Heuristic games are designed to develop logical connections that the child must establish in the process of their formation.
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These help the child not only to understand a certain situation as a whole, but also to grasp, at first glance, the invisible relationships that exist objectively between objects, things and people.
By building a chain of inferences, the child comes to an important conclusion: everything in this world is interconnected, it is only important to direct her thought correctly, and then a surprising discovery will be made.
The term "heuristic play" was designed by the pedagogue Eleanor Goldschmied, an English educator who supervised the play of children under three years of age.
"Heuristic" means to help figure out or discover something through trial and error. This is not a new method of interacting with a child.
Heuristic games are common to all young children, at all times. Remember the interest with which a one-year-old baby goes to the kitchen takes everything out of the drawers, with what interest she looks at the objects located there, and tries to perform some manipulations with them.
Treasure boxes for the little ones are already widespread and are used by many readers. But few people are familiar with the concept of "heuristic game".
Heuristic play is a play activity in which children interact with different types of objects, shapes, and materials.
Heuristic game features
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Various natural materials are collected in large boxes or baskets: cones, chestnuts, shells, pebbles, as well as ribbons, short and long chains. Articles made of wood, cardboard, metal, fabric, leather. Traditionally, they put wooden rings for curtains, cans with lids, sturdy cardboard tubes, rings of masking tape.
Plastic objects are not placed in a basket of this type, since these objects do not stimulate the sensory development of the baby to the appropriate extent. As a general rule, they are light, equal to the touch, odorless and can have bright and unnatural colors.
The basket must contain 60 to 80 items.
It should be in a place inaccessible to the child and should be provided once a day (or even less frequently) for 30-40 minutes, to maintain a high level of interest for the child.
Heuristic play is recommended for children from 12 to 20 months.
What good is the "heuristic" game for a child after one year?
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During play the child naturally concentrates on her own actions. This game helps to engage the child in the learning process, as well as to maintain the child's curiosity for a long period of time. This game gives the child enormous opportunities to gain her own experience and saturate the sensory sphere of the child.
This heuristic game activity allows young explorers to discover the world around them at their own pace.
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