FHS 2400

Emily Randall
Observation 2
Background info
Name: Hailey
Age: 3 years old
Location: Copper Hills Daycare Lab
Physical Development
Motor skills are continually developed as children grow (Berger, 2014, pg.170). I was
able to see this through observation. Although I was mostly focused on watching Hailey, I found
myself comparing her movements to that of the other children, specifically the kids younger than
her. When going up or down stairs, Hailey did it with no problem. A little boy who is about 1 or 2
years old struggled more with the stairs. He would take his time on each step and wobble a little
bit before making it down. Through this, I was able to see how big the difference 1 year can be
in motor skills development. This was also seen in the skill of running and the differences there
as well.
Fine motor skills are movements of the fingers, tongue, jaw, lips, and toes and are very
important for developments later on in life (Berger, 2014, pg.104). While observing, I noticed the
development of fine motor skills in Hailey. Hailey did several different activities that displayed
these fine motor skills. At one point Hailey put a bunch of fake food into a bag. She then wanted
to zip up the bag. I watched as she tried a few times to zip up the bag. When she was unable to
zip the bag, she asked a teacher for help. As her fine motor skills continue to develop, she will
eventually be able to zip up that bag on her own. The daycare also has a little container that has
holes in the top and pegs in it that fit through the top. Hailey dumped the container out and
began to pick up the pegs with her pointer finger and thumb one at a time as she placed them
through the holes in the top. The 1 or 2 year old I mentioned before would not have been able to
do this with the pegs.

Cognitive Development
The anal stage of Freuds Psychosexual theory happens around 1-3 years old. The anal
stage has to do with focus of pleasurable sensations in the childs body such as potty training
(Berger, 2014, pg.24). Hailey was still in this stage. When it came time for snack, the teachers
told her to go potty. She was more than willing, I would even say excited to go to the bathroom,
while older children would drag their feet and complain about having to go to the bathroom. We
learn that this excitement is due to the control of the childs body known as the anal stage.
Throughout the time of my observation, I would ask Hailey what color different things
were. Hailey knew every one that I would ask her about. A child that is maybe 1 year old would
most likely not be able to identify the colors as Hailey could. Because of that, we are able to see
cognitive development as a child gets older.
Piaget's theory that children developed concrete operational thought at about age 7 and
how that he was wrong about that is mentioned in the textbook (Berger, 2014, pg.225). I

observed Hailey doing things that would point to the fact that she has concrete operational
thoughts. At one point all the children were taken to a large area to play different games such as
Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, and Duck Duck Goose. Each of these games takes a
certain level of concrete thinking. When the children were playing red light green light, the
younger kids didnt really understand the concept that they needed to stop when the person that
was it said red light. It took Hailey a couple of rounds to figure it out, but eventually she knew
what to do. The 1 or 2 year old never understood the rules. This shows that Hailey had some
sort of level of concrete thought even if it wasnt fully developed yet.
Hailey did a lot of imaginary play. She did this with trucks, fake food, and dolls. This type
of play is called sociodramatic play (Berger, 2014, pg.214). Hailey found a big truck and a little
truck. Instead of just driving them around, she pretended that the big truck was the daddy and
the little truck was the mommy. She was acting out roles. When playing with the baby doll, she
laid the baby down and walked around the whole room and told everyone to Shh! The baby is
sleeping! Again, she is acting out a role, this time of her being the mommy.

Social/ Emotional Development

Whenever given free time to play, Hailey would choose to play alone. Other children
would come and play next to her but she wouldnt join in playing with them, instead she would
continue to play by herself. This typed of play is called solitary play (Berger, 2014, pg.213).
Hailey was very focused on herself. When playing games or just playing with toys, she said
things like Im it or Its my turn several times. She didnt think about others, instead she saw
the world through her eyes. This is called egocentrism (Berger, 2014, pg.182). I saw this again
when she was swinging a rope around and almost hit other children with it or when she would
just walk up to kids and take the toy they were playing with. Hailey was not thinking about how it
might affect others.
On the odd occasion that Hailey chose to interact with other children, she tends to focus
on appearance rather than the childrens other attributes (Berger, 2014, pg.183). As Hailey was
sitting next to a little girl, about 3 years old as well, she only really said one thing to her. Hailey
told this other little girl that she liked her shirt. Hailey chose to focus on the girls shirt rather than
other qualities such as her being nice or friendly.
I found it interesting that Hailey would usually choose to not play with others but rather
on her own. The interesting part to me is how much she interacts with the adults and teachers.
She would even run up to any of the parents that came in and start talking to them. If Hailey
could, she would play only with the teachers. While I was observing, I was playing with Hailey
and a group of the other kids came over and started playing with her and I. She kind of just
walked away and went to play by herself. Im sure it is normal for children to prefer solitary play
but I am surprised with how comfortable she is to go and talk to random adults.

Works Cited

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.