Formation of Skills Oriented towards Sustainable Development in Senior Preschool Children through Research and Development Activities

In the context of Ukraine's European integration aspirations, the need to implement the concept of sustainable development in the country is becoming more urgent.The content of the concept of 'sustainable development' was formed in the report 'Our Common Future' by Gro Harlem Brutland in 1987 at the meeting of the International Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations Environment Programme.The document defined this concept as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' [1] It is undeniable that education, including preschool education, is becoming the most important factor in ensuring sustainable development of society.It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the preschool educational period for the formation of skills focused on sustainable development in children.After all, preschool age is a period of active personal development, during which basic skills and values are formed that shape a person's future attitude to nature and society.There is a large number of scientific studies that address the problem of sustainable development, analyse the theory and practice of its modern implementation.In the field of preschool education, the problem of sustainable development has been considered by many representatives of pedagogical science: N. Havrysh, O. Bezsonova, O. Pometun, L. Prysiazhniuk and others.Despite the interest of scientists in the problem, the search for effective ways to form skills focused on sustainable development in preschoolers remains relevant.The purpose of our article is to consider practical approaches to the formation of the above mentioned skills in senior preschool children.Traditionally, scientists consider the concept of sustainable development in the unity of three components: environmental, economic and social.[2] We believe that the environmental component for preschool age is a priority, since in this period the foundations for a careful attitude to nature and resources are laid.At the same time, environmental aspects can be interpreted as elementary knowledge about the efficient use of resources, friendly attitude towards other people, the development of skills of joint work and mutual assistance.By exploring the world through experiments and observations, preschoolers learn to ask questions, seek answers and draw conclusions.This contributes to their development as active and conscious individuals.Among the practical approaches to the formation of sustainable development skills through research and development activities are the following: