Larisa Nikolaeva

The article is devoted to the formation of the initial stages of ecological culture in children of middle preschool age. The urgency of the problem lies in the fact that the ecological condition of the planet is becoming worse every year. Environmental problems, natural disasters are aggravated by the barbaric attitude of people to nature, which makes it necessary to pay special attention to this problem. It is necessary to educate people of a new generation with developed moral values, striving to preserve and protect nature. The formation of an ecological culture must begin from preschool age, so that a child can absorb love and respect for the natural world from an early age. The article presents an analysis of the psychological and pedagogical literature on the environmental education of children in the classic works of domestic and foreign authors and modern approaches to the formation of environmental culture in the conditions of a preschool educational organization. In accordance with age characteristics, playing is the leading activity of preschool children. The purpose of the article is to reveal the role of didactic games in the formation of the ecological culture of children of middle preschool age. Didactic games are special educational games for the formation of children's cognitive activity towards the natural world and the development of a careful attitude towards it. The work is based on the practical testing of research materials in the private kindergarten "Olympionik" in Yakutsk. The authors carried out diagnostics of the level of the ecological culture formation in children at the ascertaining stage of the research. On the basis of the results obtained, a formative experiment was carried out with the use of didactic games. The practical significance and novelty of the research is in the use of regional ecological games, which contributes to the formation of children's knowledge about the nature of their native land. The results of the control stage of the research made it possible to confirm the hypothesis about the role of didactic games for the formation of the ecological culture of children of middle preschool age. Didactic games in the classroom for acquaintance with nature help to form in children cognitive activity, motivation for learning, they play an important role in the spiritual and moral education of children, cultivating a conscious attitude towards nature, love and respect for their native environment. Games make it possible to concretize, expand children's knowledge about nature and natural phenomena, they develop logical thinking, skills of systematization, classification of phenomena and objects.