I observed a four year-old boy named Ben. He is a Caucasian, about four feet tall and is reported to be 36 pounds by his mother. He seems to be average height and weight for his age. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes. I observed Ben on his neighborhood playground on a day that was sunny and there were about a dozen other children there, many near his age. I was able to watch him for an hour.
Ben seemed to be able to run a little faster than the other children that were his age. He preferred to play with boys. He spent most of his time running and climbing on the various apparatus that were available. He engaged in a game with two other boys that were his age and that was led by a boy that was slightly older. It was based on the television show Power Rangers. Ben was the red character. Ben played this game with the other boys for the first 25 minutes he was there, then two of them left. He did not seem to know the boys, but appeared eager to join them when they invited him to play. He was verbal during the game. He was loud, and was shouting at the other boys. He appeared to be able to be understood easily by the other boys. He did not really give any directions to the other boys and only sometimes followed the directions that he was given. If he did not want to do what they told him to do he told them that he was not going to do it and they all just continued to play. Much of the play involved running around the perimeter of the playground area, which they did seven times. They also climbed the rock wall structure six times and always went down the slide afterword. They also appeared to chase a little girl several times when she went near the tunnel, but ignored her when she ignored them.
After the game ended, Ben spent much of his time climbing the rock wall and the rope ladder. He went up the rock wall nine times and the rope ladder 11 times. He went down the slide 12 times and the fire pole six times. The other two times he went down the rope ladder. He made several laps around the perimeter, consecutively, and then asked his mother to push him on the swing for the last five minutes. His mother worked with him on trying to learn how to use his legs to push him. When he got frustrated and started to whine, his mother decided that it was time to leave.
All in all, Ben seemed to be a typically developed and age-appropriate four year-old boy. He was able to interact well with other children his age when they engaged him in play. After the game was over, he made no attempt to try and engage any of the other children that were there to play with him. Several times, his mother tried to get him to play with a couple of the children that he had met previously at the playground, but he ignored her and went on playing by him.
Even though he seemed to be at least as developed as the other children in his motor skills as far as running, he was not as coordinated when it came time to be able to propel him on the swing. He also demonstrated a lack of maturity when he was not willing to try for more than a few minutes when his mother was trying to help him learn this skill.
While he was playing with the other children, his speech was quite clear and appeared easy to understand by the other children. I was also able to understand what he said at all times when he was close enough to me for me to hear. One of the other children seemed to have a less developed speech pattern, but Ben had no trouble relating to this child.
Ben also appeared to have a clear idea of what he wanted to do at all times when he was at the playground. He went from one activity to the next with no hesitation. He also used his manners when he had to wait his turn and said please when offered a turn and no thank you to the adults when they offered to help him on the fireman’s pole or the rope ladder.
His social learning theory skills were pretty much age appropriate at all times during the observation. The only imposition that I have is the immaturity that was demonstrated when he was trying to learn to use the swing, but as soon as he had enough he was allowed to leave. His mother did not try to encourage him to try harder or to keep going, and perhaps that is why it is a skill he has not yet acquired (Miodrag, 2013).
Reference
Miodrag, N. (2013). Child and Adolescent Development.
