Development of ecological awareness in preschool children through the arts

U današnje se doba vrlo često susrećemo s mnogim ekološkim problemima koji su najčešće započeli od strane ljudi te njihovog neadekvatnog ponašanja prema prirodi. Kako djeca uče po modelu, odnosno sve što vide oponašaju tako će i djetetova ekološka svijest biti razvijena onoliko koliko je razvijena kod odrasle osobe koju vide. Djeca već u prvim godinama života istražuju okolinu pomoću svih svojih osjetila - sluhom, njuhom, okusom i dodirom. Vrlo je važno već u najranijoj dobi djecu učiti kako se ponašati prema okolišu i svijetu oko sebe, kako bi adekvatno mogla primijeniti to i u kasnijem životu. Dječji vrtić je ustanova u kojem djeca istražuju, stječu nova iskustva i spoznaje. Osim roditelja, vrlo je važan i odgojitelj u djetetovom razvoju jer i on, kao i roditelj, predstavlja model kojeg djeca prate i kasnije oponašaju. Vrlo je važno da odgojitelji i roditelji uvažavaju i prihvaćaju osobnosti i sposobnosti drugih kako bi tako djelovali na odgoj i obrazovanje djeteta što je bitan preduvjet za društvenom brigom za razvoj ekološke svijesti djece, a kasnije i odraslih. Kako dijete raste i postaje zrelije tako su i njegove aktivnosti sve složenije. Aktivnosti u kojima se djeca mogu likovno izraziti uvelike mogu pomoći u cjelokupnom razvoju djeteta te je vrlo je važno da djeca neposredno dožive okoliš jer iz neposredne okoliša najbolje uče. Korištenjem recikliranog materijala na nove načine kod djece potičemo razvoj ekološke svijesti.Today, we are facing a big number of ecological problems which are mostly developed by humans and their unreasonable behavior towards nature. As children always learn from a role model and they are trying to imitate whatever behavior they see, their ecological consciousness will be the same as the ecological counsciousness of the adult person in their nerby. Children are already exploring their environment in the first couple of years of their existance, with all of their senses - hearing, flair, taste and by touch. It is very important, already in their earliest age, to teach them how to behave in the environment they are living in so that they know how to behave once they grow up. A kindergarten is an institution where kids can explore, acquire new experiences and knowledge. Beside childrens parents, a very important role in childrens education is also played by the educator, which is, just like parents are, a representative model that children are trying to imitate later in life. It is very important that parents and educators are respecting and accepting each others abillities in order to affect on childrens exological awarenes and social care, as in their childhood and later in their adulthood. As the child is growing up and becoming more mature, his activities are also becoming more complex. All the activities in which children are getting the possibility to artically expres themselves can really help in their overal development and it is important for them to get in touch with the nature because that is the best way for them to learn. By Teaching the children how to use recycled materials in some new ways we can stimulate the development of their exological consciousness