Children are highly motivated by live animals, but they rarely get to meet them in kindergarten on a regular basis. Not often does a teacher bring an animal to a kindergarten and keeps it there for some time. Children learn best when they have direct experience - when they can observe, touch or hold an animal and experience it by themselves. By observing and caring for the animal, they learn about it and develop a respectful attitude towards it. This is why I decided to use a live animal in my thesis research. I chose a snake because it is a less popular animal that often evokes fear or disgust in people.
I wanted to find out about the knowledge and attitudes of 5-6 year old children about the snake, to design and implement activities suitable for pre-school children aged 5-6 years old, which would help children to form a positive attitude towards the snake and to acquire knowledge about the snake, and finally to find out how the implementation of these activities influenced the attitudes of 5-6 year old children towards the snake and their knowledge about the snake. The study involved 21 children aged 5-6 years. First, I conducted semi-structured individual interviews with the children, in which I used a live snake (the American rattlesnake) to determine the children's behavioral response when they met this animal. This way I was able to determine the initial state of their knowledge and their attitudes towards the snake. I then carried out various activities in which the children actively participated, learning about the snake and developing a positive attitude towards it through various activities involving contact with the live snake and caring for it in the playroom. One day after the completion of all the activities, I repeated the individual interviews (which contained the same set of questions as the initial interviews). This way, I was able to determine the impact of the activities on children's attitudes and knowledge about the snake. To determine if the children gained lasting knowledge and if their attitude towards the snake changed over time, I also carried out final interviews four weeks after the end of all activities. The results of the interviews were analyzed quantitatively and presented in tables and graphs.
The results of the survey showed that their initial perceptions of the snake were mostly incorrect or superficial. Children did not know which body parts make up a snake, what it eats, how it gets its food, why it uses its tongue, how to behave when encountering it and why it is important for the natural ecosystem. After the activities, the children's knowledge about snakes has improved significantly. The activities also gradually changed their attitudes towards the snake. In the initial testing, the children were shy and mostly did not want to touch the snake. In the second test, most children showed a more positive attitude towards the snake and wanted to hold it, and in the third test, the vast majority of children were happy to hold the snake.
The research shows that children can learn a great deal if the topic is presented in an interesting and entertaining way, appropriate to their developmental level. The children enjoyed interacting with the snake and showed that they enjoy such experiences.
I think that live animals should be more often included in the pedagogical practice of kindergartens. Such an approach not only contributes to a better understanding of nature but also encourages the development of a respectful attitude towards animals and stimulates children's curiosity.
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