Age: 4
Gender: Girl
Setting: Child is inside her own home. Large living room with several other children and toys surrounding the area. Adults are occupying the kitchen which is several feet away.
Date: November 28, 2013
Time Begin: 5:45 PM
Time Ended: 6:30 PM
Situation: The child is roaming around an open living room lined with toys. She is accompanied by several children also within her same cohort. Most children are gathered around a play house. There are several miscellaneous toys scattered amongst the living room being occupied by other children. The noise level is moderate.
Part One: Play The majority of what I observed was play. I am certain of this because by definition, there where key elements of play involved during my time of observation. In a text entitled Seeing Young Children: A guide to observing and recording behavior (2nd Edition), Benzon defines play as having little regard to outside regulation, being voluntary, and having structure. For example, because the adults where in another room, there was little foreign influence or outside regulation to the child’s play. She played voluntarily at her own will and within her own wishes. For example, the child played with blocks for approximately two minutes before willingly leaving them to play with her Barbie doll. There was also Purewal 2 structure behind the way she played; especially while she played house with several other children. This is because each child had a designated role and each player put aside their personal wishes and tolerated the rules of the game by playing their role and stayed in character. Also, one of the characteristics of play, according to John Dworetsky, is the positive affect of play. Noor’s laughter was proof of the pleasure she was receiving from her play. In contrast, the child acted different when she was told by an adult to clean up her toys. This was not an act of play because it was not voluntary or enjoyed by the