Playroom Observation
During my Observation at Longview on November 1st, in the GSRP and Head Start rooms, I observed children engaging in play. Both rooms had free play time, where the children could choose what and where they wanted to play. There were play areas set up around the room. The areas consist of building blocks, paint, water and sand table, exploration/ nature, and make-believe play.
I personally was very intrigued with the make-believe play area. This area consists of occupational dress up clothing (doctor’s coat, firefighter hat/coat, kitchen Aprons, etc.), play kitchen, which included cooking utensils, work/tool bench, doctor kits and much more. I found that the majority of children in the class went to this area during free play. According to
the article, “Thinking About Children’s Play,” written by David Elkind (2001), “In their dramatic play children combat their feelings of being small and powerless vis-à-vis adults. By making believe they, too, are grown up, they get a sense of mastery and control” (Elkind, 2001, p. 28). The second portion of this statement seems to be true regarding my observation. There were two children playing together, one was the adult/mother and the other was acting like an infant; the child playing the motherly role seemed to have control by telling the infant what to do, “It is time to eat, come eat.” The infant walked to the table and sat on the chair at the table, while the mother placed the plastic food in front of her. Elkind (2001) also explains “when children play house, doctor or police person, they are engaging in activities that will prepare them for taking on adult roles” (Elkind, 2001, p.28).
I personally was very intrigued with the make-believe play area. This area consists of occupational dress up clothing (doctor’s coat, firefighter hat/coat, kitchen Aprons, etc.), play kitchen, which included cooking utensils, work/tool bench, doctor kits and much more. I found that the majority of children in the class went to this area during free play. According to
the article, “Thinking About Children’s Play,” written by David Elkind (2001), “In their dramatic play children combat their feelings of being small and powerless vis-à-vis adults. By making believe they, too, are grown up, they get a sense of mastery and control” (Elkind, 2001, p. 28). The second portion of this statement seems to be true regarding my observation. There were two children playing together, one was the adult/mother and the other was acting like an infant; the child playing the motherly role seemed to have control by telling the infant what to do, “It is time to eat, come eat.” The infant walked to the table and sat on the chair at the table, while the mother placed the plastic food in front of her. Elkind (2001) also explains “when children play house, doctor or police person, they are engaging in activities that will prepare them for taking on adult roles” (Elkind, 2001, p.28).