Features of the creative imagination of a younger student. Exploring the creative imagination of younger students

06.08.2020 | State

Polenichko Anastasia Vasilievna, bachelor, student
Altai State Pedagogical University

DEVELOPMENT OF IMAGINATION
OUTSTANDING ACTIVITIES
IMAGINATION

The article deals with the problems of the development of imagination in children of primary school age. The analysis of the levels of development of imagination in children is also presented and guidelines for the development of imagination in extracurricular activities are given.

The relationship between imagination and stress tolerance in adolescents
Formation of achievement motivation in adolescents in extracurricular activities
Activities of the Department of Education of the City District of Degtyarsk on the development of the system of educational institutions
Technologies for the development of interpersonal relationships in primary school children in extracurricular activities

The problem of imagination is one of the most significant in pedagogy and psychology. And this is understandable, the significance of the process of imagination in human activity is very great. Many researchers (L. S. Vygotsky, S. L. Rubinstein, T. Ribot, V. V. Davydov, A. V. Brushlinsky, I. M. Roset, K. Taylor, etc.) note his role in the artistic, literary, scientific creativity, as well as in other types of human activity. However, despite the fact that in last years interest in the problem of imagination has noticeably increased, it remains insufficiently studied. It is not by chance that in the interpretation of imagination we are faced both with a complete denial of its specificity and identification with other functions (for example, with figurative thinking), and with its recognition as an independent activity of a productive and creative nature. The existence of polar points of view on the essence of one and the same process indicates the need for further research of this phenomenon. In the meantime, teachers and psychologists can say very little about the natural mechanisms of imagination, the possibilities of its formation and connections with other functions.

Analysis of the literature shows that the process of the development of children's imagination is poorly studied, although many teachers and psychologists (N.I. Nepomnyashchaya, D. Rodari, V. Levin, Z.N. Novlyanskaya, G.D. , O. M. Dyachenko, M. E. Kanevskaya, N. N. Palagina) note the importance of his research due to the fact that imagination plays an essential role in the formation of the ability to self-realization. In the scientific and pedagogical literature, it is rightly indicated that in psychological science there is especially little research on the development of imagination in early school years. But the younger school age is such a period in the development of the child, during which the main psychological neoplasms of the personality and the peculiarities of cognitive processes are formed.

Imagination (fantasy) is a mental process that consists in creating new ideas and thoughts based on existing experience. Like all mental processes, imagination reflects objective reality, although it represents, as it were, a departure of thought from the immediately given, penetration into the future in the form of a design for technical inventions, scientific discoveries, new images of art, new life situations, etc.

Extracurricular activities are part of educational process and one of the forms of organizing students' free time. Extracurricular activities are understood today mainly as activities organized outside of school hours to meet the needs of students for meaningful leisure, their participation in self-government and socially useful activities. One of modern trends in the activities of educational institutions is the improvement of extracurricular activities.

The purpose of extracurricular activities: creating conditions for the manifestation and development of the child's interests on the basis of free choice, comprehension of spiritual and moral values and cultural traditions.

In extracurricular activities, a kind of emotionally filled environment of enthusiastic children and teachers is created, in which future specialists are trained in various fields of sports, art, science, technology.

When organizing extracurricular activities within the framework of the Federal State Educational Standard, two prerequisites must be met:

variability;
taking into account the street needs of students.

We conducted an experiment during which the levels of development of the imagination of junior schoolchildren were studied. The following methods were used: "Draw something" methodology of psychologist T.D. Martsinkovskaya, methodology "Study of individual characteristics of imagination", test "circles". The study was carried out in 2014 on the basis of the MBOU "Gymnasium No. 40" in Barnaul on the basis of class 2b. The study involved 25 students.

In the course of the experiment. We have obtained the following results.

Draw Something Technique

The methodology is aimed at identifying the level of imagination of younger students.

The work was carried out as follows. Each student is given a piece of paper, a set of markers or colored pencils and asked to draw whatever they want. The task is given 4 - 5 minutes. The generalized results of the method are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Results of the "Draw something" method

Let's present the obtained data using a diagram (Fig. 1).

Analysis of the data obtained shows that the majority of students (40%) have a low level of imagination. The students drew something very simple and unoriginal, the fantasy is hardly visible. Many of the children painted the sun and flowers. 20% of subjects high level development of imagination, children came up with and drew something quite original, with well-developed details. For example. Children drew stories from fairy tales or films that they saw. 20% of students have an average level of development of imagination. Children came up with and drew something that is not new, but carries an element of creative imagination. For example, there are drawings unusual flowers, plots of nature. 16% of the subjects have a very low level of imagination. The children could not cope with the task and drew only individual strokes and lines. For example, there are incomplete and unfinished drawings of nature, flowers, houses. And only 4% of students have a very high level of imagination. During the allotted time, the children came up with and drew something unusual, which indicates a rich imagination. For example, pictures such as starry sky with a telescope.

Research methodology for individual characteristics of imagination

The technique determines the levels of complexity of imagination, the degree of fixation of ideas, flexibility or rigidity of the imagination and the degree of its stereotypicality or originality.

Since this technique is carried out in three stages, then before each stage, the instruction is repeated: “Using the contour of the geometric figure shown on this sheet, draw what you want. The quality of the drawing does not matter. Choose the way you want to use the contour. At the signal "Stop!" stop drawing. "

Then the results are processed.

Determination of the level of complexity of imagination. The complexity of the imagination is ascertained from the most complex of the three drawings. You can use a scale that makes it possible to set five levels of difficulty.

The generalized results of the technique are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Results of the research methodology for individual characteristics of imagination: the level of complexity of imagination

Let's present the obtained data using a diagram (Fig. 2).

Analysis of the data obtained shows that the majority of students (68%) have the second level of imagination complexity. The children used the outline of the figures as part of the drawing, but with additions. For example, children painted houses, wheels, the sun. 24% of students have the third level of imagination difficulty. There are such drawings as snowflakes, patterns, animals were drawn using the outline of the figures: hares, bears. And 8% of students have the first level of imagination complexity. The drawings are simple, they represent one shape. For example, some of the children duplicated shapes.

Determination of the flexibility of imagination and the degree of fixation of images and representations. The flexibility of the imagination depends on the fixity of ideas. The degree of fixity of images is determined by the number of drawings for the same plot.

The imagination will be flexible when the fixedness of images in the representation is not reflected in the drawings, that is, all the drawings are on different plots and cover both the inner and outer parts of the contour of a geometric figure.

The fixity of representations is weak and the flexibility of the imagination is average if two drawings are made on the same plot.

A strong fixation of images in representation and the inflexibility or rigidity of the imagination are characterized by drawings on the same plot, regardless of their level of complexity - this is a rigid imagination. The rigidity of the imagination can also be in the absence or weak fixation of images in the presentation, when the drawings are made strictly within the contours of a geometric figure. In this case, the subject's attention is fixed on the inner space of the contour.

The generalized results of the technique are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Results of the research methodology for individual characteristics of imagination: the degree of fixation of imagination

Let's present the obtained data using a diagram (Fig. 3).

Most (72%) students have flexible imaginations. All drawings are on different topics. For example, flowers or the sun are drawn in a circle, houses are most often drawn in a square, and signs were drawn in a triangle road traffic... 16% of students have average flexibility of imagination. Two drawings are made on the same theme. For example, children drew a house in a square and a triangle, and an animal in a circle (a hare, a bear)

Determination of the degree of stereotyped imagination. The stereotype is determined by the content of the drawings. If the content of the drawing is typical, then the imagination, like the drawing itself, is considered stereotypical, if not typical, original, then creative. Typical drawings include drawings for the following subjects. Drawings with a circle outline: sun, flower, man, face of a man or a hare, dial and clock, wheel, globe, snowman. Drawings with a triangle outline: a triangle and a prism, a roof of a house and a house, a pyramid, a person with a triangular head or torso, a letter, road sign... Drawing with a square outline: a person with a square head or body, a robot, a TV, a house, a window, a complemented geometric square or cube, an aquarium, a napkin, a letter.

The generalized results of the method are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Results of the research methodology of individual characteristics of imagination: the level of stereotyped imagination

Let's present the obtained data using a diagram (Fig. 4).

An analysis of the results obtained shows that the majority of students have a high level of stereotyped imagination (64%). The drawings are based on typical subjects. For example, with the outline of a circle - the sun, with the outline of a triangle - houses, and with the outline of a square - a TV. And only 36% of students have a drawing that can be considered original, the subjects made drawings on atypical plots. For example, patterns are drawn in a square, a snowflake is in the outline of a circle, and the outline of a triangle is used as a frame for a picture in which nature is depicted. Therefore, we can assume that in this class there is a low level of development of individual characteristics of the imagination.

Circles test

With the help of this technique, the individual characteristics of the non-verbal components of the creative imagination are determined.

Students are offered forms with circles and the task is to draw as many objects or phenomena as possible, using circles as a basis. The instruction is negotiated: "20 circles are drawn on the form. Your task is to draw as many objects or phenomena as possible, using circles as a basis. You can draw both outside and inside the circle, use one, two or more circles for one drawing Draw from left to right. The task is given 5 minutes. Do not forget that the results of your work will be judged by the degree of originality of the drawings. "

Three indicators are used to process the test results: speed, flexibility and originality of the creative imagination.

All pictures of the subjects are distributed according to the indicated groups, then the number of transitions between the groups is counted. This is an indicator of flexibility. figurative thinking and imagination.

An analysis of the pictures by topic gives an idea of the saturation of memory with images and concepts from certain areas, as well as the degree of ease of actualization of various images.

Only those drawings that occur in the group 1 - 2 times can be taken as original. The original drawings can be divided into 3 groups.

The generalized results of the method are presented in Table 5.

Table 5. Results of the test "Circles"

Let's present the obtained data using a diagram (Fig. 5).

Analysis of the data obtained shows that only 12% of students have a high level of creative imagination; the drawings of these children are distinguished by originality. For example, in the nature group, where phenomena that exist without human intervention are depicted, children with a high level of imagination, depicted the stars and the starry sky. At a time when the majority of students (52%) have an average level of imagination. Children depicted a landscape or animals. The low level is present in 36% of students. For example, the typical pattern for children was a dial, glasses, and faces with different emotions.

Thus, the results of diagnostics indicate low indicators of the development of imagination in children of primary school age. Most of the children in the experimental class have an average and low level of imagination, as well as a high level of stereotype.

To solve this problem, we offer several games and exercises aimed at developing the imagination, which the teacher can use in extracurricular activities.

Exercise "Magic Mosaic"

Purpose: To teach children to create objects in their imagination, based on a schematic representation of the details of these objects.

Sets of geometric shapes cut out of thick cardboard (the same for each child) are used: several circles, squares, triangles, rectangles of different sizes.

The teacher distributes kits and says that this is a magic mosaic from which you can put together a lot of interesting things. To do this, you need different figures, whoever wants, attach to each other so that you get some kind of image. Suggest a competition: who can put more different objects out of their mosaic and come up with some kind of story about one or more objects.

Game "Let's help the artist"

Purpose: to teach children to imagine objects based on a given scheme.

Material: A large sheet of paper attached to a board with a sketch of a person drawn on it. Colored pencils or paints.

The teacher says that one artist did not have time to finish painting and asked the guys to help him finish the painting. Together with the teacher, the children discuss what and what color is better to draw. The most interesting proposals are embodied in the picture. Gradually, the diagram is completed, turning into a drawing.

After that, invite the children to come up with a story about a drawn person.

Game "Magic Pictures"

Purpose: to teach to imagine objects and situations on the basis of schematic images of individual details of objects.

Children are given cards. On each card, a schematic representation of some details of objects and geometric figures... Each image is located on the card so that there is free space for painting the picture. Children use colored pencils.

Children can turn each figure on the card into a picture they want. To do this, you need to add anything you want to the figure. After finishing drawing, children compose stories based on their pictures.

The game "Miraculous transformations"

Purpose: to teach children to imagine objects and situations based on visual models.

The teacher distributes pictures to children with images of substitute objects, each one has three strips of different lengths, three circles different color... Children are invited to consider the pictures, come up with what they mean, draw a corresponding picture on their sheet with colored pencils (several are possible). The teacher analyzes the completed drawings together with the children: he notes their correspondence to the depicted substitute objects (in shape, color, size, quantity), the originality of the content and composition.

Game "Wonderful Forest"

Purpose: to teach to create in imagination situations based on their schematic representation.

Children are given identical sheets of paper, several trees are drawn on them, and unfinished, unformed images are located in different places. The teacher offers to draw a forest full of miracles with colored pencils and tell a fairy tale about it. Unfinished images can be turned into real or imaginary objects.

For the assignment, you can use material on other topics: "Wonderful Sea", "Wonderful Glade", "Wonderful Park" and others.

The game "Shifters"

Purpose: to teach to create images of objects in the imagination based on the perception of schematic images of individual details of these objects.

Children are given sets of 4 identical cards, with abstract schematic images on the cards. Assignment for children: each card can be turned into any picture. Stick the card on a piece of paper and draw with colored pencils whatever you want, so that you get a picture. Then take another card, stick it on the next sheet, finish painting again, but on the other side of the card, that is, turn the figure into another picture. You can turn the card and a sheet of paper over when drawing as you want! Thus, you can turn a card with the same figure into different pictures. The game lasts until all the children finish drawing the figures. Then the children talk about their drawings.

Game "Different Tales"

Purpose: to teach children to imagine different situations, using a visual model as a plan.

The teacher builds any sequence of images on the demonstration board (two standing men, two running men, three trees, a house, a bear, a fox, a princess, etc.) Children are invited to come up with a fairy tale based on pictures, observing their sequence.

Can be used different options: the child independently composes the whole fairy tale, the next kid should not repeat his plot. If this is difficult for children, you can compose a fairy tale for everyone at the same time: the first one starts, the next one continues. Then the images are reversed and a new fairy tale is composed.

Exercise "Come up with your own end to the fairy tale"

Purpose: development of creative imagination.

Invite children to change and compose their own end to familiar fairy tales.

"The gingerbread man did not sit on the tongue of the fox, but rolled on and met ...".

"The wolf did not manage to eat the kids because ..." and so on.

Bibliography

Vygotsky L.S. Imagination and creativity in childhood. M., 1991.-93 p.
Galiguzov L.N. Creative manifestations in the game of children of early age // Questions of psychology, 1993. №2. S. 17-26.
T.V. Zelenkova Activation of creative imagination in primary schoolchildren / Primary school, 1995. No. 10. P.4-8.
L. S. Korshunova Imagination and its role in cognition. M., 1979.- 145 p.

The first images of the child's imagination are associated with the processes of perception and his play activity. A one and a half year old child is still not interested in listening to the stories (fairy tales) of adults, since he still lacks the experience that generates the processes of perception. At the same time, one can observe how in the imagination of a child playing a suitcase, for example, turns into a train, a silent doll, indifferent to everything that happens, into a crying little man, offended by someone, a pillow into an affectionate friend. During the formation of speech, the child even more actively uses his imagination in his games, because his life observations expand sharply. However, all this happens as if by itself, unintentionally.

From 3 to 5 years, arbitrary forms of imagination "grow up". Images of imagination can appear either as a reaction to an external stimulus (for example, at the request of others), or initiated by the child himself, while imaginary situations are often purposeful in nature, with an ultimate goal and a premeditated scenario.

The school period is characterized by the rapid development of imagination, due to the intensive process of acquiring versatile knowledge and using it in practice.

Individual characteristics imaginations are vividly manifested in the process of creativity. In this area of human activity, the imagination of significance is placed on a par with thinking. It is important that for the development of imagination it is necessary to create conditions for a person under which freedom of action, independence, initiative, and relaxedness are manifested.

It has been proven that imagination is closely connected with other mental processes (memory, thinking, attention, perception) that serve learning activities... Thus, not paying enough attention to the development of the imagination, primary teachers reduce the quality of education.

In general, junior schoolchildren usually do not have any problems associated with the development of children's imagination, so that almost all children who play a lot and variedly in preschool childhood have a well-developed and rich imagination. The main questions that in this area may still arise before the child and the teacher at the beginning of learning concern the connection between imagination and attention, the ability to regulate imagery through voluntary attention, as well as the assimilation of abstract concepts that can be imagined and presented to a child, as well as an adult. hard enough.

Senior preschool and primary school age are classified as the most favorable, sensitive for the development of creative imagination and fantasy. The games and conversations of children reflect the power of their imagination, one might even say, a riot of fantasy. In their stories, conversations, reality and fantasy are often mixed, and the images of imagination can, by virtue of the law of the emotional reality of imagination, be experienced by children as completely real. The experience of them is so strong that the child feels the need to talk about it. Such fantasies (they are also found in adolescents) are often perceived by others as a lie.

In early school age, in addition, there is an active development of the recreational imagination.

In children of primary school age, several types of imagination are distinguished. It can be recreational (creating an image of an object according to its description) and creative (creating new images that require the selection of material in accordance with the concept).

The question of the realism of children's imagination is connected with the question of the relationship of images that arise in children to reality. The realism of the child's imagination manifests itself in all forms of activity available to him: in play, in visual activity, when listening to fairy tales, etc. In play, for example, a child's demand for plausibility in a play situation increases with age.

Observations show that the child seeks to portray well-known events truthfully, as it happens in life. In many cases, a change in reality is caused by ignorance, inability to coherently, consistently depict the events of life. The realism of the imagination of a younger student is especially clearly manifested in the selection of the attributes of the game. For a younger preschooler, everything can be for everyone in the game. In older preschoolers, the selection of material for the game is already taking place according to the principles of external similarity.

The obligatory and main character of the game for schoolchildren in grades 1-2 is a doll. Any necessary "real" actions can be performed with it. She can be fed, clothed, she can express her feelings. It is even better to use a live kitten for this purpose, since you can really feed it, put it to bed, etc.

The adjustments to the situation and the images introduced in the course of play by children of primary school age give the play and the images themselves imaginary features that bring them more and more closer to reality.

Realism of the imagination involves the creation of images that do not contradict reality, but are not necessarily a direct reproduction of everything perceived in life.

The imagination of a younger student is also characterized by another feature: the presence of elements of reproductive, simple reproduction. This trait of children's imagination is expressed in the fact that in their games, for example, they repeat the actions and positions that they observed in adults, act out the stories that they experienced, that they saw in the movies, reproducing the life of the school, family, etc. without changes. The theme of the game is the reproduction of impressions that took place in the lives of children; the storyline of the game is a reproduction of what has been seen, experienced and necessarily in the same sequence in which it took place in life.

However, with age, the elements of reproductive, simple reproduction in the imagination of the younger schoolchild become less and less, and more and more creative processing of ideas appears.

V.S. Mukhina notes that at primary school age, a child in his imagination can already create a variety of situations. Being formed in the game substitution of some objects by others, the imagination goes over to other types of activity.

In the process of the educational activity of schoolchildren, which goes in the elementary grades from living contemplation, a large role, as psychologists note, is played by the level of development of cognitive processes: attention, memory, perception, observation, imagination, memory, thinking. The development and improvement of imagination will be more effective with purposeful work in this direction, which will entail the expansion of the cognitive capabilities of children.

At the primary school age, for the first time, there is a division of play and labor, that is, activities carried out for the sake of pleasure, which the child will receive in the process of the activity itself and activities aimed at achieving an objectively significant and socially evaluated result. This distinction between play and work, including educational work, is an important feature of school age.

The value of imagination in primary school age is the highest and necessary human ability. At the same time, it is this ability that needs special care in terms of development. And it develops especially intensively at the age of 5 to 15 years. And if this period of imagination is not specially developed, then a rapid decrease in the activity of this function occurs.

Along with a decrease in a person's ability to fantasize, the personality becomes impoverished, the possibilities of creative thinking decrease, interest in art, science, and so on dies out.

However, fantasy, like any form of mental reflection, should have a positive direction of development. It should contribute to better self-disclosure and self-improvement of the person in terms of knowledge of the surrounding world, and not develop into passive daydreaming, a substitute real life dreams. To complete this task, it is necessary to help the child use his imagination capabilities in the direction of progressive self-development, to activate cognitive activities schoolchildren, in particular the development of theoretical, abstract thinking, attention, speech and creativity in general. Children of primary school age are very fond of doing artistic creativity. It allows the child to reveal his personality in the most complete free form. All artistic activity is based on active imagination, creative thinking. These functions provide the child with a new, unusual view of the world.

Thus, one cannot but agree with the conclusions of psychologists and researchers that imagination is one of the most important mental processes and the success of mastering the school curriculum largely depends on the level of its development, especially in children of primary school age.

Imagination plays an important role in the mental development of a younger student. It supplements the perception with elements of past experience, the child's own experiences, transforms the past and the present through generalization, connection with emotions, feelings, sensations, ideas. Thanks to imagination, planning and goal-setting are carried out, in which the future result of the activity of a younger student is created in the imagination, exists in his mind and directs his activity to obtain the desired result. Imagination provides anticipation, modeling and creation of an image of the future (positive or negative consequences of certain actions, the course of interaction, the content of the situation) by generalizing the elements of the child's past experience and establishing cause-and-effect relationships between its elements. If a junior schoolchild is deprived of the opportunity to really act or be in a certain situation, then by the power of his imagination he is transferred there and performs actions in his imagination, thereby replacing the real reality with the imaginary. In addition, imagination is an important basis for younger students' understanding of other people and interpersonal communication, contributing to the representation of what others are experiencing in this moment time of emotions and states. Thus, imagination occupies an important place in the structure of the child's mental activity, being included in its cognitive, emotional, sensory and behavioral components; is an integral part of educational and other types of activity, social interaction and cognition of primary schoolchildren: it participates in the arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and mental states of the child, affects the nature of the flow of emotional and volitional processes, provides purposeful planning and programming of various types of activity.

In primary school age, a recreational (reproductive) imagination, which involves the creation of images from a verbal description or a conventional image, and a creative (productive) imagination, which is distinguished by a significant processing of the source material and the creation of new images, develop. The main direction in the development of imagination in primary school age is a gradual transition to an ever more correct and complete reflection of reality on the basis of accumulated knowledge, from a simple arbitrary combination of ideas to a logically reasoned combination.

A distinctive feature of the imagination of a younger student is also its reliance on specific objects, without which it is difficult for them to create images of imagination. In the same way, when reading and telling, a younger student relies on an image, on a specific image. Without this, students find it difficult to imagine, to recreate the described situation. At the beginning of primary school age, the imagination relies on specific objects, but with age, the word begins to come first.

In the process of learning, with the general development of the ability of self-regulation and control of one's mental activity, the imagination also becomes more and more controlled and controlled by the process, and its images arise within the framework learning objectives related to a certain content of educational activities. Learning activity promotes intensive development of the recreational imagination. In the process of educational activity, junior schoolchildren are given a lot of descriptive information, which requires them to constantly recreate images, without which it is impossible to comprehend the educational material and assimilate it, that is, the recreating imagination of a junior schoolchild from the very beginning of training is included in purposeful educational activity. The basis for the imagination of the younger student is his ideas. Therefore, the development of imagination largely depends on the system of thematic ideas about various subjects and the phenomena of the surrounding world.

Practical example

To activate and develop reproductive imagination in the classroom of literary reading, the game technique "Drawing up images of objects" is used, in which children are read out a description of the appearance of a hero, object and then asked to draw a hero or object according to the description.

The younger school age in general can be considered the most favorable, sensitive period for the development of creative imagination and fantasy. Games, productive activities, communication of younger students reflect the power of their imagination. In their stories, conversations, reality and imaginary images are often mixed, and the presented unreal phenomena can, by virtue of the law of the emotional reality of imagination, be experienced by children as completely real. Their experience is so intense that younger students feel the need to talk about it. Such children's fantasies are often perceived by the people around them as manifestations of deceit and deception. However, if these stories invented by the child do not pursue any profit, then they are not a lie, but a fantasy that is at odds with reality. As the child grows up, such fantasizing ceases to be a simple continuation of the fantasies of a preschooler, who himself believes in his own fantasy as a reality. Younger schoolchildren begin to realize the conventionality of their fantasy, its inconsistency with reality.

In the minds of a younger student, real concrete knowledge and captivating images of the imagination built on its basis coexist. With age, the role of fantasy, divorced from reality, decreases, and the realism of children's imagination increases, which is due to the expansion of horizons and general awareness of the surrounding reality and the development of critical thinking. Realism of the imagination manifests itself in the creation of images that do not contradict reality, but are not necessarily an accurate reproduction real events... The question of the realism of children's imagination is connected with the question of the attitude of the images that arise in younger schoolchildren to reality. The realism of the child's imagination is manifested in all types of activity available to him: in games, in visual and constructive activities, when listening to fairy tales, etc. In play, for example, a child's demands on plausibility in a play situation increase with age. The child seeks to depict well-known events in real life, as happens in life, and a change in reality is often caused by ignorance, inability to consistently and consistently depict actual events. The realism of imagination at primary school age is especially pronounced when choosing the attributes of play activity. Unlike preschoolers, younger students make a strict selection game material according to the principle of its maximum closeness to real objects. The amendments to the play situation and imaginary images introduced in the process of play activity by children of primary school age give the play imaginary features that are more and more consistent with reality.

Provided with small abbreviations

Preschoolers love the world of fantasy and fairy tales. They are very fond of the game, in which the role of imagination is great. So, for the guys it is enough to sit on a stick to imagine themselves as a rider, and three chairs placed one behind the other can be a fast train. Younger schoolchildren also have an intense imagination, but the imagery of school-age children is closer to reality, more accurately reflecting it.
So, if for a preschooler two sticks tied in a cross is already an airplane, then the younger student is not satisfied with this and tries to make something more like a real airplane for the game, and the teenager will try to ensure that the toy plane can stay in the air a little. On this basis, some think that with age (due to the development of thinking), the imagination weakens, becomes less vivid and richer in content. This is not entirely true. Since in the process of imagination past ideas are processed, the more experience and impressions a person has, the richer his imagination can be. A child only more often than an adult resorts to fantasy, replacing reality with it.
A characteristic feature of the imagination of younger students is the clarity and concreteness of the images created. The child imagines in his mind what he saw in nature or in a picture. Pupils in grades I and sometimes even II find it difficult to imagine something that has no support in specific subjects and illustrations. Thus, the child reluctantly agrees to admit that he is facing a “soldier” if the “soldier” does not have a stick in his hand, representing a rifle. Older students primary grades it is easier to do without external attributes (signs), although they like to use them. A preschooler, more than a primary school student, believes in what his imagination creates. This uncritical approach to images of the imagination leads to the fact that it is often difficult for a child to separate the product of his fantasy from reality (this explains the so-called children's lie). The younger student looks more critically at what is a figment of his imagination. He understands the conventionality of what he has thought of and accepts this convention in play.
In Leo Tolstoy's autobiographical story "Childhood", the attitude to the fantasy of a ten-year-old boy and his older brother Volodya is described as follows: and in a pose that has nothing to do with the angler's pose. I noticed this to him; but he replied that from the fact that we wave our hands more or less, we won’t gain and we won’t lose, and yet we won’t get far. I unwittingly agreed with him. When, imagining that I was going hunting, with a stick on my shoulder, I went into the forest, Volodya lay down on his back, threw his hands under his head and told me that he was walking too. Such actions and words, chilling us to the game, were extremely unpleasant, especially since it was impossible to disagree in my heart that Volodya was acting prudently.
I myself know that not only can you kill a bird with a stick, but you cannot shoot at all. It's a game. If you think so, then you can't ride on chairs either. If you really judge, then there will be no game. And there will be no game, what then remains? "
This passage very clearly characterizes, firstly, the peculiarities of the imagination of a child of primary school age, who perfectly knows how to distinguish between the unreal and the real, and, secondly, it shows the difference in attitudes towards the images of the fantasy of a ten-year-old child and a teenager.
Children’s imaginations change under the influence of teaching. There appears a greater stability of images of the imagination, which are better preserved in memory, become richer and more diverse due to the expansion of the horizons, the acquired knowledge.
The imagination of a younger student is largely imitative in nature. The child in his inventions and games tries to reproduce what he saw or heard, to repeat what he observed. Therefore, his imagination is mainly of a recreational (reproductive) character.
During the learning process, this recreational imagination has a very great importance, since without it it is impossible to perceive and understand educational material. Teaching contributes to the development of this type of imagination, enriches it. In addition, in younger schoolchildren, the imagination is increasingly connected with his life experience, and it does not remain a passive process (fruitless fantasizing), but gradually becomes a stimulus to activity. The child seeks to embody the images and thoughts that have arisen in real objects (in drawings, toys, various crafts, sometimes useful ones), on the manufacture of which one needs to work hard.

Imagination plays an important role in the mental development of a younger student. It supplements the perception with elements of past experience, the child's own experiences, transforms the past and the present through generalization, connection with emotions, feelings, sensations, ideas. Thanks to imagination, planning and goal-setting are carried out, in which the future result of the activity of a younger student is created in the imagination, exists in his mind and directs his activity to obtain the desired result. Imagination provides anticipation, modeling and creation of an image of the future (positive or negative consequences of certain actions, the course of interaction, the content of the situation) by generalizing the elements of the child's past experience and establishing cause-and-effect relationships between its elements. If a junior schoolchild is deprived of the opportunity to really act or be in a certain situation, then by the power of his imagination he is transferred there and performs actions in his imagination, thereby replacing the real reality with the imaginary. In addition, imagination is an important basis for understanding other people and interpersonal communication by younger students, contributing to the representation of emotions and states experienced by others at a given time. Thus, imagination occupies an important place in the structure of the child's mental activity, being included in its cognitive, emotional, sensory and behavioral components; is an integral part of educational and other types of activity, social interaction and cognition of primary schoolchildren: it participates in the arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and mental states of the child, affects the nature of the flow of emotional and volitional processes, provides purposeful planning and programming of various types of activity.

In the learning process, with the general development of the ability to self-regulate and control one's mental activity, imagination also becomes an increasingly controlled and controlled process, and its images arise within the framework of educational tasks associated with a certain content of educational activity. Learning activity promotes intensive development of the recreational imagination. In the process of educational activity, junior schoolchildren are given a lot of descriptive information, which requires them to constantly recreate images, without which it is impossible to comprehend the educational material and assimilate it, that is, the recreating imagination of a junior schoolchild from the very beginning of training is included in purposeful educational activity. The basis for the imagination of the younger student is his ideas. Therefore, the development of imagination largely depends on the child's system of thematic ideas about various objects and phenomena of the surrounding world.

Practical example: To activate and develop reproductive imagination in literary reading classes, the game technique "Drawing up images of objects" is used, in which children are read out a description of the appearance of a hero, object and then asked to draw a hero or object according to the description.

In the minds of a younger student, real concrete knowledge and captivating images of the imagination built on its basis coexist. With age, the role of fantasy, divorced from reality, decreases, and the realism of children's imagination increases, which is due to the expansion of horizons and general awareness of the surrounding reality and the development of critical thinking. The realism of the imagination is manifested in the creation of images that do not contradict reality, but are not necessarily an accurate reproduction of real events. The question of the realism of children's imagination is connected with the question of the attitude of the images that arise in younger schoolchildren to reality. The realism of the child's imagination is manifested in all types of activity available to him: in games, in visual and constructive activities, when listening to fairy tales, etc. In play, for example, a child's demands on plausibility in a play situation increase with age. The child seeks to depict well-known events in real life, as happens in life, and a change in reality is often caused by ignorance, inability to consistently and consistently depict actual events. The realism of imagination at primary school age is especially pronounced when choosing the attributes of play activity. Unlike preschoolers, junior schoolchildren make a strict selection of play material based on the principle of its maximum closeness to real objects. The amendments to the play situation and imaginary images introduced in the process of play activity by children of primary school age give the play imaginary features that are more and more consistent with reality.

The main directions of the development of the imagination of a younger student:

improving the planning of creating images of the imagination;
increasing the accuracy and certainty of images of the imagination;
an increase in the variety and originality of the products of the imagination;
reduction of elements of reproductive reproduction of images;
increasing the realism and controllability of images of the imagination;
strengthening the connection between imagination and thinking;
the transition of imagination from an activity that needs external support into an independent internal activity based on speech.

1. At first, the images of the imagination are vague, unclear, gradually they become more precise and definite.

2. At first, only a few signs are reflected in the images of the imagination, and by the end of primary school age there are much more, and essential ones.

3. The processing of images, accumulated knowledge and ideas in the 1st grade is insignificant, and by the 3rd grade the children accumulate much more knowledge and the images of the imagination become more diverse, generalized and brighter.

4. At the beginning, any image of the imagination requires support on a specific object or its image, a model, and then gradually reliance on the word develops, which allows younger students to create a mentally new image.

In early school age, in general, children may imagine much less than an adult, but they have greater confidence in their imaginations and weaker control over them. Therefore, it often seems that the imagination of children is more developed than that of adults. However, the knowledge and ideas that make up the material from which the images of the imagination are built are much less in younger schoolchildren than in an adult. The nature of the methods of synthesizing images of imagination, their combinations, quality and variety used by primary schoolchildren are also significantly inferior to adults. The lack of developed self-control in fantasizing gives rise to the illusion of ease with which the child produces more and more new images of imagination. Children have only a greater brightness of images, they also have little control over them.

The imagination of a younger student is distinguished by the presence of elements of reproductive, simple reproduction. Initially, the imagination of junior schoolchildren is distinguished by a slight reworking of existing ideas. In the game or productive activities children display what they saw and experienced in almost the same sequence in which it took place in their personal experience... As they grow older, the number of elements of reproductive, simple reproduction in the imagination of a younger student becomes less and less. In the future, the creative processing of ideas and the development of creative imagination are intensified.

M.E. Vannik highlighted the main stages of creative imagination in primary school children:

preparatory (urge to create),
carrying an idea (sketch, sketching: this stage can be minimized for children), implementation of an idea (creating a specific work),
presentation of the result (for example, an exhibition of works, this stage is of particular importance for children).

The following conditions contribute to the development of creative imagination: the inclusion of students in different kinds activities, the use of non-traditional forms of lessons, the creation of problem situations, excursions, the use of role-playing games, independent work, planning work on the implementation of products, the use of various materials, the use of various types of tasks, including psychological tasks and exercises. Such aspects of educational and cognitive activity as content, organizational, and subjective should be activated.

Practical example: To activate and develop creative imagination in the classroom literary reading the game techniques "Tales with three ends" are used, in which schoolchildren are invited to come up with several options for ending well-known fairy tales;

According to O.V. Davydova, the creative imagination of junior schoolchildren is intensively developing due to a special complex of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the development of students on the basis of interdisciplinary connections, which includes: interactive learning through cooperation; organization of problem creative activity; use of integrated content.

Conditions for the development of the creative imagination of primary schoolchildren on the basis of intersubject connections

1. Interactive learning through collaboration

Methods and techniques: cooperation at the stage of motivation: conversation, didactic games, cooperation at the stage of organization: the formulation of the problem by the teacher or students, options for solving problem-creative tasks during brainstorming, visual methods, methodological drawing, cooperation at the control stage: encouragement, approval of novelty, unusual ideas, selection of works for a portfolio

Forms of training:

Means of education: reliance on informal and formal knowledge, interest based on the knowledge of mythology, the use of visualization not for copying, but for combination, creating a situation of success in visual art (visualization, methodological drawing, encouragement, approval), creative book (portfolio), individual and collective grade

2. Organization of problem-creative activities

Methods and techniques: didactic games, conversation, heuristic, problematic and visual methods, the use of visualization (including methodological drawing) not for copying, but for combining, cooperation and diplomacy in solving problems, accessible creative tasks of open mud, brainstorming, personal or social significance of tasks ; creative atmosphere; using a variety of visual materials and techniques, creating situations of success, encouraging, approving novelty, unusual ideas

Forms of training: collective-group and individual-collective lessons, exhibitions, dialogue of cultures

Means of education: the use of contradictions between knowledge of history, mythology and the application of this knowledge in new practical conditions, the discrepancy between knowledge and new requirements; the contradiction between theoretical and practical implementation: knowledge of the methods and methods of creative imagination; assimilation of ways to create an artistic image; mastering the techniques of visual activity with a variety of materials, self-realization in creativity, completing control tasks

3. Use of integrated educational content

Methods and techniques: block study of topics in quarters (7-10 lessons), reliance on interdisciplinary knowledge of history and fine arts, the inclusion of mythology, conversation, visual methods, brainstorming, didactic games, the use of the regional component, cooperation, solving problem-creative tasks of practically significant significance, ZUN possession of visual literacy in a variety of materials and technologies

Forms of training: collective-group and individual-collective lessons, exhibitions, dialogue of cultures

Means of education: isolation of the general basis for the content of the subject programs "Fine Arts" and "History", which can be traced in the mythological knowledge of the content of each of the listed subjects, the use of verbal, visual and audiovisual means (the latter were also used in the first two conditions)

The author believes that since under the conditions of a general education school, the experience of younger schoolchildren expands due to the knowledge of parallel subjects studied, educational and cognitive activities aimed at developing creative imagination should be based on interdisciplinary connections that allow transforming elements of reality using the experience of previous generations.

Intensive development of the creative imagination of younger schoolchildren in the learning process occurs on the basis of the principle of creative awakening (creating a creative atmosphere in the classroom, encouraging students to creative activity based on new, vivid, emotional impressions and ideas), the principle of dialogicity (creative cooperation between teachers and students), the principle creative self-expression (reflection of one's own impressions in the created images), based on the close relationship of "external" and "internal" psychological conditions. These include favorable psychological climate in the classroom, trust between the teacher and the students, the student's “openness” to the experience of creative activity, the internal locus of performance assessment, etc. Favorable conditions for the disclosure of the creative potential of the teacher and students are created within the framework of innovative teaching. The level of recreational imagination that a child has reached by the end of primary school age can be assessed by such indicators as formal adequacy, emotionality, originality and integrity of the image recreation. To assess the level of development of the creative imagination of junior schoolchildren, one can use such criteria as the quantitative productivity of the activity, the originality of the imagination, the flexibility of using ideas.