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Background. The article is devoted to the study of the current state of senior preschooler’s free play and the resources for its development through non-directive pedagogical support. Despite the introduction of the Federal State Educational Standard and the great attention paid to the topic of play all over the world, the state of children’s play is alarming. This was confirmed by the ascertaining stage of our study, which showed its extremely low level in 86% of children.

The aim of the study was to identify and analyze the key indicators of free story-driven play and to identify the impact of regular play meetings with non-directive pedagogical support on its development.

Description of the research progress. The study involved 37 senior preschoolers aged 5.8–6.5 years. The methodological apparatus of the study was a modified method by E.O. Smirnova, I.A. Ryabkova. Through observation and careful data recording, play features were obtained and described in terms of such parameters as subject-spatial and content component, game and organizing interaction. The examined group of children was divided into two parts: experimental and control groups. A formative experiment involving 19 children was carried out for two months and was dedicated to exploring the possibilities of developing the play through its non-directive support. Children of the experimental group came once a week for 45-minute play sessions with non-directive support, which were held in a separate room of the kindergarten using of multifunctional material and the absence of traditional toys. Children of the control group continued to lead their usual lifestyle and occasionally came to play, but without special play support. The article describes the principles of pedagogical support, the use of which made it possible to change the features of children’s inclusion in the play and to state the development of different indicators of the game.

Research results. Data analysis showed statistically significant differences in the quality of children’s play in the experimental group and the absence of such differences in the control group. The interaction of children organizing the play and the subject-spatial component of the play have been developed. Game interaction and the content component of the play have not changed so much as a result of play meetings.

Conclusion. The use of unformed materials gave a lot of impulses to both play and construction, productive activities to provide children with play needs. Children’s play initiative has increased, and ways of resolving conflicts have changed. The results obtained and the described approaches can serve as practical material for teachers.

The aim of this study is to uncover the emergence of cultural mathematical understandings and communications in young children’s spontaneous pretend play. It is based on Vygotskian cultural-historical perspectives and socialsemiotic theory, informed by research into ‘funds of knowledge’ and considers how children’s informal knowledge of family practices enriches their play and cultural mathematical understandings. Longitudinal, ethnographic data were gathered in an inner-city mainstream nursery in the south-west of England. Data include written observation and graphics of seven children aged three to four years of age engaged in social pretend play. The findings reveal that many play episodes included aspects of mathematics and that these increased through the year: they show how the children’s home cultural knowledge underpinned their pretend play and informed their mathematics. The children’s graphicacy to communicate mathematics within their pretend play was also evident. The findings show also that where children are immersed in mathematical- and graphical-rich environments, bridging home and early childhood cultures becomes a natural feature of their pretend play. They will add to our understanding of cultural mathematical knowledge in young children.

Relevance. Currently, in most preschool groups there is a minimum level of quality conditions for supporting play. The task is to improve the quality of play support. The article examines the developing potential of regular practice of storytelling as a part of indirect play support in preschool setting.

The aim of the study: to analyze the influence of regular storytelling experience on the development of pretend play.

Methods. 38 children aged 6-7 years from two preschool groups took part in a pedagogical experiment (duration – 7 months). For the initial and repeated assessment of the level of play development we used E.O. Smirnova’s diagnostic tool and the “challenge-response” parameter (L.I. Elkoninova); to assess the level of imagination development – the tool “Where is whose place?” (E.E. Kravtsova). In the experimental group, conditions were created for regular practice of storytelling based on children’s drawings. The results of the pedagogical experiment were assessed by the presence of a shift in the level of development of play and imagination in the experimental and control groups before and after the pedagogical experiment.

Results. Based on the analysis of more than 600 children’s stories, 3 types of children’s stories were identified and 5 trajectories of development of children’s storytelling were described. During the experiment, children moved from a description and sequence of actions to more complex structure with culmination. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the level of development of play and imagination before and after the pedagogical experiment (p<0.01) only in the experimental group.

Conclusions. Regular storytelling is a significant condition for the development of the cognitive aspect of the play associated with substitution, symbolic actions of the child, plot features, as well as the affective side of play associated with the creation of a situation of challenge and response. Storytelling can be seen not as the only necessary condition for the development of play, but as an additional condition (part of indirect support) that expands the capabilities of children playing. The results can be used in developing a strategy for complex play support in preschool organizations.

Background. Storytelling and play with an imaginary situation are important components of a high-quality preschool education, but in the scientific field there are very few studies that analyze the nature of their relationship in preschool age.

Objective: to analyze the interrelation between pretend play of preschoolers and the key features of individual storytelling.

Methods. The study involved 56 children aged 6-7 years. To study the features of the development of play in preschoolers, we used the play diagnostic tool of E.O. Smirnova and the “challenge-response” parameter of L.I. Elkoninova. To study the characteristics of children’s narratives (stories invented based on their own drawings) – the method by O.A. Shiyan «Three Stories».

Results. The sample included children with both high and low levels of development of pretend play (mean= 19.55, sd= 5.34, min=6, max=30), 26.7% of children were found to have “challenge-response” play. Most often, when creating narratives, children used normative (mean=3.86, sd=2.21) and symbolic means (mean=1.48, sd=1.9). A significant interrelation was found between the level of development of play and symbolic and normative means in children’s narratives (p<0.01).

Conclusion. Overall score according to the method of E.O. Smirnova, as well as such parameters of play as play substitution and play idea, turned out to be associated with both symbolic and normative means in children’s narratives. The ability to create a symbolic character in storytelling and action from a role in play, spatial and subject substitution have a similar mechanism and imply the ability not only to create, but to deploy and maintain one’s image. The interrelation indicates a similarity in the use of normative means when constructing play plots and creating individual stories. The results can be used in developing a strategy for complex play support in preschool organizations, as well as in professional development programs for preschool teachers.