Background. The widely discussed issue of developing creative thinking in childhood is the massive decline in creativity in many children in countries according to Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The methodological restrictions of the test approach and descriptive methods make it difficult to find an answer to the question of different aspects of creativity development in childhood, so this problem does not receive sufficient consideration in modern developmental psychology.

The Objective of the theoretical and analytical research is to study the status quo and modern approaches to the issue of child's creative thinking, to substantiate the methodology of the "gradual development" trend that reveals the line of functional development of logical and creative actions in the development of human psyche, the discussion of applied issues related to overcoming the crisis situations when dealing with creativity in modern children.

Design. The theoretical-analytical research consistently substantiates the methodology of "gradual development" as a system of objective requirements for the mental process ("ideal form") and conditions ensuring the fulfillment of these requirements (appropriation of the tool of activity in the orienting function); the idea of ​​functional development of the child's psyche is revealed. The restrictions of the psychometric test method in resolving the problem of creativity development in children throughout the 20th century and at the present time are discussed.

Research Results. The analysis of the "gradual development" methodology showed how the conditions for mediation and growth of productivity indicators in the solution of the divergent tasks of the Picture Construction Test (Torrance, 1966) in preschool children is approaching the pre-established "ideal form". In the course of the task management, the qualitatively different types of child behaviour of enhancing the properties of their actions are identified: proactivity, reflexivity, control. The results showed that qualitative discrepancies in the productivity types of solving various tasks by preschool children are significantly associated with their intellectual level.

Conclusion. The prospects of ​​the functional and age development of the child's psyche is shown to explore the theoretical and applied problems of the development of creative thinking in ontogeny. The application of the P.Ya. Galperin’s concept of orientation to non-standard (divergent) problems allowed to consider the most renowned tests of creative talent proposed by E.P. Torrance in identifying the creative potential of a normally developing child.