Improving Symbolic Thinking Skills (Colors and Shapes) In Young Children Through Beading At Mutiara Kasih Kindergarten

Abstract

Early childhood cognitive abilities are reflected in the ability to think, reason, solve problems, sequence numbers, and understand concepts such as color, shape, and size. Efforts to improve children's cognitive abilities are related to symbolic thinking (color and shape), one of which is through beading activities. Therefore, this study aims to describe the improvement in early childhood symbolic thinking (color and shape) through beading activities. This study is a qualitative survey study. The implementation began with preparing a class (teachers and students) from the Mutiara Kasih kindergarten with 27 students (12 boys and 15 girls) who were undergoing the learning process through Merounce activities. Data collection was conducted through observation of developing cognitive aspects. The results of the study showed an increase in color and shape recognition, the ability to recognize and continue patterns, as well as the ability to count and sequence objects, think logically and symbolically. Conclusion: Meronce activities have been proven to improve the symbolic thinking abilities (colors and shapes) of early childhood. Limitations of this study include the small sample size, short learning duration, use of only a qualitative approach (without quantifying the impact), and unmeasured external influences that could result in data bias. These limitations should be considered in future research.