The purpose of this study is to research the principles that are necessary in developing cognitive load theory-based multimedia programs for preschoolers. Multimedia programs for preschools are to be developed on the basis of various theories of preschoolers’ cognitive structure. Among them, the most important element to be considered is the cognitive load theory. According to our study on the cognitive load theory, in order to develop multi-media programs for preschoolers, various principles should be considered as follows: the modality principle in which visual information is to be provided along with auditory information, the redundancy principle in which redundant information is to be avoided, the split attention principle in which meaningfully relevant information is to be put closely together, and
the multimedia principle in which additional explanations on the visual or auditory information are to be provided in graphics. With the development of a new program, the level of the cognitive load for preschoolers should be tested, through which its feasibility should be proved. For this, testing methods such as a methods of self-talk about cognitive efforts, a method of self-talk about the extent of difficulty of the program, a search on behavioral patterns (visual trace), a dual task method are used.
Key Words: cognitive load theory, instructional design, multimedia learning