Didactic game as a way of creating environmental awareness among students

Currently mankind needs to change attitudes to nature and ensure the upbringing and education of a new generation. The basis for mankind development should be a community of man and nature. Man needs new knowledge, new system of values that should be created and educated since childhood. In these circumstances ecological education and upbringing in the modern school should be a priority. On the level of ecological education, ecological culture depends on the question of humanity survival, a possibility of a person to stay on the planet. The system of formal and non-formal education includes a large amount of environmental knowledge and skills implementing the requirements towards the growth and development of ecological culture. This article focuses on the formation of environmental knowledge among schoolchildren in the framework of the optional course «Game-playing Ecology». Special attention in this matter is paid to didactic games as they have great teaching opportunities for formation of knowledge in the field of nature management and environmental protection. Properly constructed didactic game stimulates students’ interest and attention, develops memory, self-regulation, thinking, reinforces knowledge, skills and abilities, trains touch skills, strong-willed qualities of the child.