Naturalistic Observation Project Case Study Example

This observation occurred at a public park with a large wooden, fortified playground. It was approximately 3:30 in the afternoon on a school day, and there were about 15 children playing. I asked a parent if I could observe her child, explained my assignment to her, and gained her permission. The child I observed was a 7 year old Caucasian girl. She was approximately 4 and half feet tall, and weighed around 50 to 60 pounds. The girl had long, straight blonde hair that was not tied back, blue eyes, and delicate facial features. She was wearing khaki pants, brown cowboy boots, and a navy blue sweatshirt.
The child was not short for her age, but she had a very petite build and was very skinny. The child appeared very agile which is expected for her age. Several times she walked up and down a thin wooden beam that was connecting two sections of the playground, and she kept her balance very well. She kept up with other children when she played with them, and could easily climb through the fort and over obstacles. There was a bridge made up of ropes, placed at least a foot apart with a length of rope on each side to hold onto, and she maneuvered it very quickly and barely stopped to look for footing. The child was physically fit, and showed the balance and hand-eye coordination expected at her age.
The child’s cognitive development appeared to be at Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage. She looked very aware of everything going on around her and stated logical thoughts. She looked very watchful of the other children, and a few times pointed out problems with the logic in the games they were playing. For example, one group of children were pretending to be spies and trying to sneak up on another group, who were supposed to be guards. She told the others that there was no point being spies if there was nothing to try to figure out or take. Whereas, many of the other children a little younger than her were content to just run around and chase each other as the game. She also told a girl who looked around 3 years old that the little girl could not be a guard and would have to be a spy, because no one would ever really make someone that small a guard.
The child’s emotional and social development appeared to be at Erikson’s Industry versus Inferiority stage. She wanted there to be specific guidelines and rules in the game she was playing. For example, during the spies and guards game she and another girl decided they all needed to spread out when trying to sneak into the fort. Then the two of them tried to tell the other children which way to go. She appeared frustrated when some of the younger children would not listen or play as a team, but then she and the other girl decided to be leaders and split up into two groups invading on opposite sides. She and the other girl continued making rules to structure the game. When guards began to chase and catch the spies, she said there should be a jail to keep them in so they could keep playing until somebody won.
The child met the stages for her age for physical, cognitive, and social and emotional development. Physically, she was skinny, but still strong enough to run up steps, climb rope ladders, and run away from other children for several minutes at a time. She had excellent hand-eye coordination and balance. Cognitively, she thought outside of her own person, came to logical conclusions about others, and talked to another girl about the best strategy for their game. Socially and emotionally, she appeared to want the game she was playing to have structure and rules that everyone followed, and she tried to get everyone to play. She looked like she got along well with another girl who took interest in the rules and how the game was played, and came up with the rules with her.
The child appeared to be at a healthy and normal development for her age. Cognitively, she was a little more developed for her age than normal. She appeared to think very quickly, and once when she was running away from another kid she faked like she was going to go one direction, and then darted the other direction and got away. I do not think she was the oldest child playing the game, yet she was one of the leaders.
In my observation, I was surprised at how organized the children were in playing their game. None of the children playing looked much older than 8 or 9, but there was a place on the other side of the park with picnic tables and swings where some teenagers were hanging out. I thought the older children were very accepting of the younger ones and they helped them when playing. The developmental differences between the older and younger children seemed apparent when watching them all play together. The younger children seemed much more frightened and excitable when running away from each other, and the younger children who were guards had a hard time staying where they were told. But the older children seemed to take their roles in the game more seriously. I thought it was entertaining watching the children play.