Play Observation Assignment

Play Observation Assignment

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Play Observation Assignment

Introduction

Children are a gift from God; they are like little angels who are blessed with pure souls. Their innocent mischiefs and laughs, when they play, fill the house and heart with joy and excitement (Kaduson, & Schaefer, 2010). This play process is very important in the life cycle of the child and an integral part of their growth process of the child.

Discussion

I recently got a chance to observe the play process of a group of children who were playing together and spending time with each other. I closely observed their activities and found it really interesting. I observe this process for almost 10 to 15 minutes and learned many new things regarding the playing patterns of the children.

Scenario of the Play

The group of children that I observed consisted of five children, playing together in a room.

Location of the play

The location of this play area was a nursery or a daycare center, where one of my very close friends works. The observation was done in the play area of his daycare which was adorned with a carpet, and the toys were present in the racks which were at the walls of the rooms. The toys were also spread over the carpet at the floor, and the room contained minimum furniture.

Time of the Day

It was a fine afternoon when this observation was made.

Ages of the Children

The ages of the children varied in this group. The eldest child was 4 years old; however, the youngest was 12 months in age.

Categories of the Play

I observed different categories of the playing techniques in this group. One of the children, who was the youngest, was displaying solitary play. He was sitting rather at a side and playing with his toys, lost in his own world. The rest of the four kids were mostly demonstrating associative and exploratory play techniques, but sometimes, I felt that the eldest kids tried to demonstrate authoritative kind of play (Leggett, Boswell, J. N., & LPC-S, 2016). He tried to take advantage of his age and sometimes tried to dictate the younger kids what to do.

One Category of Play That Is Prevalent

The most prevalent category or the playing technique that I observed during all this play process was the Associative Play in which the children were participating in an elaborated manner in the activities of the game, without any group formation or any designation of authority.

Reaction on Noticing Me Watching the Play

It was a rare cite when the children caught my eye and saw me observing them. Even if any child caught me noticing them, it did not affect their activities and did not change the “play state” of the children.

Effect of Caregiver’s Interference with the Play Process

The caregiver of the children (who was my friend) did not interfere much with the activities of the children. She just sat at a side talking to me and occasionally gave a look towards the kids. She interfered only when she felt that some kid was in danger or the other kid was going to harm any other kid in some way.

Personal Feelings

Personally, I felt very good while watching these kids play so happily with each other. They were looking very innocent and cute while playing with each and sharing toys.

Feelings of the Children during the play

Not only me, but it seemed like the children were also feeling very happy and joyful while playing with each other. Not only they were enjoying but also learning many new things.

Conclusion

Hence, in short, it was a fun experience watching the kids play with each other in a group. Not only I enjoyed watching them play together but also got a chance to apply some of my knowledge that I had learned during my class of playing techniques in children. Overall, it was a great experience.

References

Kaduson, H., & Schaefer, C. (2010). 101 favorite play therapy techniques (Vol. 3). Jason Aronson.

Leggett, E. S., Boswell, J. N., & LPC-S, N. C. C. (Eds.). (2016). Directive Play Therapy: Theories and Techniques. Springer Publishing Company.