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The article discusses the results of the study of the emotional well-being of 6-7 years old children of kindergartens in Moscow. The data were obtained through a questionnaire survey of children and their parents using the supplemented Children’s Barometer methodology, consisting of 22 questions for a child and 8 questions for a parent. The study was attended by 151 parent-child couples; children from 15 groups of 5 different preschools. Emotional well-being is based on satisfying the needs of the child, both basic and essential for the age at hand, and essential for personal development including personal relevance, recognition in the group, autonomy and initiative. It was important for us to hear the “voice of the child”, attitude towards kindergarten, what makes child happy and discomforting. It was found that children of 6-7 years old can express their opinion and attitude to what is happening in kindergarten. Organized forms of activity are less interesting for children than free activity; there are discrepancies between children’s and adults’ assessment of issues important for the child; children remember conflicts in kindergarten and it is important for them how the teacher resolves the children’s conflict. The educational environment and style of interaction between adults and children in groups implementing different pedagogical systems influences children’s attitude towards kindergarten, which was shown in significant statistical differences.

The ability to recognize emotional states by the expression of the face is part of the group of competencies necessary for the successful implementation of communication activities. Body language, as an important means of communication, is ambiguous in content, which can lead to difficulties in understanding and responding to information (M. Lisina, Kh. Sherjazdanova). The relevance of learning how to recognize emotions in preschool age is related to the high importance of communicative competence for the child’s socialization in kindergarten and preparation for school.

This paper analyzes research on the characteristics and conditions of development of the ability to recognize emotions in childhood. The majority of scientists allocate the following factors: recognition of emotions by facial expression passes a way from the undifferentiated perception of a sign of emotion through allocation of separate elements of mimicry to the integral and generalized perception; there are distinctions in type of perception of emotions of different modalities; ability to recognize emotions depends on experience of child-parent relations and influences personal and social development of the child.

Based on the results of research by A. Shtetinina, E. Listik, M. Kuzmishcheva, J. Russell, D. Lable, R. Thomson, T. Forslund, S. Denham, etc., the hypothesis about the relationship between the two determinants that make the success of the recognition of emotions in preschool age: the development of the proper cognitive means involved in the process and the peculiarities of interpersonal relationships between the child and parents is substantiated. This conclusion is consistent with the provisions of L. Vygotsky, L. Bozhovich, M. Lisina and others on the important role of communication with a close adult for the mental development of the child: the adult acts as a source of various influences, enriches the experience of the child, sets the task of mastering new knowledge, supports and corrects his efforts, as well as acts as a role model for the child.