The article examines the development of the cognitive activity of a preschooler as an important psychological and pedagogical problem, which includes the study of mechanisms, conditions and factors that contribute to the activation of cognitive processes in preschool children. The authors clarify the relationship between cognitive activity and such concepts as “curiosity”, “cognitive interest”, “sensory education”; justify the dependence of the development of the preschooler’s cognitive activity on the formation of interest in knowledge, the level of development of thinking and imagination, the use of modern educational technologies, and the preservation of the child’s cognitive activity during the transition to school. The role of sensory sensations and perceptions in the formation of basic cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, thinking and imagination, is updated. The essential content of the term “sensory-cognitive competence” is analyzed as a child’s ability to stimulate his cognitive activity, to show observation and creativity in interaction with the surrounding world, to navigate in various sensory standards, their types, signs and properties, as well as to master the methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, classifications and comparisons. It is substantiated that sensory education as a system of pedagogical influences aimed at improving sensory cognition and developing the perception of preschool children during interaction with objects is one of the key means of developing cognitive activity, which, creating conditions for independent discovery of new things and supporting research interest child, becomes the basis for further intellectual development.

У статті досліджується розвиток пізнавальної активності дошкільника як важлива психолого-педагогічна проблема, яка охоплює вивчення механізмів, умов та факторів, що сприяють активізації пізнавальних процесів. З’ясовано роль сенсорного виховання у формуванні основних когнітивних процесів, таких як увага, пам’ять, мислення та уява. Проаналізовано сутнісне наповнення терміна “сенсорно-пізнавальна компетентність” як здатності дитини стимулювати пізнавальну активність, проявляти спостережливість і креативність у взаємодії з навколишнім світом.