Class/ section: Human

Name:
Assignment:

Development FHS 1500_________________________________

Mercedez Fortune______________________________________
Observation 2_________________________________________

Background Information
Childs age:
Fictitious name:
Location:

4 years_______________________________________________
Jake
__________________________________________

Brief Description:

Summerset Apartments 3810 Redwood Rd, West Valley City, UT

84119
__________________________________________________

The events in this paper are those of a playdate between a family

friends 4 year old and one of their peers. Interviewing the parent
was necessary in order to obtain answers unavailable through
observation.
.

Physical Development
When I begin my observation Jake and his friend were in the process of many games. In
their area they had many different forms of entertainment. There were crayons, markers and
paper, play doh, action figures and walkie talkies, among other things scattered about the two
toddlers. Jake and his friend start to draw. When I asked him what he had drawn he smiled and
said My Big Bro. I asked Jakes mother, (I'll call her Jane) about the height and weight of
Jake; she said he was almost 3 feet tall and 39 pounds.
There are only a few physical comparisons to be made between this observation and
my prior knowledge. The drawing abilities encompassed by the toddlers is due to the
development of the fine motor skills (Berger p. 96). After interviewing the parent, I found out the
measurement of Jake. While the book doesn't mention exact height and weight it says the
appearance of children around Jake's age are commonly tall and skinny, which completely fits
his description.
Cognitive Development
As previously mentioned there are many play things around the toddlers, one of those
being play doh; this brought the perfect opportunity to test the children's comprehension of
conservation. I took two even piles of clay and spread one out, then asked the toddlers which
one they thought had more play doh. Interesting enough Jake said I don't know but his friend
said the long one. Prior to this experiment as Id write stuff down the toddlers were consistently
curious whatcha doing or whatcha writing; for the sake of this observation I lied.
Jake and his friend exemplified an adoration for play, a reaction one can infer from the
text explaining how a majority of young childrens time goes into play (Berger p. 163). The
general concept of conservation among children at such an age is agreeable based on my
experience and the book. Just as the result displayed the text suggests at the age of 4 children
do not grasp such a concept (Berger p. 172)Something this observation tied in with the class
taught me is why children are always asking about what Im doing, they are trying to
understand the world and are Curious and observant(Berger p. 173)
Social / Emotional Development
Jake and his friend seemed to really enjoy playing with each other. They would play
together with the same activities and even seemed to be cooperative. If Jake was drawing his

friend would also draw, if the friend started playing with toys so would Jake, sometimes even
within the same story line. This sort of interaction between the two children would suggest
association if not cooperative play.
In comparing this observation with the text I found something interesting; despite the
idea portray in modern difficulties, Jake seemed to thoroughly enjoy playing with others
(Berger p. 206). Another contrast existing between the two exists in Types of Play. The text
suggests that children a year older don't commonly participate in cooperative play, however
Jake appears to be excelling in social development.
Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth Publishers.