter. You should start with three letters and, depending on your success, add anagrams of four, five, six, seven letters. You can make the task more difficult and limit completion to a certain amount of time.

1. YVO, YLA, ABL, AZhP, OZV, UKB, IRM, OTM, ASD, OBL.
2. YAODL, RUOT, ENOB, IAPL, AAPL, OERM, OKTS, ORSHCHB, OETL, NUKT.
3. AITSPT, OOSVL, OAMLS, BREOR, OTMSHR, OELSV AASHPL, OEMST, AILDN, AASHSL.
4. UARBZhD, UAKKZHR, OOARBD, AAKKZS, UASBBD, AISLPC, EUZNKTs, UAPRGP, OOOZLT, OLELCHM.
5. You can choose your own seven-letter words and create your own anagrams by rearranging the letters. For example, these could be words on a specific topic.

"Make Words"

A set of words is presented, the peculiarity of which is the presence of missing letters. Task: insert the missing letters as quickly as possible so that the word makes sense.

1. d-lo, k-sha, s-yes, v-za, n-ga, m-na, d-la, k-ni, b-yes, w-do.
2. p-l-a, m-h-a, k-sh-a, l-v-a, s-m-a, v-s-ok, p-d-ak, p-r-a, b- l-on, s-g-about.

You can gradually complicate the exercise by adding more long words and skipping 3 letters.

"Comparison of Concepts"

It is necessary to prepare a couple of words and offer to find similarities between concepts and then differences. Pay attention to whether the main significant feature of similarity and difference stands out. For example, in the “morning-evening” pair, the significant similarity will be that these are parts of the day. The key difference is that “morning” is the beginning and “evening” is the end of the day.

Examples of pairs of words: morning-evening, tank pilot, ski-skates, crow-sparrow, train-plane.

Make the task more difficult and offer pairs of words that are initially incomparable, but don’t warn about it.

Examples of pairs of words: glass-rooster, river-bird, wind-salt, cat-apple, basket-owl.

"Exclusion of Concepts"

Offer a set of five words. In this set, four words must be united by one name and only one should be superfluous. Task: find this extra word and name (or write) what concept unites the other four words.

Examples of word sets:

1. Willow, maple, ash, wood, alder.
2. Bough, trunk, crown, tree, branch.
3. Tomato, carrot, watermelon, cucumber, cabbage.
4. Peter, Kirill, Ivanov, Innocent, Semyon.
5. Jackdaw, magpie, sparrow, bird, penguin

"Divide into groups"

Goal: sort the cards, dividing them into groups and give these groups names.

Prepare cards showing various items from different thematic categories. Several lotto sets on different topics can help with this. You can use printed or handwritten words to represent objects.

You can take several topics. For example, musical instruments, furniture, urban transport, air transport, garden flowers, wildflowers, etc. Then select 5 words for each group. Shuffle all the cards. When all preparations are completed, proceed to execution. If it is difficult for your child to identify narrow categories, suggest playing with larger ones first. general concepts: transport, flowers, etc.

What games do you use to develop your thinking? Share in the comments.

Thinking is a mental process in which both hemispheres of the brain participate. And the solution to the tasks assigned to him depends on how comprehensively a person can think. This is why the development of thinking in children is so important. Perhaps this is not very noticeable in early childhood, since all important decisions for the baby are made by his parents, and the baby’s achievements are most often measured by the number of steps taken, the ability to read syllables or fold a construction set. But sooner or later a moment comes when a person faces serious life goals and objectives. To get a job in large and successful companies, applicants undergo many tests, including an IQ test. Logical thinking and creativity are at the core of every invention created by mankind. And if you want your child to have a chance to do something brilliant in his life, teach him to think correctly from childhood. Even if he chooses the path of art or, for example, sports, the ability to analyze his actions, clearly and logically build a line of his behavior will certainly lead him to success in any field.

When starting to develop a child’s thinking, you must clearly understand how his consciousness works. Our brain is divided into two hemispheres. The left hemisphere is analytical. It is responsible for rational logical thinking. A person with a developed left hemisphere of the brain is distinguished by consistency, algorithmic and abstract thinking. He thinks heuristically, synthesizing individual facts into a coherent picture in his mind. The right hemisphere is creative. It is responsible for a person’s tendency to dream and fantasize. People with a developed right hemisphere of the brain love to read, write their own stories, and show abilities in various types art - poetry, painting, music, etc.

There are many examples with a clearly developed right or left hemisphere. But psychologists believe that initially parents should try to harmoniously develop both logic and creativity in the child. And already during classes, it is worth taking a closer look at how the child thinks in order to understand what comes easier to him. For example, a child who thinks figuratively automatically begins to solve a math problem from a drawing, and a child with analytical thinking begins to draw a house from a schematic sketch. Be sure to take into account the nature of the baby’s thinking in his further training.

Now a little theory. Despite its complexity and volume, human thinking is divided into 4 main types:

1. visually effective
2. figurative
3. logical
4. creative

A small child who strives to touch and try everything, breaking cars and tearing off the hands of dolls, is guided by visual-effective thinking. It is inherent in all children, and sometimes persists in some adults. But such people no longer break anything, but on the contrary, they construct beautiful cars or perform ingenious operations, securing for themselves the title of “golden hands.”

Imaginative thinking in children

Imaginative thinking in children involves operating with figures and images. It begins to develop in children in preschool age, when they build models from construction sets, draw or play, imagining something in their minds. The development of imaginative thinking in children most actively occurs at the age of 5-6 years. And already on the basis of figurative thinking, logic begins to form in children. Development of thinking in kindergarten is based on developing in children the ability to create various images in their minds, remember and reproduce situations, memory training and visualization. At school age, it is also useful to periodically do such exercises. But since school program pays more attention to the analytical and logical component, parents should draw, create crafts from various materials, as well as reading and making up interesting stories.

At the age of 6-7 years, the child begins to develop logical thinking. The student learns to analyze, highlight the main thing, generalize and draw conclusions. But, unfortunately, development logical thinking Children at school have absolutely no element of creativity. Everything is very standard and formulaic. In a fifth-grader's notebook you can find as many problems as you like, solved by actions, and not a single one solved outside the box. Although for such relatively simple problems there may be many solutions. But teachers do not pay attention to this, since lesson time is limited and children do not have the opportunity to sit and think.

Parents should do this. Don’t force your child to solve ten similar examples “for training”; it’s better to play chess or monopoly with him. There are simply no standard solutions there, and you definitely won’t find template options there. This is what will help the child develop logic. And strong logic in combination with unexpected, non-standard and creative solutions will raise his thinking to a new level.

How to develop creativity in a child? The simplest thing you need to remember is development creative thinking in children it occurs at the moment of communication. It is when communicating with other people (talking in person, reading a book or, for example, listening to an analytical program) that a comparison of different points of view on the same issue occurs in a person’s mind. And only as a result of communication can a person develop his own opinion, and this is nothing more than creativity. A person who clearly understands that there can be several correct answers to one question is a truly creative person. But for your child to understand this, simply telling him about it is not enough. He must come to this conclusion himself after doing many exercises.

And they don’t teach this in school either. Therefore, parents should work with their child at home to make his thinking original, associative and flexible. It is not so difficult. You can add from the same geometric shapes completely different pictures, construct figures of people and animals from paper, or just take the most common and understandable household item and try, together with your child, to come up with as many new non-standard uses for it as possible. Fantasize, invent new exercises, think creatively yourself and be sure to teach this to your child. And then happy and loud exclamations of “Eureka!” will begin to sound more and more often in your house.

Train compliance. Matching games can enhance perceptual reasoning by developing children's ability to recognize and compare visual information. There are an almost endless number of ways to train compliance, but to get started, try:

• Color matching. Challenge the children to find as many blue things as possible, then as many red things as possible, and so on. You can ask them to find objects or things in the room that are the same color as their shirt or eyes.
• Matching shapes and sizes. Take cubes and blocks various shapes and sizes and ask the children to assemble them according to shape or size, and if the children are already quite developed, then according to two parameters at once.
• Write the letters on cards or paper and ask the children to find the matching ones. Once this skill is mastered, you can move on to short and longer words.
• Give the children the task of finding a match between the word and the picture. This game strengthens the connection between the written word and the visual image. There are similar cards and games on the market designed to develop this skill, but you can also make them yourself.
• Encourage children to find objects or things that start with a certain letter. This game strengthens the connections between a particular letter or sound and the objects and people whose names or names begin with it.
• Play memory training games. Memory games develop both matching and memory skills. For such games, paired cards with different symbols are usually used. The cards are turned face down (after they have been reviewed) and players must find matching ones in a new deck.

Work on your ability to spot differences. Part of imaginative thinking involves the ability to differentiate and determine on the fly what belongs to a certain group of objects and what does not. There are many simple activities that can help children develop these skills. For example:

• Try using "Find the odd one out" pictures. They are in magazines, books and on the Internet. The objects in the picture may be similar, but children need to look closely and find those small differences between them.
• Encourage children to find objects that do not belong to them. Combine a group of items - say, three apples and a pencil - and ask which object does not belong to them. As you progress, you can come up with more challenging tasks: using an apple, an orange, a banana and a ball, for example, then an apple, an orange, a banana and a carrot.

Can the most ordinary kid be as smart as Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud? Yes maybe! After reading this article, you will understand that this is quite possible.
All parents think about how to develop logical thinking in their child. But not everyone believes in the intellectual capabilities of children, and not everyone knows what logical thinking is and how to teach a child preschool age think logically.
This is what we're talking about.

Logic is the art of thinking correctly. Logical thinking is correct, thanks to which we will never make mistakes.

Suppose I say: “A man walks on two legs. The chicken walks on two legs. Therefore, the chicken is a person!” - is this true? Apparently not! But where is the mistake? Everyone understands: it is in the conclusion. The first two sentences are correct. But not only chicken walks on two legs (feet). So, not every biped is a person. Bipedality is truly a human feature. But not the main one.

However, what is obvious to us may not be obvious to the baby. For example, if a little person is asked which is heavier: a kilogram of bricks or a kilogram of fluff, he answers that a kilogram of bricks. A child can be sincerely sure that all animals with tails are relatives, and those without tails belong to a different class.

One little girl, looking at the book “Animals of Africa” and seeing a picture with a crocodile, was very happy and said, pointing her finger at the predator: “Ma-ma!” Mom was wearing a robe, bright green and checkered, like crocodile skin. Katyusha decided that since her mother has such “skin,” then anyone who is green and checkered is her mother!
In general, the kids are not doing well with logic so far.

Ours is better (at least as long as we are talking about something simple), but most often it’s also not very good.

What does this prove? That this business needs to be developed from a very young age.

I want to clarify right away. Thinking logically does not necessarily mean abstractly. For some reason some people think so. An imaginative, concrete comprehension of reality may also well be logical.

And it is accessible even to very tiny children.

What does it mean to “develop logical thinking”

Basic logical operations are generalization, analysis, synthesis, comparison, definition of concepts, argumentation, conclusion (judgment).
With their help, both the most brilliant people and very young children think.
Let’s say, the boy from K. Chukovsky’s book “From Two to Five,” who said to his grandmother:
- You will die?
- I'll die.
- Will they bury you in a grave?
- They'll bury it.
- That's when I'll be yours sewing machine twirl! – thought absolutely correctly.
Since grandma is no longer here, who will stop her from turning around? sewing machine? He is right! The grandmother was undoubtedly very pleased with her grandson.

To develop what we need means to learn to generalize, analyze, synthesize, compare, give definitions, argue and draw conclusions.

But as?

Very simple. On any material.
Let's say you went for a walk with your baby in winter. You see a half-frozen puddle. This is a great subject to explore! There is snow, ice, and water here.
Give the baby a small ice cube. She melts in his warm palm, water flows between his fingers.

Voditska! - the child is surprised.
- Yes, this is water!
Give him snow. Same picture.
- And this is also water. It turns out that snow, ice and water are all water. Is it true?
So much for the generalization.

Let's continue the conversation.
- Why is the water different?
The child thought.
- Is there different types of water in summer: snow, ice? No!
- Oh, I know! That’s why it’s cold in winter! - the young physicist guesses.
- Yes! The water freezes and turns into ice and snow. This is also water, only frozen.

Or in the fall you collect beautiful, bright leaves. We can discuss what it is autumn leaf. How to determine it? How is it different from summer?
Let's compare. Summer is green, and autumn is brown, yellow or red. Summer is fresh, juicy, and autumn is semi-dry or completely dried out, wrinkled. The summer one holds on tightly, but the autumn one falls. Autumn is dying or already dead, and summer is alive.

There are plenty of opportunities on the walk to develop what we are talking about. Plants, water, stones, animals - all this is a wonderful material.

At home you can use special games with pictures.
Let's say, scatter on the floor a lot of pictures with images of animals, birds, fish, marine mammals - and let our novice classifier figure out who lives here “in the water,” who lives in a tree, who lives on land.

Household items: towels, pots and spoons also provide many grounds for deep conclusions.
For example, why does hot water clean better than cold water? Are a saucepan and a plate dishes, or just a plate? Why don’t people eat soup with a fork: isn’t it convenient? Bread can be white and black - they are not at all alike. But why are both breads?

What are our problems

Why do we, adults, often not develop our children properly? How do you think?

There are several reasons, in my opinion. I'll name the main ones.

• Firstly, we don’t remember our early childhood well. That's why we find it funny and stupid questions children: we either don’t answer them, or we answer them frivolously, just to get away with it. We're bored with them. But we, adults, also need to ask questions ourselves, and precisely those that are interesting to the little ones. This needs to be learned. Are we learning?
• Secondly, we hope for school. It is she who puts on stream the formation of this very thing, which is “logical”, and in general, all that is good. There they solve problems and do tests. In general, there is nothing to worry about: everything will be done for us.

Alas! School rather hinders development than helps.

• Besides, at 7 years old it’s too late.

It needs to be developed right from the age when the child starts talking. Otherwise nothing will work.

• We also don’t always understand what our goal is. And it is to raise an inquisitive, inquisitive person, with the habit of thinking independently, with an interest in the world around him. It’s not about “teaching correctly.” That is, this is also important, but not the main thing.
• We ourselves should be interested in the baby. This is what we often lack, but such are the characteristics of adults.
• Finally, our very average level of development prevents us from taking our child further than we ourselves have gone. So, we need to study with him!

Next time I will definitely tell you about how to wean your child from rocking before bed. Subscribe to our news, share the link to the post with your friends and stop by for a cup of hot discussions!

The development of thinking in children occupies an important place in the development of consciousness. The formation of an individual perception of life in children develops gradually; the foundations are laid already in preschool age. It is in preschool age that the development of cognitive processes, the formation of thinking and personal characteristics occurs. Parents should be extremely attentive to their children to help them develop. It is better to use for this purpose effective techniques

time-tested developments in thinking. So what should you pay close attention to? Let's try to figure it out.

Features of the development of thinking in children Thinking is a special mental cognitive process which develops gradually. Along with the development of imagination, coherent speech, and attention, it is formed in children in preschool age. The development of thinking has its own individual characteristics

. These are what caring parents should focus on.

Gradual expansion of images As the child gets older, he actively learns about the surrounding reality. The images in his head do not form suddenly, not all at once, but develop gradually. Impressions are based on existing ideas about the world. First, fragmentary primitive impressions are transformed into something more complex, taking on the form of emotionally charged memories. They can leave both a pleasant positive mark and cause the formation of isolation and aggressiveness. How more impressionable child , the faster he develops creative thinking . The fact is that makes his own assumptions based on his emotions. If some action of an adult evokes pleasant feelings in him, then it is remembered faster and finds a response in the baby’s heart. The gradual expansion of images contributes to the growth of thinking, since in children of preschool age the process of cognition is inseparable from feelings.

Consistent motivation

In order to fully develop, a child must have an interest in the subject of knowledge. IN otherwise It will be almost impossible to force him to perceive some important material. It is impossible to convince a child that mastering some abstract material is necessary for his future life. His motivation, as a rule, is born from unconscious interest. Motivation should push him to become interested in something on his own, without the influence of adults on this process.

Of course, parents should control the development of thinking in their child. Just don’t rush and rush the child, such actions won’t be of much use. Satisfying the need for cognition is just as important for a preschooler as it is for an adult. It should be remembered that the child relies on his own emotions in everything. He becomes motivated when some object or phenomenon somehow attracts his attention.

Speech development All cognitive processes are related to each other. One cannot fully develop without the other. It would be absurd to assume that an inattentive child who shows no interest in activities is capable of learning anything. The development of coherent speech is closely related to the development of thinking. Thinking as a process develops in children along with other cognitive processes: perception, memory, attention, imagination, etc. In order for it to develop more quickly, it is necessary to train the memory, as well as pay attention to the formation of coherent speech. The more intense and rich the speech, the

better baby

will begin to think. There really is a very close relationship here. When a child does not begin to speak for a long time, he experiences a delay in other mental processes. Conversely, small success in one thing entails the development of other functions. Uneven development in order to speed up the development process of your child. Particularly impatient parents should be warned that there is still no need to rush. Each child develops as best he can, to the extent that he has the appropriate prerequisites for this. Thinking cannot outstrip memory, imagination and speech. These components have a strong influence on each other and are sometimes conditioned by each other. Techniques aimed at improving thinking are incredibly useful, so they should not be ignored or outright rejected. To prevent children's thinking from being delayed, there is no need to rush and rush events in every possible way. It is better to develop the baby gradually, but to do it correctly.

Development of thinking in preschool children

The development of thinking in children is a complex process that requires maximum dedication and perseverance from parents. You need to learn to notice even small victories and be proud of your child. Only then will he have the incentive to move forward, strive for new victories and achievements. If you simply place increased demands on a preschooler without offering help, he may very quickly become disappointed. In this case, the desire to do something often disappears very quickly. Thinking is a process that depends on many factors. At preschool age, children develop an interest in everything that surrounds them. That's why it's best time for growth of thinking, and it is important not to miss this moment.

Connection with action

A preschool child cannot think abstractly. His mind is occupied by many questions, but not all seem interesting to him. His thinking is connected, first of all, with action. This is a feature early years development, which also needs to be taken into account when planning appropriate activities in kindergarten. Sometimes it seems that some children's thinking is delayed. There is nothing tragic or extraordinary in such a situation. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to other cognitive processes and conduct appropriate classes. Since thinking is conditioned by action, it can be assumed that its formation occurs gradually, depending on how clearly and clearly the child can imagine something. There are special techniques that allow you to take into account the peculiarities of the development of thinking in a preschool child. Artificial creation interest is an important step on the path to success. You cannot leave your child unattended; you must always try to keep him occupied with something.

Visual-effective thinking

In early childhood, visual-effective thinking predominates in the child. It relies on action. The child saw something, did it, remembered it. By performing certain actions, the child develops mentally, and not just physically. This is why fine motor skills activities are so beneficial. Visual and effective thinking allows you to repeat after an adult and at the same time acquire new knowledge. The idea of ​​a specific object is formed according to the impression it made on the child. Both the external form and the function of the object that it carries within itself are important. For example, a child remembers that a dog is barking and a car is driving along the road. Then he will never confuse how one differs from another.

Methods for developing a child's thinking

Methods for developing thinking in children are aimed at developing a better understanding of speech and developing relevant skills. Below are the most popular and effective methods that educators still use today.

Maria Montessori Method

This technique is aimed at a child’s independent exploration of things. It is perfect for development fine motor skills, to generate interest in the surrounding reality.

The creator of this theory loved children very much. She proposed providing them with the opportunity to get acquainted with the subjects that interest them, thereby developing thinking as a whole, and not just one direction.

Methodology of Nikitin and Voskobovich

This technique is focused on the development of logical thinking. Its creators insisted that logic and attention are the main prerequisites for the development of thinking. Therefore, they recommend directing all classes and assignments, first of all, to the formation of logic. A preschool child will be interested in such “lessons,” but they contain many difficulties.