Stefanie Gonzales

ECE 252

Spring 2017

Play Observation

1. Description (5 points)

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

Average age of the children were 24-30 months. Observation took place at the Sunset Park

while a play group was happening. The number of adults present were five. The play group took

place at a playground that provided log themed playground equipment such as slides, balance

beams, hiding areas, and stumps to jump across.

2. Cognitive play (25 points)

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

observed.
The balance beam provided the children with a chance to figure out how to stay on it and walk

from one side to the other. One of the children had a hard time with this and then her little

friend walked next to her holding her hand and helped her walk from one end to the other. This

was a problem solving skill. The playground as a whole was a decision-making process for all the

children playing. There were multiple activities to choose from, activities such as climbing,

hiding, balancing, sliding, and jumping off things. While some of the children were playing hide

and seek with in the log type cave they used the cognitive process of remembering. They would

remember where a child had previously hide and would check that place first. With the bouncy

ball they would decide who to throw it to and concentrate on how to catch or run after it. They

figured out that the harder they bounced it the higher it bounced and some decided they liked

that a lot.

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

The bouncy ball that was brought by one of the children was a favorite. It provided one material

for all five children to play with together and be crazy with. A second choice material they

seemed to flock to was the log balance beam. The seemed like a challenging material but not so

challenging that they became frustrated. Third the children liked these little stump like

materials that they continuously stepped up and down off of. They also attempted to go from

one to another.

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

I observed for about an hour and the children never stayed at one thing to long. They would

sometimes play with another child and then all five would play. They spent anywhere between
10-15 mins with each material. The bouncy ball was what they liked the most and came back to

that more often than the playground equipment. The bouncy ball I would say was a close total

of 30 mins or so.

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

The laughter and smiles while playing on them. You can see the wheels in their little heads

turning as they were trying to figure out how to stay on the balance beam or jump to the next

stump. Also the fact that the children continued coming back to the bouncy ball was a good

indicator.

e) What were the children learning from these choices?

I feel they learned how to make their own decisions on what or where to play and also

compromising with other children to play with or what they wanted to. They also learned

teamwork. As I said earlier the child who helped her friend walk from one side of the balance

beam to the other.

3. Social play (20 points)

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

I did not observe any child from the group engage in solitary play. There was a short instance

where one of the little boys got upset at another little boy for an unknown reason to me and he

sat mad for a bit. After the mother came over and spoke with him the child returned to play

with the others.

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

Mostly the children in the group were engaged with each other and not so much in a parallel

play way. I think there was to much going on around them with other children at the park and

with all the stimulation from the surroundings for them to sit and parallel play. Two of the

children who had stuffed animals sat down by their moms towards the end of my observation.

They played with each other and the stuffed animals and at times the stuffed animals would

do their own thing but then come back and interact with the other stuffed animal.

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

Yes

How?

I feel because it was a playground that was the main material, there was so much for the group

to do. They didnt seem to get bored and were always finding something new to do. The social

level of play was very active due to the variety.

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

interrupted play?)

There was not much interaction with the adults in the play situation. The adults tended more to

the children when one would get mad or when one would get stuck up on part of the

playground. In that case the child would yell for their mother and the mother would come and

help them. One of the mothers came and bounced the ball with the group a couple of times.

Mostly the adults observed the children.

4. Conclusion (10 points)

a) What did you learn from this observation? Be

specific!

I learned that children get a lot of cognitive learning with something like a playground. I love

how all those thinking skills get worked just while the children are having fun! There was much

opportunity for independence, team work, and problem solving skills. I really didnt realize so

much can be learned by playing. After seeing it I understand much better.

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

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

~ Organizing some sort of follow the leader game around the playground. Each child could get a

turn being leader. This would implement decision making skills for the leader and also

listening/following skills for the other children. It would also allow them to be creative.

~ An adult involved game balancing and jumping (on the balance beam and stumps) would be

fun. This would get the parents involved but not so much that they lead activities. The adults

would just join in as one of the children. This activity could lead to problem solving skills (how

to effectively stay on the balance beam or jump from one stump to the next).