Children's environmental cognition is one of the most important areas of education in preschool age. The development of environmental cognitive skills is beneficial for children's understanding of the socio-cultural and natural environment, everyday situations, as they foster respect for life, for the motherland, and the desire to learn and to know. Environmental cognition is based on a child's desire to know, understand, seek and discover what is happening around him. Since the imagination of a 4-5-year-old child develops very rapidly and they perceive themselves as individuals, the development of environmental cognitive abilities is crucial. Play is a way for children to become familiar with their environment and to discover and develop awareness of the diversity of the world. Therefore, it is appropriate to organise the development of environmental cognition through a variety of games in preschool age.

The aim of the study is to explore the possibilities of developing environmental cognition skills in children aged 4-5 years through games. The empirical study was preceded by the analysis of the scientific and methodological literature and sources of information. The quantitative research method chosen for the study was a questionnaire. 106 (one hundred and six) preschool pedagogues participated in the survey. The study subjects were selected using the method of targeted selection. They were pedagogues working with 4-5-year-old children. The study mainly involved pedagogues with 0-5 years of experience, and the least number of pedagogues were with the 15-20 years of experience. More than a half of the respondents had a teacher qualification category (63), 11 pedagogues had a teacher methodologist qualification and one (1) was a teacher expert.

The results of the empirical study revealed that pedagogues use exploratory and experiential games most often in the development of cognitive skills in children aged 4 to 5 years. Construction, didactic and storytelling games and digital tools are used less frequently. The challenges faced by preschool teachers were identified: a large number of children in groups, inappropriate behaviour of children or their character traits, a lack of facilities for play. The respondents emphasised the lack of pedagogical experience and the passive involvement of parents.

Keywords: Environmental cognition, education through games, children.