Observation of Play

February 9, 2008 from 1 to 3

Who:afternoon preschoolers
What:observation of play during structured and non structured time
Where:SNC Children's center
Ages:4 and 5
Gender:female and male
Demographics:all Caucasian, mix of lower and middle SES

Today the afternoon preschoolers were full of energy. I noticed that during the structured closing circle time, it was very hard for many of the preschoolers to sit still and hold their thoughts in their heads. They were very intrigued during opening circle time and loved watching a movie about trucks. They were fascinated by the different types of trucks and knew most of them on their own before they even watched the movie.

During free choice time, the preschoolers had many exciting things to choose from. Once again, the new boy had a lot of difficulty staying in one area for even a short period of time. He is such a busy body. I loved watching the children in the wood working area. They talked all about this area last semester, it is so neat to finally see it in action. I think that it is amazing that the preschoolers are able to see an every day object, like a VCR player, and take it apart. It always fascinates me to see how things like that work. That definitely helps the preschoolers with their motor skills and with their critical thinking. Another area that I loved watching them in was the science area where they had the gears out. They attached so many gears together it was awesome to see them all turn at the same time. For two of the boys, playing at this area together proved to be a little difficult. They are ones who always like to do things their own way. This was a time where they were able to practice working out their problems and taking turns, which are important skills for children to learn. This also brought a lot of questions about with how does it turn and why does that move and how does it work. All great questions to show that they are thinking.