Eliani Diaz-Aguilera

June 9, 2019

ECE 252

PLAY OBSERVATION

1. Description

• The location where I first met the kids was in their outside area. They were having a morning
snack when I got there. I noticed that there were 5 adults with the kids. 4 of them were with the
children outside while they were having a snack. One of them was taking the children inside to
the bathroom. After counting all the students there were 11 children. Once the children were
done outside they got divided up into 2 groups with 6 students each, 3 teachers in every group. I
attended the block room which was for the 24-30-month age group. Walking into the classroom,
I walked into the bathroom were the students were all washing their hands to go in. Once
finding a spot in the room, I analyzed the classroom. On the right side of the classroom, they
have 3 small tables. Right in front was a backpack cubby that held all the children’s backpacks.
Next to these cubbies was a spot called “A Safe Place” which is a giant wooden box with two
entry’s one Infront and the other on the left-hand side. The inside was lined with pillows. On top
of this box was a fish tank. Right Infront of it was a wood airplane. Both Infront and behind the
airplane was two bookshelves. One shelf held all the blocks in it. The other held manipulatives.
Right next to the manipulative table was a table in which had nothing on there. Right Infront
was a whole chair kind of like a reading chair. Next to it was another shelf in which held more
toys. On top of it, there were sensory bottles. Following was another shelf in which held all the
train track materials.

2. Cognitive play

a) List play materials and the appropriateness of these materials available to children being observed.

• 1. Blocks
o Different sized blocks
o Different colors to the blocks
▪ The appropriateness for the students within the age group of 24-30 months is
great. Having blocks in the classroom lets the students explore color difference,
size difference, and they can build different things with them.
• 2. Train Pieces
o Train tracks
o Road signs
o Train cars
▪ The appropriateness for the students rewarding the train tracks is amazing!
Here you have students who are building it and learning that they need many
pieces to make one big piece. They are learning that there is a bigger/higher
piece in their basket they add height to the train track. Playing with train toys,
here they are learning about their colors.
• 3. Wood airplane
 o The appropriateness of the airplane in the block room is an in-between for me. The
children can explore their imagination while creating different scenarios. On the other
hand, while I was in there, they started to argue about being inside the airplane. When I
was in the block room 1 toddler started to cry because she wanted to be Infront. The
teacher asked to why she was crying, and she explained she wanted to be Infront. The
caregiver then told her that everyone must share and that she will get a turn in
4minutes. 2 minutes were for a toddler already in line after the current pilot. After
about 30 seconds the toddler got up and went to play elsewhere.
• 4. Sensory bottles & “A Safe Place”
o A sensory bottle is a calming mechanism. I believe this is great for when the toddlers are
starting to get frustrated and need to step out of the group. This is appropriate because
the students are expressing their feelings by walking to a calm spot and relaxing. Their
“A Safe Place” in a giant box with pillows inside that a student can go lay in.

b) Describe at least 3 choices of play materials made by children.

• 1. Plastic balls with different textures

• 2. Railroad tracks with train toys
• 3. Blocks
• 4. Scrunchies

c) Detail the amount of time each of the choices of toys was played with.

• 1. Plastic balls with different textures

o 5 minutes between the caregiver and 2 children
• 2. Railroad tracks with train toys
o 10 minutes with 2 children and a teacher starts. 4 students ending and moving on.
• 3. Blocks
o 10+ minutes at first only 1 student playing, 10 minutes later all students were playing
together
• 4. Scrunchies
o Not playing with them but were using them more like accessories. Used for about 5
minutes.

d) What indications did you have that the children were engaged with the toys?

• 1. Plastic balls with different textures

o The teacher and children kept throwing them and catching. They were using them as
“ears” and teachers would describe the textures. She would ask the student for color
descriptions.
• 2. Railroad tracks with train toys
o The student came into the block room interested in the railroad tracks. Started to take
out pieces one by one. Once all pieces were out of the basket, they were interested in
making a track. They added railroad signs and added height to the track. The children
were not interested in adding toy trains to the track. She would rather build it. The 2nd
child was making a conga line with the toy trains. He was organizing them by color.
 • 3. Blocks
o The students have made multiple activities with the blocks. One child was building a
house. Other 2 students were building ramps for the animals to cross. 1 other child was
making a tower out of the larger blocks. At the end they made a boat with the larger
blocks, making it a sailboat for the animals.
• 4. Scrunchies
o The children kept adding them to their arms and legs. They would change them within
themselves. They were also keeping similar colors.

e) What were the children learning from these choices?

• From observing the children when they were playing with the toys, I saw that they were
learning:
o Colors
o Shapes
o Acting (pilot action on the airplane)
o Size differences
o How to handle emotions
o How to be patient with classmates
o Road signs

3. Social play

a) Write an objective observation of a child engaged in solitary play.

• Child is playing with basketball hoop. Child puts ball into the hoop. He asked teacher “Why is she
here”. Teacher responds with “she is observing us today; she is going to sit down right here”. He
continues to play with hoop. Swinging hoop around trying to get the ball out. Goes to join group
on floor, then walks away. He goes alone under the wood play place. Goes play to the group on
the floor and teacher says, “we are playing with our babies, you can go play ball another place”
Child goes back to where he was and continues to jump with hoop. Different teacher comes and
sits by him and starts singing with the group. Child grows interest with group but continues to
jump around. Ball comes out of hoop and he runs after ball. Grads the ball and puts it in hoop
again and starts to jump again. Balls comes out and rolls away. He runs after the ball and picks it
up. Teacher starts to read, and he grows interest and goes to sit down.

b) Write an objective observation a child engaged in parallel play.

• Teacher turns on water to the water sprinkler. 3 children and 1 teacher walk towards the
sprinkler. They get distracted by a butterfly in a bush. They watch the butterfly until butterfly
fly’s away.1 student leaves the bunch to go do another activity. Other 2 students grab a ball and
throw it in water. One student throws ball at teacher. 2nd student throws ball at teacher. The
teacher throws one ball back at student. Other student went after the ball teacher did not catch.
Students start throwing ball again and teacher catches. 2nd student drops ball and runs to foam
blocks outside. Climbs on block and runs back to water. Student begins to throw balls at 2nd
student. Teacher says, “please do not throw ball around, you can hurt him” Student gets sad and
walks away.
c) Did the play materials help determine the level of social play? How?

• Yes, I believe it did determine the level of social play. The material provided to the children all
share an interest within them. So, it is more likely that a couple of children will interact together
because they are all playing the same toy. They are more like to socialize when they all want to
play blocks instead of there being 10,000 toys and they all go to different ones. This way they
are all playing with blocks, talking about maybe what would work best for the thing they are
trying to build together. Now we are getting them to work as a team. Some students did want to
play alone but even then they still joined in later to all play together.

d) How did adult interaction affect play? (Adult did not engage enough or interrupted play?)

• The adult was incorporated enough to where the children wanted to engage with them but not
all the time. They played with the children when they knew they were needed help or when the
student went to them. They sat on the floor with them and gave comments as to what was
going on “I can see Eve is separating everything by color, what color is this?”. They also gave
many words of encouragement for when a child did something good “I see that you put all the
colors together, Eve”.

4. Conclusion

a) What did you learn from this observation? Be specific!

• What I learned from doing this observation is that we must have a lot of patience when working
with such a young age. Many children will be happy while others might be sad. As a caregiver we
must be able to assist both with the same amount of love and care. I also learned that we must
be as open with the children because are together 6+ hours in the day together. We must get
them to know of everything that is going on around them and around us. For example, “Now
Eve is going to go up and join you on the stage” “Eve is cleaning up the toys right now, Thank
you, Eve”. These are huge things I once took for granted but after realizing that this made the
student part of all the action. It changed up my view, they are very interested in you and what is
going on around them. Also, I learned that the children who most likely play together and
usually never too close in age. I mean that one might just be 2 and the other is already 3. But
kids will play with anyone if they show the same interest. They are going to go play wherever
they want to and make friends with who is already there. They are so young but can come up
with such amazing play/imagination when they are playing together. I saw that children learn
from one and another to a level I only thought 6+ years old did. Playing alone isn’t always bad
for the child either. They are exploring their own imagination while not getting interrupted.

b) Give at least 2 recommendations for play activities/materials for the group you observed (including
actions of caregivers).

• 1. A group activity like building a community. Everyone can get about 10 to 20 blocks and make
a house. The students at the end will see how their houses all make one big community.
• 2. Give the same emotions the toddlers are to give you. If one is interested to play with you be
as excited to play with them. Do not just go along with it because eventually, they’ll move on.
Play and enjoy the time with them while they are in your care.
 ATTACHMENT OBSERVATION

Part A

1. The child I did my observation on was a Boy of 2 years (24 months). The setting to this observation
was outside the toddler’s room in the ECE Lab @ North Las Vegas Campus. The size of the group was 4
caregivers and 5 children. From the time of the start of observation was 8:51 to time mom left facility
was 9:04. Total time of observation was 13 minutes.

2. Time was 8:51 Child come in by parents’ side. Steps ahead of parent while parent closes door. Walks
down to the end of ramp and stands. Teacher comes to talk to him, he ignores. Mom begins to walk, and
he walks next to her. Mom stands to talk with caregiver while he hides behind baby stroller. (mom has
baby stroller) Mom tells him that he must put backpack away and runs away. Mom walks after him.
They come back and stand at end of ramp. Mom asked” ready to say bye to mom”. He gives her a kiss.
Mom says, “we will be back later”. Caregiver comes and picks up child. She is carrying him when mom
says “bye, see you later”. Mom leaves at 9:04. Caregiver asks if he wants to water paint. Caregiver puts
him on the floor, and he follows her around. Stops and plays with a toy.

Part B

1. What attachment promoting behaviors do you see the child displaying?

a. The child seemed to be very clingy with his mom when they got to the group of
caregivers and children. He wanted to hide behind his mom the whole time she was
talking to a caregiver. He would smile at her everything they would look at each other.
2. How does the parent respond?
a. His mom really didn’t put mind into him being so close by her. She would acknowledge
him by tapping his head but that is all. She would just continue talking to the caregivers.
3. How does the caregiver respond?
a. The caregiver comes in and picks him up after mom said bye. She tries to get his
attention to go somewhere else. Other than picking him up she didn’t really respond to
the clinginess of the child.
4. Can you tell how the parent feels about the child’s attachment to the caregiver?
a. Yes, the parent was smiling when the caregiver picked him up. From my point of view, it
almost seemed like she was relieved that he went with her is such ease. He didn’t cry or
anything when she picked him up.

Part C - Base your answers on your objective observation (Part A/2) of the child’s interaction with the
caregiver. (This is your interpretation of the objective observation.)

1. What attachment-promoting behaviors do you see the child displaying?

a. Toward the caregiver I observed that he just wanted to follow her around. He didn’t cry,
didn’t reach for her to pick him up again. He just wanted to go behind her, but it was
only for maybe 30 seconds before he went off looking for a toy.
2. What evidence of the attachment dance do you observe?
a. A secure attachment Is what I noticed. He was very comfortable to be with her. It didn’t
look like he was scared when she picked him up. She was very happy to also see him
 when he came in. Which showed me, she is also very commutable with him and his
parents. The caregiver had a good organic conversation with his mother.

Part D

1. How did you feel about this observation?

a. What I felt from this observation was that children as, they come older become,
extremely independent. They understand now that the parent will be leaving, and they
will stay there. I was expecting extreme cries and loudness. All the kids while I was there
were extremely calm when being dropped off. They are getting a clear understanding as
to where they are and who they are going with. They all trust the environment they are
in. I felt that this observation showed me that toddler knows more then what I thought
they knew.
2. What advice might you give to the caregiver and/or parent?
a. Advice I would give the caregiver is not to pick him up. I find there are better forms of
calming them down if they are crying then being held. He seemed like he was doing
good without being in her arms, I wonder why she did carry him? The child was not in
any sort of stress when the parent was saying bye.
 COGNITIVE OBSERVATION

*I did my observation in a daycare around town because I sadly do not have infants around me*

Part A

1. a. Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that might help you to
determine the child’s cognitive development.
i. (child 1- 12 months) Child sits down away from group and picks up a tube with
bells inside. He moves the tube around to hear the noise. Know he picks up
another tube with beads. Child gets distracted and goes to play with a piano toy.
Changes toys and picks up a toy with mirror. He screams at mirror. He puts
mirrors close to his face. Drops mirror and goes to piano toy again.
ii. (child 2- 11 months) Child is walking around looking at everything in the wall.
Child is wobbling around. She carries a box rattle. Goes to sit down by toy piano.
Gets up and goes to caregiver.
b. Which of Piaget’s sensorimotor substages do you think this child is in?
i. (child 1) I believe this child is in Coordination of Reactions and Tertiary Circular
Reactions. I say this because he was very interested in all the noise material he
could pick up. He also tried to shake some of the tubes louder to see if the child
beside me paid him attention. When the child did not he dropped the toy and
moved on. He was doing more of greater exploration.
ii. (child 2) Coordination of Reactions. I say this because it seems like she was just
learning to walk, and she kept looking at everything in a higher view. She was
interested in the posters but was also interested as to what the other children
were playing with.
2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next
sensorimotor substage and why?
i. (child 1) They had stackable cubes for the child. They had a bookshelf with
board books. They also have a toddler climber.
ii. (child 2) They had the toddler climber. They had tubes filled with fuzzy balls,
bells, beads, rocks, etc.
3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child?
i. Caregivers were not talking to the children a lot. They were talking to
themselves more than interacting with children. One caregiver since she arrived
held two baby boys and stayed there sitting until it was time for a snack.
ii. The students had a lot of toys which came with sound. Or others that they were
able to make noise out of it. They also had foam blocks for building.

Part B

1. a. Using objective observation, state at least 2 examples of behaviors that might help you to
determine the child’s cognitive development.
i. (child 1- 13 months) She is playing with strand of music bells. She is pushing a
bead maze toy. She puts toy on table and screams at other children who
wants to play. Picks up toy and walk around pushing toy. She cries to take out
 a toy stock in maze. Screams at caregiver to take out toy. Puts down toy and
walks to get bell strand again.
ii. (child 2- 18 months) Child is sitting on a plush toy bed and is sitting down
pretending to read. She is reading out loud. She gets distracted and walks
away with book in hand. She begins to walk away and sings. She starts to run.
Caregiver asks her to put the book back to where it belongs. She does not
listen and runs away.
b. Which of Piaget’s sensorimotor substages do you think this child is in?
i. (child 1- 13 months) Coordination of Reactions & Tertiary Circular Reactions: I
say this because she was screaming at the caregiver when she approached her.
She was also very interested in getting to move the bell strand.
ii. (child 2- 18 months) Tertiary Circular Reactions: She would do the things she
wasn’t supposed to do to get the caregivers attention.

2. What toys or materials do you see that would assist the child in moving to the next
sensorimotor substage and how would they help?
i. (child 1) They had stackable cubes. They were in different shapes and textures
since somewhere cardboard. They also had a cube activity toy. They provided
puzzles with easy-grasp knobs.
ii. (child 2) The provided a small rang of books for the children. Building blocks,
stackable cubes.
3. How is the teacher fostering cognitive growth in this child? (Examples of available toys/personal
interactions, etc.)
i. The caregiver was sitting down with the children asking as to what colors where
on her shirt. She would point to the color and ask the students for the color. She
would be patient and let the students answer in their own time.
ii. Cube activity wood box that has ABCs on one side, pull items on the other. On
top of the box was a bead maze.

Part C *Child is 26 months*

1. Using the one of the Piagetian scales (scale 7 is NOT to be used) listed as a file in the Content
Module (week 8).
a. SCALE III: DEVELOPMENT OF SCHEMAS IN RELATION TO OBJECTS
i. Attempts to teat object
1. Does not teat object
ii. Drops the object systematically
1. Yes, drops all the blocks together after building a tower to the floor
iii. Throws the object
1. Yes, threw blocks across the room
iv. Puts another object into it
1. Did not put anything into tin foil ball
v. Demonstrates drinking from cup
1. Yes, demonstrates drinking from a cup and continues to get mad when
he sees there is no water
 vi. Wears necklace
1. Refuses to put on necklace
vii. Builds something with blocks
1. Yes, builds a tall tower with blocks
viii. Drives car on some surface
1. Drives the car around the room until he finishes were he started
ix. Makes doll or animal walk
1. Walks the animal to the other side of carpet
x. Hugs doll or animal
1. Does not hug the animal
xi. Listens to sound of musical toy
1. Yes, he responded when the music started to play on toy drum
xii. Shows the object to another person
1. Runs to show mom a ball in another room
xiii. Points to one object in association with another one
1. He continues to point at all the other balls in the room
xiv. Names or labels the object
1. Pointed a bigger ball and said, “big ball”. Pointed at a smaller one and
says “small”.
2. What toys might you offer to the child to facilitate her/him to the next level and why?
a. I will suggest adding more books into his room. I will also suggest adding climbing
mechanisms since he does not have any. I would all more puzzles to get him thinking
about putting things in place. Any sort of music device is good since it seems like he likes
music.
 SOCIAL EMOTIONAL OBSERVATION

Part A- Emotional

1a. Record an objective observation of a display of fear (include exact age of child and setting).

• Child goes away from group of children and caregivers. Goes to stand behind a table.
She begins to say “mommy” and shakes her head. Caregiver says, “I see you keep saying
mommy” “Mommy is at work, she’ll be back later”. Child continues to say “Mommy”.
Caregiver approaches her and says, “come play with us, mommy will be back”. Child
stays away from children. Caregiver says, “Come we will play”. Hold out hand for child
and child takes her hand. Child approaches children with caregiver.
o Child is 14 months and happened inside during play time toddler pods.

1b. How is this handled by the caregiver?

• Caregiver handled this amazing! Not scaring her too much with the questions. She also
wasn’t in her space and was speaking to her from a distance. It could have been that the
child only wanted some alone space and caregiver respected that. She also didn’t
pressure her to come if she didn’t.

1c. Was the response appropriate or inappropriate? Why or why not?

• This was very appropriate. She was handing the students emotions very well.
Acknowledging that she knew how the child was feeling and that if she wanted to go
and be with her she could. She was making her understand that everything is fine, and
mommy will be back very soon. The caregiver took everything around her just to make
sure the child was feeling safe. She included her back into the group as nothing had
happened.

2a. Record an objective observation of a display of anger (include exact age of child and setting).

• Child is sitting at table. She is whining to get a popsicle. She is jumping up and down in chair. She
is starting to get loud when popsicle is not given to her. She gets up and does to caregiver and
whimpers. Other caregiver comes to clean her hands and child gets mad. She screams and
jumps around. Caregiver says, “I’m trying to clean your hands”. Child continues to jump up and
down. Caregiver asks her to throw away wipe to trash. She waits for caregiver to give her
popsicle and continues to whimper. Caregiver says, “wait, be patient”. She gets popsicle and
goes to sit down.
o Child is 14 months and happened outside during morning snack toddler pods.

2b. How is this handled by the caregiver?

• Both the caregiver with the popsicle and the caregiver cleaning her handled this great. They
both understood the importance of showing the student to wait. They talked to her in a kind
tone that would not scare the child. They provided her time to calm down and receive her
popsicle.

2c. Was the response appropriate or inappropriate? Why or why not?

 • I was very appropriate. They were both very considerate of how the child was feeling so they
were trying to help her understand them. They let her see how important it was for her to wait.

3a. Using the nine temperament traits, observe and give examples of EACH in ONE child (you may need
to interview the caregiver/parent to answer some). (Include exact age of child and setting) (This portion
is worth 10 points

• 1. Child moves around a lot but does a lot of solitary play.

• 2. Child is easy to adapt to new routines and daily routines.
• 3. Approaches all activities happening around room.
• 4. She adapts to new experiences/people around.
• 5.Has a long span; can stay in one spot more then 5+ minutes.
• 6.This child is either smiling or whimpers. Does not give full cries
• 7. Child does not notice change around them. They continue playing.
• 8. Child can easily be distracted and go to a different activity.
• 9. Child seems to always be in a calm mood, does not irate.
o Child is 14 months and observation happened inside toddler room toddler pods.

3b. In which of the 3 temperament categories would you place this child and why?

• The easy child is where I would place this child. She was not bothered by having to change
activities or locations. She was easy going with the other children. She was not scared of
whatever caregiver would call her name. She also really enjoyed playing with all the other
children.

3c. What advice might you give to the caregiver/parent of this child based on your assessment?

• She sometimes become a little shy and would stray away. It would be good to maybe do play
dates with other children her age. She is extremely happy once she is in a group. But this is only
if she wants to go and play with others.

Part B-Social

1. Record an objective observation of a child displaying Erikson’s “trust vs. mistrust” (identify exact age
of child and whether positive or negative).

• Child comes close to group on the floor. She stands by group and looks at them. She continues
to stand there over them. Caregiver asks, “Would you like to join?” She grabs paper from table
and sits down next to the group. Stands up again to grad a marker and sits down next to other
students. She begins to draw with the group.
o Child is 16 months and had a positive approach when join the group on the ground.

2. Record an objective observation of a child displaying Erikson’s “Autonomy vs. shame and doubt”
(identify exact age of child and whether positive or negative).

• Child is sat at table by caregiver. She puts food on table. Caregiver sits next to toddler. She
behinds to feed toddler. Toddler starts to whimper and turns face around. Caregiver says, “can
you eat please”. Toddler nods head and starts to cry. She puts spoon down and toddler grads
 spoon. He starts to feed himself. Toddler feeds himself for short period of time. Caregiver says,
“Do you want water?” Toddler nods head and reaches for the water himself.
o Toddler is 26 months and had a positive feedback. He was happy to be doing it himself
and got mad when caregiver was getting involved.

3a. Record an objective observation of a guidance situation between caregiver and child (due to
individual action). Give exact age of child.

• Child gets up. Goes to bookshelf. Grads a book. Walks over to caregiver and wants to throw the
book. Caregiver says, “You can give me the book nicely”. Child continues to want to throw it.
Caregiver says, “You have to hand it over nicely” “I see you want to give me the book, but you
can you do it nicely”. Child hands over the book. Caregiver says, “Thank you”. Child goes to sit
down next to her. Caregiver begins to read book.

3b. How is this handled by the caregiver? Was the response appropriate or inappropriate? Why?

• I personally believe that the caregiver handled this perfect. She let the child know what was
going on and how it was wrong. She helped her with not having bad behavior by letting her
know what a good route was. She was not mad when the child was denying handing her the
book. I do believe this was appropriate for her and the child. She handled it with patience and
kindness.

4a. Record an objective observation of a guidance situation between two children (due to interaction
between children). Give exact age of children, both must be in appropriate age range for assignment.

• Child 1 is standing by a bookshelf. Child 2 comes from behind and starts to hit child 1. Child 1
starts to whimper. Child 2 continues to hit him. Child 1 is starting to whimper loudly. It grads
caregiver attention. Caregiver come in and says, “He does not like that”. Child 2 continues to hit.
Caregiver says to child 2 “can you go and help clean up” Child 2 runs away and goes to clean up.
Caregiver asked child 1 ‘are you okay” Child 1 runs away without answering.
o Both children are 29 months old.

4b. How is this handled by the caregiver? Was the response appropriate or inappropriate? Why?

• I believe this could have been handled better by the caregiver. She could have had a one on one
conversation with both students about what was going on. Instead she just sent child 2 to do
something else. She did not help the child understand about how the other student felt. The
response was inappropriate just because I felt she didn’t want to deal to much with what was
going on. She just sent them off to do their own thing.