From birth, a child is in contact with nature, animals, plants, the environment and other people. He learns and experiences nature and forms his own attitude towards it. The latter can be influenced with the help of fairy tales that deal with the topic of the relationship with nature. In my thesis research, I determined how preschool children aged 4 to 6 understand some Slovenian folk tales and relate their message to nature. I read them 4 Slovenian folk tales, which dealt with the theme of nature, natural phenomena and man's attitude towards animals and other people, the theme of natural disasters, mutual aid and helping people in need, the theme of judging others based on their appearance and the theme of saving money and a waste of just that. After listening to each fairy tale, the children drew what stuck in their memory the most, and then I conducted interviews with them, in which they thought about the content and message of the fairy tales they heard and connected this with their attitude to nature. With the help of interviews, I found out what ideas and attitudes children have towards nature and natural phenomena. Based on the results of the analysis of drawings and interview data, I can conclude that with the help of fairy tale messages, we can find out how children understand phenomena, persons and events in fairy tales. The sample showed that children's attitude towards nature can be influenced by selected Slovenian folk tales, but previous experiences with nature and their parents’ example are still very important in developing an attitude towards nature. It is important that we bring up children with a positive attitude towards nature, because we live in it and it is our duty to take care of it and nurture it so that it remains as it is.
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