The article considers the indicators of cognitive development of children of senior preschool age, the sources of the emergence and development of search activity. The author describes the experience of using collecting in order to develop the research activities of preschoolers based on search activities. An important place in the article is given to the stages of collecting objects of collections in a preschool educational institution and effective methods of activating children's search for new information about objects of collections, the experience of interaction with parents in this matter is highlighted, the possibilities of the teaching staff for organizing the presentation of children's collections are revealed.