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Cristina Merino

Professor Montgomery

ECE 252- 2001

16 February 2021

Play Observation

1.     Description (5 points)

Include - Average ages of children observed, setting (where observation took place), a number of

adults and children present, and any other information you feel important for me to know.  You

need to be descriptive enough for me to be able to “see” the scene. 

 In this observation, I observed four children. Three of these children are between 18- 24

months, and the last student was in between 12-18 months. Four different adults were

playing with each of the four children. The setting took place in different rooms of

houses. Two of the children played in a living room while the other two played in a

standard room. One thing that these places have in common is that the rooms do not

contain clutter. The room is very neat, and they are also spacious, providing space for the

children to learn. The children playing in the living rooms have enough room to play with

cups and to read a book with their caregiver on the sofa. One living room setting contains

a brown sofa with two throw pillows, and the other living room includes a more

oversized L brown sofa, and the child is playing on a light brown carpet. The other two

children also have spacious rooms to build a tower with blocks and even play catch

safely. One room has a light green wall with a brown self, and the other room contains a

carpet, tv, and a baby bouncer.

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2.     Cognitive play (25 points)

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

observed.  

 The building blocks were very appropriate for these children as they help develop motor

skills and hand-eye coordination, and even language skills.

 Soft Balls were very appropriate for these children as the ball help the growth of a child’s

large and small muscles.

 Different-sized play cups were very appropriate for these children as they help children

see the comparison of sizes and colors.

 The books were appropriate for these children, like books with simple illustrations or

images of actual objects are useful to children as they discover the world.

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

 Building blocks

 Soft Balls

 Different sized play cups

 Books

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

 Building blocks- 1 minute 30 seconds

 Soft Balls- 1 minute 4 seconds

 Different sized play cups- 1 minute 10 seconds

 Books- 1 minute 20 seconds

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

 The child who is playing with building blocks indicated he was engaged with the toys by

the way he started describing his structure with excitement.

 The child who is playing catch with a softball indicated she was engaged with the toys by

the way she never gave up on catching the ball, and once she accomplished her task, she

was jumping around with excitement.

 The child playing with the different-sized play cups indicated she was engaged with the

toys by how she interacted with the cups and never gave up or got frustrated if a piece did

not fit.

 The child reading a book with her caregiver indicated she was engaged with the book by

how she looks concentrated on the pages and how she interacts with the book, like when

she counted out loud.

e)   What were the children learning from these choices?

 The child playing with building blocks was learning vocabulary words like big and little

and problem-solving skills.

 The child playing with the softball was learning how to coordinate her hands, arms, and

grasp.

 The child playing with the different sized play cups was learning problem-solving skills,

the concept of size, persistence, and curiosity.

 The child reading a book with her caregiver was learning and observing that things in the

book are items in the real world. She also practices how to count while reading the story.
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3.    Social play (20 points)

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

 The child starts by grabbing two cups and trying to fit them together. She then starts

smashing them together. Since the cups did not work together, she puts them down and

begins to try again with another cup. When two cups finally fit together, she starts

smiling. This process goes on for a few minutes until she almost has all the cups together,

fitting nicely. In the end, she finally makes two piles of different size cups that fit within

each other.

b)    Write objective observation children engaged in parallel play.

 The child was wearing a pink shirt and brown jeans and was playing catch with a pink,

orange, and yellow ball. At the beginning of playing catch, her caregiver would throw the

ball to her, and she would flinch. She would not successfully catch the ball, but she

picked it up and tossed the ball back to the caregiver. The child then imitated the

caregiver by having her hands out, ready to catch the ball. This process continued three

times until she successfully catches the ball, and the caregiver gave a high-five to the

child.

c)   Did the play materials help determine the level of social play? 

How?

 The play materials did not help determine social play level because the children could

either play alone or with a partner.

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

interrupted play?)
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 How the adults interact affects play enormously. In my observation, I saw that the adults

were very supportive and outgoing when playing with the children. Not only did the

adults would give the children the time to figure things on their own, but when the

children would successfully reach their objective, the adults would celebrate with them.

4.     Conclusion (10 points)

a) What did you learn from this observation?  Be

specific!

 I learned that adults play a significant role in play. Play is so beneficial as it helps

children develop logical, social, and emotional skills. When adults play and positively

interact with the child while playing, the benefits are even more remarkable. Adults

encourage the experiences of a child by being present and active but not taking over.

They help them to grow, learn, and explore.

b)    Give at least 2 recommendations for play activities/materials

for the group, you observed (including actions of caregivers). 

 Overall the interactions and play were tremendous and beneficial, but I do have a

few recommendations. My first recommendation is towards the caregiver that was

playing catch with one of the children. The caregiver was very supportive while

the child was attempting to catch. Still, the only words the caregiver would say is

“good job.” Even though words like good jobs affect children, I would

recommend the caregiver use other words like “awesome” instead of repeating the

same word repeatedly. My second recommendation is toward the adult reading to

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the child. The caregiver would read most of the time they were together. If the

caregiver asked the child more questions about the book they were reading, the

child would be engaged in the book.