Anecdotal Observation of Play - Essay Example

Eventually, one girl asked her what her princess name was and she meekly said “Princess Petal”. The girls took turn down the slide and then climbed back up to the fort one by one, including Valerie. Valerie’s Observed Gross Motor Skills: Valerie seems to have developed good gross motor skills as she was seen pedaling on her tricycle around the playground. Her legs were strong and well-coordinated as she twisted and turned the vehicle with care not to hit any other child or object. She was also responsible enough to park her tricycle in a location that keeps other children safe and as she walked towards the playground equipment, she showed stability and grace in her gait.

When she went up the playground equipment via the chain ladder, she was careful to hold on well to the chain as she balanced her body while climbing up. She is able to estimate which rung of the ladder to place her feet on to enable her to push herself up. She had no trouble climbing the chain ladder which was in an inclined position towards the platform of the playground equipment. This showed that she can balance her whole body well. She was fearless when she slid down the slide with her friends and quickly ran to climb back up with agility in her movements.

Observation 2: Back in the classroom, Valerie was observed to be making an Art project with other children in the round table. They were making a brown paper bag puppet. Valerie was seen cutting some colored paper to make different shapes then putting them in a cup to paste on the paper bag later.. Then, she got some markers and drew some lines and circles and curves on the paper bag. Mark took one of her markers to use on his puppet. . Valerie frowned and grabbed back her marker, to which Mark said, “You’re not sharing!

” Valerie continued drawing on her paper bag without saying a word and moved all her materials away from Mark. He just looked on and a little while later, Valerie handed him one of her markers and said, “There you go.. now go ask Annie for more markers coz I’m using most of mine here”. Valerie’s Observed Fine Motor Skills: For a four-year old, Valerie displays well-developed fine motor skills. She can hold the scissors properly with her hand and cut some strips of papers as well as cut some closed shapes.

It was not evident in the observation if she could cut across lines. She is also able to hold the marker with a tri-pod grip and exerts enough pressure on the marker so she is able to create smooth and neat lines and shapes on paper. Later on, she was observed to use a popsicle stick to scoop some glue for her cut-out colored paper to paste on her brown paper bag puppet. She did this without any mess and she came up with a neat and attractive puppet that looked like a cat. She was later seen putting the puppet on her hand and moving her fingers altogether on her palm to make the puppet “talk” to her classmates.

Valerie’s Social Skills Aside from exhibiting well-developed motor skills for her age, Valerie likewise displays healthy social skills. Although initially shy, she is unafraid to interact with her peers when she found it interesting to join them in their play. Walker (2009) explains, “A modern view of the child acknowledges agency, that is, children’s capacity to understand and act upon their world. It acknowledges that children demonstrate extraordinary competence from birth”