Bulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State UniversityBulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State University2311-14022686-8784Nizhnevartovsk State University49378Research ArticleSpiritual and moral upbringing of preschool children in the context of cultural traditions of peoples of RussiaSukhovaE. IDoctor of Pedagogy, Professor at the Department of Pre-school Education-ZoubenkoN. YuCandidate of Pedagogy, doctoral student at the Department of Theory and History of Pedagogy-Moscow City Pedagogical University150620152384405112020Copyright © 2015, Sukhova E.I., Zoubenko N.Y.2015This study is devoted to the issue of spiritual and moral upbringing of preschool children as the most relevant trend of the Russian state policy. Moral priorities and social values are gained through historical experience of several generations and are reflected in family, cultural, social, historical and religious traditions. Spiritual and moral upbringing of children, i.e. their social awareness, spiritual and moral formation, is a complex process. It is impossible to approach this issue without coordinating the activities of all stakeholders involved in the educational process. The fundamentals of spiritual and moral culture of an individual are developed during preschool age when a child interacts with the environment relying on his or her natural need in perception, experience, assessment, and understanding. However, some children and parents reject certain moral values that are common in our society. Significant interpenetration and interconnection of cultures increases the risk of upsetting the balance between the national and international, between old and new cultural components of a particular ethnic group. Therefore, it is crucially important to prevent the undesirable social and cultural imbalances in the socialization of children and youngsters and their separation from the national roots. The authors differentiate between the concepts of spirituality and tradition . Spirituality is seen as the highest spiritual and moral qualities, values and achievements, whereas tradition includes the rules and standards of human life, handed down from generation to generation and influenced by moral principles. As they grow, children, especially during the pre-school age, try on different social roles, each of them allowing children to prepare for various duties and activities in the surrounding world. Each social role played by children is important for shaping their future community life and development of moral qualities, such as justice, kindliness, tenderness, care, etc. As a result, children start to act not because they want to get approval of adults, but because they think it is important and essential to observe certain standards of conduct. The study presents some essential traditions fostering the spiritual and moral upbringing of children, such as folk games, Russian folk tales, songs, Russian folk dolls. Raising children in the spirit of national traditions allows educators and parents to develop children’s worldview, broaden their outlook and experience, develop empathy, and support self-control with an account for the interests of other people and social demands.spiritualityspiritual and moral upbringingtraditionfairy talefolk dollдуховностьдуховно-нравственное воспитаниетрадициясказканародная кукла[Сухова Е.И. Духовно-нравственное воспитание как основа формирования высших нравственных ценностей у учащихся // Известия АПСН XIV: Культура речи и проблемы нравственного воспитания молодежи: Мат-лы науч.-практ. конф. (16-17 апреля 2010 г.). М., 2010.][Сухова Е.И., Зубенко Н.Ю. Роль народной культуры как ценности российского менталитета в системе образования // Вестн. Московского городского пед. ун-та. Сер. «Педагогика и психология». 2013. № 1.]