Case Study: Children’s Observation

For this project, I observed my cousins’s toddler for a weekend. The child’s name is Zariah Prather, she is two years old, I do know the child; however, since i see her only on rare occasions i could get a better observation seeing as i wouldn’t be familiar with her normal everyday behavior. I will be observing the child at her home in her playroom where she will feel the most comfortable hence that is her normal environment. While here i will be observing the child for the six developmental domains in early childhood development. Not only will i be watching for physical characteristics but also her language, aesthetic, cognitive, emotional, and social domains.

Zariah is babysat at home by her grandmother on a daily basis excluding the weekends. Since this is the environment she is used to that is where the observation took place. She is typically upstairs playing with toys in her playroom which consists of an area divided into multiple play areas to her young mind to explore and young hands to manipulate. When asking her mother the purpose for the different stations, she explained it she saw her daughter always picked up more by doing things on her own. Her kinesthetic learning was accounted by Piaget’s theory that children in the sensorimotor stage tend to learn more by their senses and motor movements.

Upon arrival the child continually played with her toys ignoring my presence and not even acknowledging that i was there. From previous experiences i’ve learned the more she’s around an individual the more she opens up to them. Individuals who she aren’t used to she tends to ignore or shuts out focusing completely on her task at hand. I sat down not saying anything to her and not once did she look up to see who the person was walking into her room. The bright colors of the race car clearly had her too distracted to even care.

Zariah is around the normal height and weight of a modern two year old. She stands, walks, and runs all with ease and balance. When sitting her legs are always spread apart for room for her toys in between her legs. With her size being so normal she has no problems maneuvering. She can easily retrieve toys out of her toy box, get on top of her bed, and climb up and down stairs effortlessly. She seems very healthy and strong and visually her coordination seems normal for her age.

She is sitting on the floor with his toys surrounding her as her big brother comes upstairs and sits on the floor beside her. As she picks up a pink race car she asks her brother what color it is and he responds while removing it out her hand as doing so. As I continue to watch her play she repeatedly looks up at brother as to mimic him. When doing so out her mouth escapes laughs and giggles and you can tell she seems very dependent on her bond with her brother. As he gets up and goes down stairs her mood changes which shows they have a very positive relationship because without him she’s more reserved.

As she appears calmer and somewhat more relaxed without her brother there to play with her, she becomes even more focused in playing with her toy car. While engaging in play she adds sound effects to the car action and sometimes without her noticing it, her facial expressions change a great deal. As I continue observation, i see her pushing the car cross the carpet while including noises with it. Clearly, she’s is aware what a race car would typically sound like meaning she picks up on sounds as well as rights. The moving the car back and forth while making noises shows me she is displaying typical behavior for his age. She seems to have great motor skills for her age. She is able to grab items that can fit in her hand while running around, sitting, standing, or simply walking.

Near the end of the observation she begin watching me as to figure why i had yet to leave. I stayed focused on my observation but gave her a smirk when she paid attention to me. She always shyly looked away or turned her head, I never got one back. When I taking notes with my head down, i could feel her looking and staring at me. I would look up and smile or wave and she’d resume her play. At the end of my observation, I can conclude that Zariah’s behavior is typical for her age. She is very social with the ones she are familiar with and it’s safe to say I could have felt like a stranger to her. But overall she is great interacting with others close to her as well as playing independently for short periods of time.