Elizaveta Makarova

Spatial thinking is an important aspect of a child's intellectual development. Spatial thinking, according to I. S. Yakimanskaya, is a specific type of mental activity, the essence of which is operating with spatial images in the process of solving problems that require orientation in both visible and imaginary space. Since visual and imaginative thinking activity of a primary school student is the leading activity, this age is the sensitive period for the development of spatial thinking. Educational robotics has great opportunities for the development of this type of thinking, since it involves not only the mental identification of spatial properties and relationships in objects and phenomena, manipulating with images, but also the handwork, which gives kinesthetic sensations and the ability to operate with real objects. This is a new direction of extracurricular activities in primary school, the potential of which for the development of spatial thinking of students is not sufficiently studied. Accordingly, the purpose of the article is theoretical and experimental substantiation of pedagogical conditions for the formation of spatial thinking of primary school children in robotics classes in extracurricular activities. The leading approach here is the system activity-oriented approach. Training is structured in such a way that it purposefully leads to development, and in the organization of the educational process, the main role is given to active independent cognitive activity of the student under the guidance of a teacher. This study made it possible for the authors to identify pedagogical conditions for the formation of spatial thinking of primary school students at the extracurricular robotics classes, including identifying and taking into account the levels of spatial thinking development in students and the conditions for its further development; competent use of practical work at extracurricular educational robotics classes; application of a series of tasks aimed at the development of spatial thinking of primary school children; equipment of the classroom with the necessary training tools (blocks, laptops, software, didactic materials). The theoretical significance of the article is due to the contribution to the development of methodological ideas about the conditions for the formation of spatial thinking of younger students in extracurricular robotics classes. Practical use of the research results makes it possible to organize extracurricular educational robotics classes for primary school students more effectively.