Gym

Who: After School Program
Where: Saint Joseph School Gym
Ages: 4-8
Gender: 2 Female, 5 Male
Materials Provided: Various balls, children's own toys (stuffed animals)
Time Observed: 3:00-3:45

For the first 15 minutes, every child played alone:

One 4-year-old and one 5-year-old (both boys) played with footballs. The 4-year-old also played with his stuffed animal.

One 6-year-old and one 8-year-old (both girls) played with large rubber balls

One 4-year-old boy played with a basketball

One 4-year-old boy played with his stuffed animal

One 5-year-old boy played with a football but added various balls as he played.

Most activity was dribbling, kicking, bouncing balls off the wall, and shooting hoops.


After 15 minutes:

One 4-year-old boy tries to initiate play with another 4-year-old boy. (unsuccessful)

One 4-year-old played "football" (catch) with a teacher.

The orginal 4-year-old boys begin to play chase together

Two 5-year-old boys played catch with the football after 25 minutes

The two 4-year-old boys begin to play catch with the 4-year-old boy playing with the teacher

One of the boys switches to the football catch game with the 5-year-olds.


After 30 minutes:

The 6-year-old girl sits out

The 4-year-old boy goes back to the other 4-year-old boys and watches them play

The 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy play with a ball. They throw it and measure the distance with their feet (because we didn't have a ruler in the gym).

The two 5-year-old boys play soccer: one is the goalie and the other kicks. After 10 minutes, they play a variety of games, including ball tag, make believe play, as well as creating challenges for each other