The article analyzes theoretical and empirical studies of the development of cognitive activity of students based on the study of materials of children's literature in primary school. Theoretical analysis shows that the cognitive process is speech, exchange of opinions, thinking, clarity of thought, emotional posture. The content of the concept of cognitive activity is characterized by psychological (natural strength, mind, will, aspiration), pedagogical (integral knowledge, intelligence) and philological (speech, manner of speech, cultural thinking). Based on the theoretical analysis, the authors clarify that «cognitive activity is a two–way process, on the one hand, as a form of self-organization and self-realization of the student, on the other-the result of special efforts of the teacher in the search for methods that stimulate educational activity». In teaching materials of children's literature, it is recommended to use the program «Learningapps.org».

And in the empirical section, the progress of diagnostic work is given to determine the levels of cognitive activity in teaching children's literature. According to the method of Sh . Schwartz's "Value Questionnaire" the scale columns on the given values are devoted to the identification of associative thinking, abstraction, independent addition of students' thinking and the development of attention and memory.