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Contradictionary results of studies on the development of self-regulation in different activities in children are identified. The structure of self-regulation includes the ability to goal-setting, modeling conditions of activities, programming actions and self-control. The specificity of the manifestation of these abilities in different types of activity and features in preschool children is shown.

The method includes four problem situations. The first part is aimed at diagnosing the ability to self-regulate cognitive activity (metacognitive abilities). The second part is aimed at diagnosing the ability to self-regulate play activity (metaplay abilities).

Situations 1 and 3 suggest a hypothetical inclusion of the child in cognitive and play activities. The child must identify the goal and objectives, the conditions for the implementation of the activity and the program of action. Situations 2 and 4 are aimed at diagnosing self-control in cognitive and play activities. These situations imply a child’s assessment of «completing the assignment by other children».

Testing results indicate a relatively uniform distribution of the examined children according to the level of development of self-regulation abilities in different types of activities. Close and moderate correlation between the indicators of the abilities in cognitive and play activities was found. However, only 8% of the examined children showed a harmonious profile of metacognitive and meta-play abilities.

Self-regulation in preschool children has its own specifics in different types of activities. To diagnose metacognitive and metaplay abilities, it is necessary to use different diagnostic tasks. The results of testing the method indicate that it can be used in scientific research and for the diagnosis of mental development of preschool children.

This study provided a detailed analysis of lexical development in children with different level of executive functions in preschool age. The study was conducted by a sample of 279 children 5-6 years old, which were examined the level of executive functioning (executive-loaded working memory, switching, inhibition) and language ability to verbal fluency performance. We used the test “Associative series” to evaluate language ability to verbal fluency performance in free associations. The relationships between verbal fluency performance in free associations and executive functioning were discovered in lexical development of speech with auditory working memory and cognitive flexibility. Productivity in free associations was connected with spatial working memory and directed associations (naming of actions and animals) was connected with inhibition.

A child’s ability to manage own activity is a condition of effective learning. The self-regulation of cognitive activity is carried out by means of metacognitive processes: goal-setting; highlighting the conditions of activity; programs of action; self-control. Metacognitive processes can be formal and dialectical according to the contents. Formal regulatory structures define knowledge as a set of unrelated actions aimed at the study of static and isolated properties of object. Dialectic metacognitive structures direct the subject to a comprehensive investigation of object, usage of all available resources, application of the different action programs and the substantial analysis of the achievements. Usage of visual models promotes the development of metacognitive processes in children of preschool age. It is difficult for children to hold the plan of activity and to control achievements due to the nature of their arbitrariness, thinking and memory. Experimental study of 40 children of 4-6 years showed that the visual models are an effective means of regulation of cognitive activity during its realization. The use of such models in the educational activity significantly influences on development of metacognitive processes such as analysis of the conditions of knowledge and programming of actions. Formation of the dialectical notion of cognition and skills to plan a cognitive process is organized by usage of metacognitive conversations. Such work is most effective with children 5–6 years.

Background. The article analyzes the problem of cognitive regulation in children with different language status during the pre-school period, which allows for a more specific understanding of the trajectories of cognitive development in a multilingual and multicultural educational environment.

Objective. To identify differences in executive functions and divergent thinking between balanced bilingual preschoolers (Russian/Tatar) and monolinguals (Russian), and to establish the patterns of correlations between these indicators within each group.

Sample. The empirical study involved 120 preschool children aged 5 to 7 years (M = 6.15; Med = 6.1) of which 60 were balanced bilinguals (Russian and Tatar) and 60 were monolinguals (Russian).

Methods. The research employed observation, an associative experiment, and psychodiagnostic methods aimed at studying executive functions and divergent thinking in preschool children. Data processing was carried out using descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U-test, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Results. Significant differences were found in all indicators of executive functions and divergent thinking, with higher scores in bilingual children. The identified relationships between executive functions and thinking processes made it possible to establish different trajectories in the development of the self-regulation system of creative thinking in preschoolers with different language status: convergence of executive functions and thinking processes, forming an integral system of cognitive regulation in bilinguals; local coherence of executive functions and thinking processes in monolinguals.

Conclusions. The results can be used in the development of psychological and educational technologies, as well as in the design of individual educational pathways that promote the development of the regulatory-cognitive sphere in primary school children with different language status.

Background. Heritage games may offer culturally responsive ways to strengthen preschoolers’ meta-skills that support early mathematics and science learning, yet evidence from Central Asia is limited.

Objective. To examine whether a traditional Kazakh game, Asyk atu, improves metacognitive regulation and self-regulation behaviours in Kazakh-speaking preschoolers.

Sample. 108 children aged 5–6 years (66% girls; mean age 5.46 years) from four intact kindergarten groups in Almaty; the sample reflected the usual composition of classrooms.

Methods. Cluster pretest–posttest quasi-experiment (September 2024–May 2025); 101 children completed posttesting. The intervention included 72 teacher-led 30-min sessions twice weekly integrating explicit planning–monitoring–evaluation prompts into Asyk atu play, while comparison groups continued usual practice. Metacognitive regulation (0–24) was coded from a standardized play-based problem-solving task, and meta-understanding (0–8) from a four-item reflective interview.

Results. For 5-year-olds, metacognitive regulation increased from 10.6±3.4 to 15.07±3.0 in the intervention group versus 10.7±3.2 to 11.5±3.1 in the comparison group (Δ=3.67; p=0.018; d=0.78). For 6-year-olds, gains were 12.35±3.2 to 16.12±2.9 versus 12.4±3.1 to 13.0±3.0 (Δ=3.17; p=0.041; d=0.61). Meta-understanding improved in the intervention group, but between-group differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion. A year-long, low-cost Asyk atu program embedded in routine preschool practice produced moderate-to-large improvements in observed metacognitive/self-regulation behaviours.