The early stages of the human life cycle through the eyes of kindergarten children

Človek je v otroštvu izredno radoveden, saj ga zanimajo takšne in drugačne teme. Vsak otrok pa se vsaj enkrat v življenju vpraša: »Od kod prihajajo dojenčki?«. Nekateri si to vprašanje zastavijo že v zgodnjem otroštvu, medtem ko drugi šele pozneje. Pri tem je zelo pomembno, da so odrasli tisti, ki otroku to temo predstavijo na zanimiv, vendar realen način. Večina staršev se tej temi raje izogiba ali pa poda odgovor, da je otroka prinesla štorklja ipd. Ta tema ne bi smela biti skrivnost, ki naj bi jo otroci izvedeli šele, ko odrastejo, temveč jo je treba razlagati kot nekaj povsem naravnega. Prav zato je naš namen v diplomskem delu raziskati, kaj otroci v vrtcu že vedo o tej temi, ter predstaviti staršem, vzgojiteljem in drugim odraslim, kako to temo otroku približati na njemu zanimiv način. Diplomsko delo z naslovom Začetki človeškega življenja skozi oči otrok v vrtcu je sestavljeno iz teoretičnega in empiričnega dela. V teoretičnem delu smo predstavili spočetje, rast in razvoj otroka, rojstvo ter druge vsebine, povezane s to temo. V empiričnem delu pa smo prikazali podatke, ki smo jih pridobili z intervjuvanjem predšolskih otrok v Vrtcu Šentjur. Pri tem smo ugotovili, da otroci ne vedo, kako dolgo traja nosečnost, ter da deklice ne vedo več o spočetju, razvoju in rojstvu otroka kot dečki. Obojni pa poznajo zaporedje procesov od spočetja do rojstva.In childhood, humans are extremely curious, as they show interest in many different topics. At some point in their life, every child wonders about where babies come from. Some ask this question early in their childhood, while others only later on. It is important for adults to discuss this topic with children in an interesting manner while keeping the explanation realistic. Most parents prefer to avoid this topic or they tell their children they were delivered by a stork. This topic should not be a secret that children should only learn when they grow up—it should be explained as something completely natural. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore what kindergarten children already know about this topic, as well as to demonstrate to parents, educators, and other adults how to introduce this topic to children in a way that sparks their interest. This diploma thesis consists of two parts—a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part covers the conception, child growth and development, birth, and other related topics. In the empirical part, data obtained by interviewing preschool children in the Šentjur Kindergarten is presented. Throughout the interviews, we discovered that children do not know how long pregnancy lasts and that girls do not have more knowledge on conception, child development, and birth than boys. Both, however, are familiar with the sequence of processes from conception to birth