This assignment is based upon observing two 3 year olds gross motor skills during outdoor play.

The aim of my observation was to observe two three year olds gross motor skills during outdoor play, to note the similarities and differences in the children’s developmental achievements and compare their development to recognised normative development.

Evaluation

This assignment is based upon observing two 3 year olds gross motor skills during outdoor play. To complete this observation I spoke to my supervisor, which then she suggested two 3 year old children she thought would be good to observe.  The two children my supervisor chose were rather different as Child A is male and Child B is female. This was to see if boys are more physically able than girls. Child A is 3 years 10months, whereas Child B is 3 years 3 weeks, this would help show how children physically develop at the age of 3 years.

The checklist is my recording of the observation which took place on 7th October 2004. By looking at the checklist and the differences between the children, it is clear to see that a child’s physical development changes from basic skills into more challenging skills, e.g.  Child A is able to use pedals on a tricycle, whereas Child B sits upon the tricycle and uses her feet to push herself along the playground.  

In this observation I have noticed that both Child A and Child B play alone. I thought that Child B might play alone because she only joined the nursery this week so she still might be adjusting to the surroundings. Both children played with toys which some people would say they should be playing with depending upon their gender. Child A played with toy cars and appeared to make the noises of a car. Child B Pushed a doll around in a push chair. Both these children seemed to be imitating events which they have either seen themselves or have actually happened to them, Child A could have been pretending he was driving the car, which one of his parents might do. Child B was playing with a doll as if it was a real child, reading the dolls stories, giving the doll a bottle, Child B may have seen her parents looking after her younger sister, as Child A’s mother would be a role model to the child, Child A would be imitating her as she would like to be the same as her mother. This shows that Piaget’s theory that children imitate and transform what they learn into symbolic behavior (Child A uses one object to represent another, the doll representing the baby). This also relates to the social constructivist model of learning as it is based on the interaction of a child with their environment. It shows how children learn things themselves using their surroundings.

“In play, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior, in play it is as though he were a head taller than his normal self.” (Lev Vygotsky 1978)

My observation shows that Vygotsky’s theory is not necessarily correct, as Child B is 3 years 3weeks old and she still cannot complete activities which according to the ‘developmental norms’ a 2 year old should be able to complete. Vygotsky along with Piaget and Bruner realised that children are active in their learning.

My observation shows me that Jerome Bruner’s theory that he did not agree that children passed through stages, but rather that they developed different ways of thinking is more suitable, as every child’s development is different.