Environmental activities for preschool children for the purposes of nature conservation

The environment which a child lives in affects the functioning of the body as a whole, as well as the rest of the living world. Since human activities threaten the living world through negligent actions and the use of technical and chemical agents that pollute water, air, land and the environment as a whole, it is necessary to develop environmental awareness and culture at the earliest age of every child. This is a precondition for their proper development and attitude towards nature, that is, towards the places they live in. Preschool children must be brought up to understand the need for and significance of clean water, land and air, as well as to behave environmentally friendly in all situations, which will speak of their developed environmental awareness and culture. The goal of environmental education in preschools does not only involve acquiring knowledge about the environment, but also the understanding of the natural processes that take place in it and their interdependence, as well as developing a positive attitude towards the environment, and environmental behavior. The role and significance of educators in a modern preschool institution are reflected in providing a diverse living space, creating a stimulating environment for learning, understanding and developing environmental awareness in children, and awakening children's interests to preserve the natural environment. Numerous and diverse environmental activities are used for this purpose, and they can be included in the majority of learning materials that are used when teaching preschool children. These are, for example: the activities that ask the children to recognize the ecosystems and the unity of the organic and inorganic world, that is, the general connection, interdependence and balance in nature; discovery activities that expand their knowledge about the environment, build the right attitude towards it and motivation to protect, restore and improve the environment; the activities that allow the children to recognize the roles that living and non-living world have in people's lives, as well as human impact on the environment; the activities that protect and improve the environment; the activities that allow people to save, rationally use and restore natural resources in the environment. In addition to these, there are different approaches and models within the environmental education of preschool children. These are: the informational and educational model, action-related model, and the social and environmental context. All of these are used in everyday practice and aim to acquire environmental knowledge, awareness and culture.