The developmental expectations of a male child, approximate age 3. 5 years old were observed on a mild summer day in the toddler play area of an outside shopping mall. It being mid morning, the play yard was occupied by four to nine children at various times during the one hour observation. The child under observation displayed motor and social developmental milestones appropriate to expected benchmarks and was supervised by an attentive mother, and accompanied by a younger sibling. The play area is in an upscale, suburban shopping mall and consists of a series of low, rounded nature-themed climbing structures surrounded by a short iron fence and shrubs and reeds planted around the perimeter of the fence. At the start of the hour, the subject of the observation was already on site, engaged in play.
Display of Motor Development
The boy’s gross motor development was skilled and confident. He could easily climb a two-foot high structure in the play yard, and could jump, landing on both feet onto the padded surface without falling, then quickly gaining balance to run off to another structure. The boy was observed to be at the top of the range for children at his developmental stage, presuming his age was three-and-a-half. His coordination was also capable and at the top of developmentally appropriate expectations. Many times during the play period he stood on the highest
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
structure in the play area, and easily maintained his balance on the smaller portions of the apparatus. His gross motor development within this one-hour time period indicated that he was within the appropriate developmental window for children in the three-year-old range, and that the ease in which he was able to maintain control and balance without stumbling or falling indicated a high level of maturation in gross motor development.
The child’s fine motor development was appropriate to his age as could best be determined from the informal, one-hour observation. He grasped fencing and structures with both hands easily, pulled at the clothing of other children, snapped off small plant parts and stripped them of leaves, and pulled apart reed plants, separating them into shorter segments. Several times during the play period he collected plant parts and offered them in a controlled grasp to his sister and other children, or used the reeds to blow on like straws. Although he was not observed using writing tools or scissors, his manipulation of small objects on the play yard indicated that small motor work would most likely be developmentally on target for a child in his age range when using these materials.
Social Development
In playing with other children, his sister included, he was not excessively aggressive or markedly timid. He made reasonable overtures to others to indicate his desire to play with them and his behavior was watchful and responsive of the other children throughout the hour. He demonstrated the appropriate developmental expectation that he could share objects
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
and space with other children. While playing with his sister, he frequently spit in a playful manner at her and she returned the attention with light spanks to his backside. Neither sibling appeared bothered by this mild aggressive play. The boy was content enough to play alone, but initiated play with his sister and two other children throughout the hour, preferring the company of one older boy for approximately 25 minutes. As the oldest boy for a time, the subject often dominated the most centrally located climbing structure in the play yard, choosing to stand and survey the territory from its highest vantage point. He was rarely challenged for this position as the other children were smaller than he, however when the older boy appeared on the scene, it was clear that there was some struggling by the observed boy to maintain a preferred position on the large structure. Both boys, however, negotiated and shared time atop this particular outpost.
Throughout the hour observation, the child demonstrated appropriate play with and near other children as well as in solitary play, which is expected for a child his age. He initiated play with his sister and several other children, and also responded to some chasing and following play. Play was accompanied by limited verbal exchanges, which most likely could have been the result of the other children being somewhat too young for full sentence communication. When the older boy appeared on the scene, the observed male talked more and in complete sentences than he had done when playing only with the younger children.
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
Gender Role and Parental Attachment
As the older child, and possibly as a result of being male, the boy appeared somewhat dominant over his sister, however she kept up to his activity level and clearly had her own sense of independence. She would play near her brother, but was not exclusively a part of his games. Many times she ran off from him, engaging in her own play. The boy made little attempt to follow his sister, but did often check in casually with her to determine what she was playing.
The mother sat on a bench throughout the play time, responding with expressions and voice, but rarely getting up to be physically involved in the children’s play and interactions with others. Approximately every five to ten minutes the boy would look toward his mother and speak to her or display a plant he had pulled from bushes around the play area. He did not appear excessively dependent on her responses, but was happily sharing his play with her, which demonstrated a reasonable attachment and secure bond to his mother who allowed him to continue his play feeling secure and supervised but not inhibited or restricted.
At one point in the observation, an older boy entered the play area. While the subject was intrigued and happy enough to join in and play alongside this boy, the new boy’s presence clearly presented some level of anxiety for the subject. Several times the boy retreated to the bench where his mother was sitting, and at one point even laid with his head in her lap seeking some measure of comfort before returning quickly to play.
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
At one point in the hour the mother and two children left the park briefly to use a restroom in a nearby store. The boy went agreeably with his mother and sister without protest or complaint, suggesting a positive relationship and communication between parent and child. When they returned minutes later, he resumed play easily without hesitating to survey the play yard to see what other children might be doing.
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
The subject appeared to be very much within Piaget’s pre-operational stage. The use of the plants as objects to wave like a sword and reeds to spit through like a straw appeared to be used as symbolic objects, representing other objects that were not present. The boy displayed play that centered on his egocentric point of view and reacted to other children in the way they responded to him. Although he was using plant stems as other objects, he did not at any time in the observation period assume or assign imaginary roles to his sister or to any of the other children with whom he was playing, suggesting that he had not reached the symbolic function sub stage.
Kurt W. Fischer’s Cognitive Development Theory
In agreement with Piaget’s pre-operational stage is the cognitive theory of Kurt W. Fischer’s tiers of representations and abstractions with the boy’s demonstration in play of a single abstraction for representative mapping. Presumably as he matured he would demonstrate cognitive ability to hold two perspectives, and then consequently a series of systems as Fischer theorized the brain would make in cognitive development.
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
Analysis and Conclusion
In conclusion, a three-year-old boy at play observed for one hour appeared to demonstrate appropriate development in motor and social development, parental attachment, and verbal language according to milestone checklists used by care and health providers, and according to the stages of development theorized by Jean Piaget.
References
Developmental Checklist – Threes; DayCareTools.com. Retrieved from, http://www.daycaretools.com/documents/Developmental-Checklist-Threes.pdf
Fischer, Kurt W., Dynamic Cycles of Cognitive and Brain Development: Measuring Growth in Mind, Brain, and Education. Retrieved from, http://sitemaker.umich.edu/carss_education/files/fischerbrain.pdf.
Piaget, Jean, & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. New York, NY: Basic Books.
OBSERVATION OF THREE YEAR OLD MALE CHILD IN UNSTRUCTURED PLAY ENVIRONMENT
Appendix
The following checklist was used to guide the observation for a child approximately three years of age.
Physical
Gross motor: Should be able to climb, maintain balance, jump and hop, climb steps, and walk and run with coordinated movements.
Fine motor: Should be able to grasp small objects and manipulate them easily.
Social
Cooperative play: Plays with other children. Show curiosity and interest in new surroundings.
Sharing/withholding: Can share and take turns; shows affection and concern for others.
Solitary play: Plays independently.
Shows independence: Separates from family member without undue stress.
Emotional: Expresses a wide range of emotions.
Demonstrates self-help skills: Can assist putting on clothes; uses materials in appropriate ways.
Gender related observations: identifies others by gender.
Verbal: Speaks so others can understand; identifies others by gender; asks questions.
Creativity: Uses one object as another; asks questions.
Parent Relationship:
Parent involvement:
Child’s response to parent:
Attachment style
