Prompt application skills design based on preschool scenarios | Google Prompt Engineer

Basics of Prompt Word Engineering

Cue word engineering is the process of designing high-quality cues to guide large language models to generate accurate and useful output. This involves constantly adjusting cues, optimizing their length, and evaluating whether the writing style and structure of cues are suitable for specific tasks.

Prompt words are the instructions or questions we give to AI models. Prompt word engineering is to study how to design clear and effective prompt words to guide AI to generate the accurate and useful answers we want. Just like we need skills to communicate with children or colleagues, communicating with AI also requires carefully designed language.

Whitepaper URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AbaBYbEa_EbPelsT40-vj64L-2IwUJHy/view

Basic prompt technology and application scenarios

Zero-shot

Zero- shot prompts are the simplest type of prompts, providing only a task description without providing examples .

“Design a room game for 3-year-olds about recognizing shapes.”

Academic research scenarios :

Analyze which school of psychology the following theories of children's autonomy development belong to: constructivism, sociocultural theory, or ecological systems theory?
Viewpoint: "Children build their own knowledge system through interaction with the environment. Teachers should create a rich environment for children to explore on their own rather than directly teach them."
Theoretical schools:

One-shot & Few-shot

These techniques help the model understand the expected output by providing one or more examples.

Course design scenario :

Design evidence-based lesson activities for the following early childhood education topics:

Example:
Theme: Mathematical Enlightenment
Target age: 4-5 years old
Research basis: Piaget's theory of cognitive development shows that children at this stage begin to understand the concept of preservation
Activity design: Use containers of different shapes to conduct water pouring experiments to help children understand the concept of liquid volume preservation
Assessment method: Observe and record children’s verbal expressions and operational behaviors of preservation concepts

Now design:
Theme: Early Literacy Development
Target age: 3-4 years old

Academic research (literature abstract):

Please write an abstract for the provided literature in the following format:  
Example 1:  
Literature: [Title of a literature and author information]  
Abstract: This study explored... found... showed...  

Giving examples is very effective when you want the AI ​​to output in a specific format, style, or perform a specific pattern of analysis. The examples should be clear, accurate, and diverse.

Advanced prompt technology and application scenarios

System Prompting

Giving examples is very effective when you want the AI ​​to output in a specific format, style, or perform a specific pattern of analysis. The examples should be clear, accurate, and diverse.

Child Observation and Assessment Scenarios :

Professional analysis of the following child behavior observation records is performed, and only JSON format results are returned, including:
1. Developmental areas (cognitive/social-emotional/language/physical)
2. Relevant development milestones
3. Age appropriateness assessment
4. Next steps in education

Observation record: "Xiaoming (3 years and 5 months) played alone in the block area for 30 minutes. He was able to stack 7 blocks of different shapes, saying 'Oops' and starting over when the blocks fell down, and tried three different stacking methods. He rejected other children's requests to join in, saying 'This is mine.'"

Academic research (literature search):

“Please find the latest research on ‘The effects of outdoor activities on the development of executive functions in young children.’ Requirement: Return only the study title, first author, and publication year, presented in an unordered list.”

Role Prompting

Let the AI ​​model play a specific role and generate answers that are consistent with the professional positioning of that role.

Home communication scene :

You are a kindergarten director with a PhD in child development and need to communicate with parents about the following sensitive issues. Please provide professional, gentle, and evidence-based communication suggestions:

Situation: A parent strongly urges your kindergarten to start teaching English letters and reading in the 4-year-old class, believing that "the earlier the language is learned, the better", and says that if this is not done, they will transfer to another kindergarten.

Please provide:
1. How to interpret research evidence on children’s early language development
2. Suggestions for language activities suitable for this age group
3. How to respect parents’ opinions while adhering to the principle of developmental appropriateness

Chain of Thought (CoT)

This technology improves the ability to solve complex problems by guiding the model to generate intermediate reasoning steps. It is necessary to guide AI to think step by step and show the reasoning process.

Child behavior analysis scenario :

Analyze the possible causes and intervention strategies for the following early childhood behavioral challenges, and consider developmental factors, environmental factors, and educational strategies step by step:

Case: Li Ming, a 5-year-old boy, often shows strong resistance when switching from free activities to group activities, shouting "I don't want it", and sometimes pushes away other children or teachers, but is able to leave calmly when his parents come to pick him up.

Teaching reflection :

I want to reflect on whether an outdoor exploration activity I organized last week was successful. Please guide me step by step: First, what was the goal of the activity? Second, what was the process of the activity? Then, how did the children respond? Finally, what went well and what needs to be improved? "

For tasks that require logical reasoning, problem analysis, solution planning, or in-depth reflection, CoT is very useful and can improve the accuracy, organization, and depth of responses.

Step-back Prompting

Guide the model to first consider a more general problem and then to work on a specific task.

Educational philosophy reflection scenario :

I would like to discuss the balance between "free play" and "structured learning" in kindergarten. But before you answer, please think about:
1. From the perspective of developmental psychology, what is the relationship between play and learning?
2. What are the different perspectives of different educational philosophies on this issue?

Then, based on these broader reflections, we analyze the time allocation and teaching strategies for balancing free play and structured learning activities in the 3-6 year old children's curriculum.

Self-consistency

Generate multiple different reasoning paths and then choose the most consistent answer.

Child Development Assessment Scenarios :

Please analyze the following cases from multiple perspectives and give possible development evaluation conclusions:

The 4-year-old girl can express her needs fluently and has a rich vocabulary, but seldom actively communicates with her peers; she likes reading and can remember complex story plots; she can concentrate in structured activities but often seems at a loss in free activities; her fine motor skills are well developed and she can cut complex shapes with scissors; she is particularly sensitive to sounds and will cover her ears when she hears sudden noises.

Please analyze from different perspectives such as cognitive development, social-emotional development, sensory integration, etc., and then comprehensively evaluate the most likely developmental characteristics.

Academic Research :

Step 1 Directive: “What are the key factors that influence the development of children’s early reading ability?”
- AI answer: (may include: family environment, vocabulary, phonological awareness, reading interest, etc.)
Step 2 Instructions: “Background: [Citing the key factors answered by AI in Step 1]. In view of the common problem of low reading interest among our older children, please propose three specific strategies for home-school co-education based on these key factors.”

In short, starting from a more macro perspective or basic theory and then focusing on specific problems can make AI solutions more systematic and comprehensive.

Best practices and application scenarios for prompt words

1. Provide professional examples

Including high-quality professional examples in your prompts can significantly improve the quality of your answers.

Teachers’ professional growth scenarios :

Create a professional growth reflection journal template for early childhood teachers that includes the following elements: observation notes, reflection questions, improvement plans, and resource needs.

Example entry:
Date: March 15, 2025
Observation: During the free play time of the small class today, I noticed that three girls rejected a new boy from joining their role-playing game.
Reflective questions: 1) What causes exclusionary behavior? 2) Is my intervention appropriate? 3) How can I promote a more inclusive play environment?
Theoretical connection: According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, teachers can act as "scaffolds" to help children develop social skills
Improvement plan: Design a task tomorrow that requires collaboration among multiple people to create a common goal; discuss the importance of inclusion with the girls in advance
Resource request: Looking for professional reading materials on promoting inclusive play for young children

Please create a general template that promotes deep professional reflection:

2. Design simple and professional tips

Keep prompts professional, concise and clear, and avoid unnecessary information.

Education policy analysis scenario :

Analyze the policy orientation on games in the "Guidelines for Learning and Development of Children Aged 3-6" and compare the similarities and differences with the international OECD early childhood education framework.

3. Clarify professional output requirements

Clearly specify the expected professional output format and content.

Research literature review scenario :

Create a literature review outline for the following research questions:
"The impact of digital media use on the development of executive functions in children aged 3-6 years"

Require:
1. Include 4-6 main research directions
2. Cite 2-3 key studies in each direction
3. Point out the advantages and limitations of the research methodology
4. Highlight conflicting findings between studies
5. Identify research gaps
6. Propose future research directions

4. Use professional instructions rather than restrictions

Tell the model what it should do, not what it shouldn’t do.

Parent education scenario :

Design an educational guide for parents of 3-4 year old children, focusing on how to promote mathematical thinking through daily life activities. Including:
1. Each activity clearly relates to a specific mathematical concept
2. Specific steps of the activity
3. Examples of Appropriate Adult Language
4. Observation and evaluation points

5. Use variables to create flexible templates

Use variables in your Pro Tips to make it more dynamic and reusable.

IEP Scenarios :

variable:
{child's name} = "Zhang Ming"
{Age} = "5 years and 2 months"
{Developmental Needs} = "Language expression disorder, normal listening comprehension"
{Point of interest} = "Dinosaurs, building blocks"

hint:
Create an 8-week IEP for {child’s name} ({age}) whose primary developmental need is {developmental need} and special interest is {interest}.
The plan should include:
1. Specific weekly goals (up to 5, measurable)
2. Three core activities designed using points of interest
3. Hometown cooperation suggestions
4. Progress Evaluation Indicators

Advanced Application Scenarios

1. Academic research design

Design a mixed methods research proposal on the effects of outdoor natural environments on young children’s prosocial behaviors. Please include:

1. Research Questions and Hypotheses
2. Reasons for choosing the theoretical framework
3. Quantitative and qualitative data collection methods
4. Sampling strategies and ethical considerations
5. Data Analysis Plan
6. Possible limitations and countermeasures

Output format: Academic research plan (within 2000 words)

2. Critical analysis of education policies

Please play the role of an early childhood education policy expert and critically analyze the following policies:

"Kindergartens should carry out systematic reading and writing preparation education, including letter recognition, spelling rules and stroke order training."

Please analyze from the following perspectives:
1. Developmental suitability for children
2. Consistency/Conflict with Existing Research
3. Practical considerations for implementation
4. Potential differential impacts on children from different socioeconomic backgrounds
5. Suggested policy changes

3. Analysis of professional ethical dilemmas

Please help analyze the following ethical dilemmas in early childhood education and propose solutions:

As a kindergarten teacher, you observe a 5-year-old boy who often wears girls' clothes, plays with traditional "girls' toys" and asks other children to call him a girl's name. Some parents complain to the kindergarten, demanding that this behavior be banned and the child be "corrected". The child's parents insist on supporting their child's choice.

Please analyze this situation from the perspectives of children's rights, developmental psychology, multicultural education, and professional ethics, and propose a solution that balances the needs of all parties.

Conclusion

Prompt word engineering technology has extensive and in-depth application value in the field of early childhood education. From academic research design to curriculum development, from child observation and evaluation to home-school communication, from policy analysis to ethical dilemma handling, mastering these technologies can help early childhood education professionals use artificial intelligence tools more effectively to support professional work.

Remember, the prompt word project is an iterative process. Continuously adjusting and improving the prompt words in practice, observing the results, and analyzing the effects are the keys to improving the quality of the prompt words. Through continuous practice, you will be able to use artificial intelligence more effectively to enhance your professional capabilities in the field of early childhood education.