In this paper, I chose to observe the toddler room. I picked Beau; he has brown hair with hazel eyes. He is 33 months old. He weighs 33 pounds and is 38 inches tall. The first observation I did of Beau is in the classroom, I found him playing in pretend kitchen. He was opening the cabinets, picking up plates and he gave another boy a banana. This all in two minutes and the student teachers were watching. Beau then stole a toy from another toddler. That was a whole minute. After that he went and picked out a ball to play with. He then jumped on top of a shape block and played ball with the student teacher. Beau then fell on the mat.
He did not cry. He did that for five minutes. Then played catch with the teacher while standing on the playset and fell off the shape structure. This was another two minutes. He got hit by a ball from not paying attention. That was another two minutes. He then did an activity with the class; it was a lesson on outside and inside. Beau got asked by the student teacher who was teaching what is inside and he knew that an oven was inside and not outside. He was working with a student teacher. He does not socialize with peers much. This was maybe five minutes. Beau put his activity in his cubby. He then was climbing under the shapes playset.
That was a minute. He is self- initiative. I then left and came back after twenty minutes to observe again. This all took place in the classroom. Beau was sliding on the slide for about five minutes. After that Beau distinguished two different ball sizes, a big ball and tiny one. That was a minute long. He then was playing with the phone again. This went on for two minutes He then went and played with a ping pong ball and pulled it on a wooden block wagon. The ball fell off by the student teacher and she hid it from him. This showed object permanence. He knew it was already there even though he could not see it.
This happened for five minutes. He then went and played with a container that held toys but empty, he put it on his head and was laughing. This was two minutes long. He then played in the sensory board with sand with another student and student teacher. This was two minutes. He then washed his hands for snack time; he was having pears and graham crackers. He then decided he did not want snack. This was two minutes. He then was pretend vacuuming. He did that for about two minutes. Then he proceeded to play catch again with a student teacher for another two minutes. He then started to fake drive for another two minutes.
He is very independent and does not ask for help. This concluded my observation for the day. The second observation I did of Beau took place in the classroom, I found him playing at the sensory table with the student teacher and another toddler. The teacher was interacting with him and was holding a plane and making the sound of a plane. Beau said “it raining sand! ” He continued to play for five minutes. Shortly after Beau was done and knew to go wash his hands in the sink. He demonstrated fine motor skills. After he washed his hands, he faked wash his hands at the play kitchen for two minutes.
Beau then decided to play with a toy phone with his student teacher. He was playing with the phone for about three minutes. He then proceeded to slide down on the slide inside the classroom for a good five minutes. He then played with a rocket ship in which you sit on and push your feet to move. Beau maybe played with that for three minutes. He was playing phone and vacuuming at the same time he told his student teacher “he is talking to his dad”. Then the student teacher asked Beau if he is ordering pizza and he said “no”. This was five minutes. I then left the room for twenty minutes and came back.
When I came back from the twenty minute break, I observed Beau in the classroom. Beau was vacuuming with two vacuums. He did that for two minutes. He then ran to the reading area where there are fish and was looking at them. He did that for a minute. It was then lesson time with the class. The lesson was sticky things. He knew glue is sticky. He touched marshmallow fluff and said “gross”. He then made an owl with sticky items and did it like he was supposed to do. This was maybe seven minutes. He showed fine motor skills by holding glue stick. He then knew to go wash his hands himself and that was for a minute.
He then went and slid down on the slide. This was a minute. He then went and played vacuumed but only did that for five minutes. He then played in the pretend kitchen and made a hamburger and gave it to his student teacher. That was five minutes. He always is self- initiative and independent. The emotion he showed is happy. Beau does not ask for help. That concluded my observation for that day. The third observation I did of Beau was in the classroom and outside on the playground, he was the only toddler there. He then ran to the balls and picked one out. This was maybe two minutes.
Since he was the only toddler there the head instructor then told a student teacher to ask Beau if he wanted to go play outside. He said “yes! ” He then hid in the play shapes set and his student teachers were asking him a question to why he had a band aid on his arm and who was on it. He answered “I fell and batman. ” This was two minutes. He then went outside and played basketball for two minutes. He then went to the wooden house outside with a preschooler and was playing house and microwaving food. He did that for five minutes and then he faked wash his hands for a minute. He then scared the student teachers for two minutes.
He then ran to the sandbox outside and was filling the pail. He was using fine motor and gross motor skills, By holding the shovel and moving around. He did this for three minutes. He then ran to the tubes and was playing in it for about two minutes. He ran back to the sandbox again and played for three minutes before going inside and washing his hands. He is very independent and does not need help. He was very happy and seemed like he was having fun. He loved scaring the student teachers. That concluded my observations. Beau showed some pattern for example he loved to play catch, sliding on the slide, and playing with the toy phone.
He always completed his activities. He seeks adult interactions but he initiated it. Beau’s concentration level felt normal for a toddler, being there is a lot of toys and so little time. His skill level was impressive, knowing the answers to the questions asked. Beau was always happy and energetic! Beau always seemed like he was having a good time. Never cried or was mad. One time he did not want snack but it is normal. Beau reacted fine, he did not really fail at anything but I guess he did have success when he was asked a question and answered right he was happy.
Functional play “consists of repeated practice in large muscular movements, such as rolling a ball” (Bjorklund & Pellegrini, 2002). Beau showed this when I was observing him, he loved rolling the ball to the student teacher. Constructive play “use of objects or materials to make something, such as a house of blocks or a crayon drawing” (Bjorklund & Pellegrini, 2002). Beau showed this by his lesson plan for the day when he made an owl out of feathers but had to use glue. Dramatic play “involves make-believe objects, actions, or roles; it rests on symbolic function, which emerges during the last part of the 2nd year” (Piaget, 1962).
Beau played pretend in the kitchen playset. Pretend to make food and wash his hands; he also pretends he was on the phone and vacuumed. All in all, I enjoyed observing Beau. I learned so much from him for my future career. Even though I want to go into family services; I know I will have to deal with children and this is the first step, to observe them. Beau not only showed some signs of development, like cognitive levels of play but also fine and gross motor skills. I cannot wait to take child practicum.
